Guest Post: 4 Must-Watch Trends for Business VoIP

VoIP technology is always evolving. What used to be impossible with communications a little under a decade ago such as real-time HD video conferencing has now become a must-have for vendors offering VoIP products. A lot of organizations have benefited from these advancements, allowing them to improve processes and workflows and increase overall output.

It can’t be denied that more and more companies are switching to VoIP for business these days. With its fast-changing technology, it’s only important for providers and end-users to keep up with the emerging trends and breakthroughs surrounding the VoIP landscape.

Security
Because of the recent high-profile leaks and security breaches that captured the attention of media outfits worldwide, people have started paying attention to security. When your data passes through the internet, you are also making yourself vulnerable to threats, data breaches, or malicious attacks. Typically, VoIP users are also at risk since voice data is also a form of data. To assure customers that their data is safe, VoIP providers are now beginning to invest more on data safeguarding measures. They’re starting to ensure that all security gaps are addressed through comprehensive initiatives that protect subscribers from a variety of threats.

Mobility
Juniper Research predicted that there will be over one billion users of mobile VoIP services by the end of 2017. This shift is a clear indication that there will be some changes on how voice traffic is going to be utilized in the coming years. Users can expect to see a number of network and technology improvements while providers can assume that there will be more players competing in the mobile VoIP space. The growing demand might be a good sign for businesses, since it can also prompt providers to provide better quality of service and lower call rates or pricing plans.

Integrations

VoIP providers will constantly try to integrate their services with the most commonly used business tools such as ERP and CRM software. With this, you can expect to have a more centralized approach to your processes – especially with your customer-facing activities. For instance, you want to learn about some customer’s journey to find out if an issue he called one of your service reps about has been resolved. All you have to do is fire up your customer relationship management software, view this client’s history, click on the related incident ticket and view it on your system to see the issue’s status. If it’s not yet closed, you can pull up his phone number to call him and resolve the matter. By integrating business apps with your VoIP platform, you can expect your entire operations to run smoothly – from lead generation, sales, and even up to the support phase.

Connectivity
As soon as people learned that they can up the ante of mobile connectivity from 2G to 3G, everyone got excited. When the conversation started regarding 4G technology, everyone went nuts. Thus, the impending and inevitable move to 5G, which will likely happen in 2020, will surely make waves especially among distributed workers and remote offices. The promise of increase in internet speeds will definitely make VoIP call quality top-notch, with fewer disconnections and less transmission issues. Web conferencing will also be clearer (up to 8k video quality, according to predictions) and with lesser lags – resulting to legitimately real-time broadcasts. Apps are also expected to become more stable when this technology matures.

As soon as these noteworthy trends become viable, businesses relying on VoIP communications can expect better and more improved experiences not just for users within their respective organizations but also for the customers they choose to serve.

Author info 

Klaris Chua is a digital content marketer who has written many pieces on startups and small business communications. She used to be a reporter for a business newspaper but the conventional path of a writer didn’t appeal to her. You can connect with her on Twitter.