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VoIP Outlook for 2008
The communications industry is no stranger to change. VoIP in particular
is queued up for a big leap, especially now that businesses understand
the difference between VoIP-as-telephone-replacement and VoIP-as-enabler-of-business-processes.
VoIP remains more than an inexpensive replacement for landline connections;
It can facilitate tasks and provide services not possible with traditional
PSTN, such as multiple phone lines over a single connection. Following
are five area where you can expect to see big changes in the following
year:
- Additional features. From 3-way calling, call forwarding, automatic
redial, and caller ID, VoIP providers will offer more features that
come with additional fees with traditional services.
- Secure calls. While most of the difficulties of creating a secure
connection, like digitizing and digital transmission, are already
in place with VoIP, expect to see the industry start using standardized
protocols, such as Secure Real-time Transport Protocol.
- Location independence. Employees only need an Internet connection
to access their VoIP service. As more and more businesses realize
the flexibility and convenience of this feature, they’ll take
advantage of it. For example, call center agents using VoIP phones
can work from anywhere as long as they have a sufficiently fast and
stable Internet connection.
- Integration. Blending with other services available over the Internet
mean a greater demand for VoIP services; video conversations, message
or data file exchange in parallel with conversations, audio conferencing
and managing address books all become more effective with VoIP.
- Click-to-call. Online buyers who want immediate customer support
rely on click-to call, which lets users click a button and immediately
speak with a customer service representative. The call can either
be carried over VoIP, or the customer may request an immediate call
back by entering their phone number. One significant benefit to click-to-call
providers is that it allows companies to monitor when online visitors
change from the Web site to a phone sales channel.
Stay tuned—there’s more in store for 2008!
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