What Will This Year Bring?
As 2016 kicks off, those of us in the IT industry look forward to what the year will bring in business phones, networking and technology. Many of the trends from the last 5 years will continue for Dallas area businesses: VoIP installations, upgrades to wireless networks and a shift to unified communications.
For our sister company, Custom Telephone Systems, many companies in Waco, Temple and central Texas are still moving from legacy analog systems to digital. It will take time before any of these trends reaches widespread adoption, yet we still look forward to the possibility!
Hosted VoIP
Hosted VoIP is continually evolving and 2015 led to even greater vendor selection, as new startups continue to compete with services. This competition is lowering costs and will allow cloud-based systems to get more competitive with on premise VoIP. In addition, moving severs and networks to the cloud is becoming more routine in IT departments across DFW. As the visibility of cloud computing has increased and become more mainstream, moving phone systems to the cloud will continue to be a possibility.
At c2mtech, we anticipate Hosted VoIP will be the first choice for startups and small businesses in 2016. Yet we don’t see the cost savings scaling for midsize and enterprise businesses. Hosted VoIP isn’t for every business environment and the pricing (monthly and continuous vs. fixed) will still prevent greater widespread adoption. On Premise VoIP has also improved and is becoming more competitive with cloud based solutions.
On Premise VoIP
Another growth area in 2016 for Texas businesses will be on premise VoIP. 2015 was a year that started to see an expansion of fiber internet from more service providers. The increased competition has lowered the price for businesses to get faster and more reliable internet connections.
This improvement in internet service, will translate into wider adoption of VoIP. More companies will replace their legacy communication services with hosted VoIP in 2016, appreciating their scalability, analytics and advanced call functions.
There will be an even higher number of midsize and enterprise businesses that experiment with VoIP in satellite and remote offices.
WI-FI Calling (Voice Wi-FI Functionality)
Companies will start to adopt Voice over Wi-Fi in 2016, needing upgrades to WLAN networks and handsets that support the feature. For businesses that have already embraced bring your own device, voice over Wi-Fi offers greater cost reduction and improved service indoors, especially in urban areas.
The trend is still at an early stage, and our VP of Sales, Ben Brinkman touched on this topic at the end of last year with a series on Wireless IP Phones.
Consumer phone manufacturers and phone carriers are also starting to incorporate the functionality into the next smartphone and service offering. AT&T just launched WI-FI capabilities in October of 2015, even Google jumped in to offer Project FI, a Wi-Fi only phone plan for Android devices.
The shift in the consumer market towards WI-FI calling will translate into adoption for the enterprise. Wireless IP phones have been available for the last 5 years and will remain competitive to BYOD. Yet regardless of the technology that support WI-FI calling, if more employees make voice calls and even video conferencing calls on a WLAN, your network may need an upgrade.
Universal Communications
You’ve probably heard a lot about universal communications already, if not, you will be soon. This is the direction the enterprise is going, being able to seamlessly switch from mobile phone to desk phone to laptop without the person on the other end of the conversation even noticing. The trend will continue in 2016, driven in large part by employees who bring their own devices to work. With a phone becoming more of an appendage than accessory, employees are less willing to use totally different devices and systems on the job.
Collaboration
You might hear the word “collaboration” a lot in 2016. Watch for collaborations between Microsoft and other tech companies, possibly inspired by tools like Dropbox and Slack working and playing so well with others.
In the world of phones, watch as VoIP and universal communications merge services like messaging and live-chat, coupled with video-conferencing. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and other advanced call center functionality will continue to work its way into your VoIP phone system.
What Will Really Happen in 2016?
We can only guess and anticipate the changes that will truly take hold. Perhaps virtual reality will play out in the consumer market and translate to the enterprise – although we still think it’s a long way off!
The business centered, ITExpo in Fort Lauderdale on January 25 – 28 will be a key destination for several innovations from manufacturers and telecom service providers. Perhaps a few new trends and developments will be announced, until then, let’s see what the year holds!