Takeaways from the Chester Business Show

Seminars and conferences are a great way to learn and network with others in the industry. VoIPstudio was one of the attendees at the recent Chester business show and it was an exciting time for our team there. Not only were the topics discussed at the various sessions informative but we also got to talk with customers.

There are many benefits to attending shows like these. You get to talk to current users, potential customers and industry experts at the same time. It’s also a good occasion to learn about new perspectives and catch up on industry trends. After all, creating a great service doesn’t stop when you launch it for the first time. At VoIPstudio, we strive to improve our service offering and introduce new features even before our clients ask for them. So here are a few things we learned while chatting with customers at the Chester business show.

VoIP is Not Just for a Select Few Anymore

VoIP had pretty humble beginnings. A few people who were interested in technology just wanted to poke around and see if sending voice over the Internet was possible at all. Back then the Internet wasn’t the globe spanning network that it is today. Once people were sure that it was possible, VoIP became a fun little tool with different contributors. But it was still restricted to a select few who knew about it.

VoIP kept growing alongside the Internet and with the launch of Skype and other consumer tools, it finally entered the consumer consciousness. People realized they could talk to anyone for free instead of spending exorbitant amounts on long distance calls. However VoIP was still a long way from being mainstream.

All that changed when high speed Internet connections became commonplace. Once the underlying infrastructure caught up, businesses flocked to VoIP. It started out as a trickle which quickly became a flood. Today VoIP is a big part of every enterprise communication strategy. It’s becoming hard to find a company that is not actually considering upgrading to VoIP. VoIP has finally become mainstream and it looks like it’s going to stay that way.

VoIP Growth is Accelerating Rapidly

Many people mistakenly attribute the explosive growth of VoIP to the initial small size of the market and nothing else. While that certainly played a part in calculations, the real story is somewhat more nuanced. For a long time, the different segments of hosted VoIP and on premise SIP deployments often competed for the same customer base. Now businesses are more aware of the pros and cons of each and making informed decisions. So both alternatives are showing high growth rates at the same time.

Another aspect influencing VoIP industry growth is the proliferation of robust high speed and high bandwidth data connections. Thanks to ever  growing fibre optic networks, organizations across the world are switching to VoIP. Since vendors can offer services to customers regardless of where they are located, geographical boundaries don’t mean much anymore. An American company can purchase VoIP service from a business located in Australia with almost no major problems. It means that the potential market for any service provider is not a city or country but rather the entire world!

VoIP is the Default for Startups and Small Businesses

Time was when the PSTN was the default configuration for any business. Even as recently as a few years ago, few business owners would have thought about starting with VoIP and avoiding phone operators at the outset. It was viewed as something you did when your business became more established. Not anymore!

VoIP – specifically the hosted version – has become the default architecture for startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs. There are many reasons for this development. Hosted VoIP doesn’t require any financial investment, a boon to any business that is already struggling to raise capital. Wouldn’t you rather invest in your core business offering instead of buying PBX boxes and phones?

Since phone services and features are delivered over the Internet, a small business doesn’t have to maintain separate infrastructure for data and voice. In today’s world, a business might be able to get by without phones but few can survive without an Internet presence. How wonderful is it then that VoIP takes advantage of existing networks? Since the vendor purchases and maintains the needed hardware, there is no service contract to purchase or repairs to worry about either.

Very few small businesses aim to stay that way. Most entrepreneurs want to expand and grow over time. Hosted VoIP enables that easily. There’s no need to switch providers or buy bigger or more expensive equipment down the line. You can add more lines, numbers etc as and when you need them. With all these innovations, no wonder our customers are excited about VoIP and the journey ahead!