Wholesale Voice Trends For 2018

In April 2014, Network World foresaw the imminent decline of public switched telephone networking (PTSN) at the hands of modern voice solutions like voice over IP (VoIP) and they were spot on. VoIP has, for long, been the talk of the town and it can now be referred to as the primary communication backbone for business. With so many reliable and modern VoIP phone service providers to choose from, businesses find it remarkably easy to find the perfect fit for their needs when it comes to VoIP solutions. Experts believe that investing in VoIP is one of the best executive decisions that a business can make. With that said, let’s take a look at some of the wholesale voice trends for 2018:

Brace yourselves for 5G

Our first wholesale voice trend is about the 5G network. Even though 2020 is the forecasted year for the practical implementation and adaptation of 5G, it’s prudent to anticipate its inevitable arrival. Telecommunication giants all over the world, along with researchers and scientists, have high hopes of the new technology that’s set to keep us moving forward in our quest to attain perpetual technological advancements. 5G promises such beneficial advantages over its predecessors that industries, other than the pertinent ones, have started investing in aiding its development. The speed with which data can travel over 5G networks will make us forget the concepts of congestion and inferior call quality. All the best VoIP phone service providers realize that it’s not a matter of if, but when, they will have to tailor their VoIP systems to function over 5G in order to stay relevant in the market. Along with increased speeds and reduced delays, 5G will allow developers and companies to produce more advanced VoIP solutions and tools that will ensure higher levels of productivity, efficiency, and efficacy of a workforce. Even though it’s still a couple of years away from universal use, we should already start to brace ourselves for 5G.

VoIP and the Internet Of Things (IoT)

According to Statista, a reliable source for technological statistics, residential VoIP telephone lines increased from 65.7 million to 71.4 million in 2017, whereas the lines held by business entities increased from 30.9 million to 36.4 million. These statistics are only getting higher, and with such extended usage of VoIP in business and residential environments, we can expect it to be used to help us achieve our dream of an Internet of Things. With every passing month, we see scientists and engineers coming up with new devices to make routine tasks in our offices and homes easier and it would be anomalous of them to stop. The aftermath of these never-ending advancements in the fields of IoT and artificial intelligence will yield increased flexibility and greater collaborative possibilities for remote workers and people who work in gigantic teams. VoIP phones are often used in tandem with the marvels of IoT and their usage is expected only to grow as they offer synchronization, seamless integration, and mobility, characteristics integral to an IoT ecosystem.

VoLTE

VoLTE is a solution that can be used to send and receive voice packets over 4G LTE networks in lieu of the standard voice channels. Over the past few years, the interest in VoLTE has spiked and it’s expected to continue growing in the years to come. VoLTE has the advantage of higher speeds over VoIP but it’s still not as widely used as VoIP. Since VoLTE requires 4G networks to function and since currently, these networks aren’t often readily and widely available, VoLTE coverage is often restricted, whereas VoIP can function over 3G and provides more extended coverage. With that said, it’s a widely accepted scientific fact that the LTE/4G channel provides a more efficient channel for voice data transfer to occur. By providing faster speeds and seamless transfer, VoLTE makes it possible for service providers to reprogram the same voice channel to handle data services as well. This possible change in infrastructure and packet routing mechanisms will yield many cost benefits for the providers and the consumers as well.

The importance of data centers

The importance of reliable, available and efficient data centers is pivotal for VoIP providers. All the best VoIP providers in the world have excellent data centers and when you are comparing different vendors to find out the best fit for you, you should never compromise on data center networks. In order for a company to deliver high-quality services to its customers, it needs to have data centers that are equipped to handle the expected influx of requests. Data centers should also be scalable because it’s expected that VoIP adaptation will only increase in times to come. Having redundant backups of data center servers is also a necessity to ensure that even in times of chaos, customer data and services won’t get disrupted for too long, if at all.

Voice bots to replace customer assistants?

Artificial intelligence has made our lives easier in more ways than we can imagine. A decade ago, if someone told us that we could ask a mobile phone to make a reservation in a hotel for us, we would have laughed them off. It would absolutely be naïve of us to rule out the possibility of voice bots or artificial assistants being used in the near future to handle simple customer requests. From 2018 onwards, we can expect voice assistants to get a lot smarter than they currently are.

VoIP and what to expect in the future

In the years to come, we can expect VoIP to completely render PTSN (Public Switched Telephone Network) as obsolete. Even though the usage has reached an all-time low, landlines and traditional telephony are still used by some people and it’s expected to fade away completely in the near future. We also expect companies to invest a lot more in securing their VoIP networks and pushing their VoIP solutions into the cloud. The future holds a lot in store for VoIP and it is okay to keep your fingers crossed.

Final word

We've outlined the top wholesale voice trends we anticipate seeing moving forward. Voice communication is expected to get better and more seamless in 2018 and the years that will follow. VoIP solutions and VoIP service providers are going to have their work cut out with the number of people deciding to choose VoIP over traditional telephony, which is increasing every day.