From mobile voice notes to IP-based voice calls, voice is once again dominating communications.
“Businesses and consumers alike are rediscovering the efficiency advantages provided by person-to-person, voice-based communication and this trend is set to continue well into 2019,” says Juan Wiese, group business development manager of independent telco, ICTGlobe.
Powered by Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication options that come in about 45% more affordable than fixed line, as well as plummeting mobile interconnect rates, voice-based technologies are set to rocket this year. For example, comScore says half of all web searches will be voice searches by 2020. Gartner, for its part, predicts that 30% of searches will be done without a screen by that year.
When it comes to VoIP, a recent report by Future Market Insights predicts there will be 116,5-million VoIP users globally in 2019. “In 12 months or less, voice’s domination of telecoms will be complete with VoIP leading the charge,” says Wiese.
Aside from affordability, VoIP’s strength is that this voice-based, scalable communications technology offers an extensive range of value-added call handling and management capabilities easily operated through simple web interfaces.
“While lower communications costs are the biggest driver for VoIP adoption, the ability to plug-in enterprise-class PBX systems like the industry-leading 3CX solution is another huge advantage for the technology,” adds Wiese.
A positive implication of all these advantages is that VoIP resellers are very much in demand by first tier telecoms network owners like ICTGlobe. “Operating our own interconnect and networking facilities means we can reliably offer affordable voice calls and other value-added services. However, we depend on resellers to help us evangelise all of this outstanding technology that we’re so passionate about,” explains Wiese.
The current voice boom coupled with VoIP being a leading voice-based communications technology means IT companies, computer retailers, online ICT stores and others wanting to diversity their revenue streams can make good margins on hosted and on-site IP-based voice services with ICTGlobe’s turnkey reseller platform.
The upswing in demand for voice-based telecoms comes at a perfect time as ICTGlobe recently revamped its reseller platform. ‘The Ninja’ helps the firm’s resellers lower their cost base through the use of an efficient, single-view online portal. This enables resellers to get on with the business of winning, pleasing and retaining both SME and corporate clients. The intuitive portal can provision new client voice and data services in minutes compared to the hours previously required for manual set-up by resellers.
“IP-based fibre provides about the best quality voice one can experience. Helped by the right reseller partners, ICTGlobe is looking forward to welcoming more South African SMEs and other business users to the world of VoIP in 2019,” Wiese adds.