Mobile VoIP Poised to Reach Critical Mass

Does your company have a plan to support employees who are using various mobile VoIP services? If not, it better start designing one because the technology is accelerating into the mainstream.Market research firm In-Stat projects that there will be 139 million mobile VoIP users in 2014. In addition to the growing use of mobile devices, such as smartphones, the voice technology is working its way into various applications, especially social networking programs. Another factor is employees like the service because they can use phones when traveling abroad without paying the expensive roaming fees that mobile operators charge.

This trend challenges small and medium businesses in a couple of ways. Picking a top notch service provider is imperative because VoIP calls quality can be scattershot at times. A large number of calls can often overwhelm a carrier network.

Also since the underlying technology is nascent, the roll out mobile VoIP services has been gradual rather than rapid to date. A range of companies, including start-ups, online VoIP providers, mobile virtual network operators (MVNO), mobile virtual network enablers (MVNE), and the mobile carriers themselves, are vying for acceptance. Google, Skype, T-Mobile, Telefonica, Verizon Wireless, and Vonage are some on the better known suppliers jockeying for position in this space.

Interest in this area is high, but the volume of successful business uses of the technology is low. With mobile VoIP services are working their way into the mainstream, small and medium business need to ensure that their use of these services helps rather than hinders their operations.