Call Technology: Future to ring up more phone connections

If Edison were alive today, he’d likely be aghast at the leaps and bounds made in telephone communications since his time.

Imagine his reaction the first time someone introduced him to Siri, included him in a video chat or tried to explain the concept of the cloud.

But even modern-day technophiles might be impressed with some of the changes predicted in unified telephony in the coming years.

Under such systems, your smartphone can be the conduit for multiple forms of communication, such that your voicemail message can be answered via email, text or TV — in real time or not, depending on what’s available to the recipient. Conversely, your computer can also act as a virtual telephone, allowing you to start a voice conversation, IM chat session or video conference (with the ability to add multiple participants) with a few easy clicks.

That interconnectivity can save your business money by negating the need for multiple communication devices, and it helps people make smarter, faster decisions by connecting them with the right people at the right time on the right device based on their presence, location and personal preference. And even more improvements are slated to take place over the next couple years.

“The unified communications (UC) market is expanding at an exhilarating rate, with an increasing number of communication methods such as web chat, file sharing, document sharing, video, collaboration and conferencing becoming all the more popular within the business world,” notes a recent blog from UK technology vendor Tech Advance. “Business and IT managers should work together to identify the tangible and intangible benefits of UC that yield the most value for your specific environment.”

A few predictions from online sources on upcoming changes: 

– Adoptions of hybrid on-premise and cloud solutions will increase as a way of promoting speed, efficiency and cost savings.

– UCaas (Unified Communications as a Service) and CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) will offer greater functionality, flexibility and scalability for core business tasks. The CPaaS market alone is expected to hit $8.1 billion by 2019.

– Calling centers will optimize technologies, allowing more workers to take calls at home through wider adoption of CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service).

– Phone numbers will increasingly provide instantaneous information about each caller, both necessitating greater security measures and allowing for more value-added services by businesses.

– Demand will increase for infrastructure-free carriers that support voice and messaging over high-speed Internet.

– Business models will increasingly revolve around delivering open access to telecom resources.

– Businesses will increasingly employ cloud provider APIs to add communications functions to their apps.

– More business work spaces will optimize unified communications tools, allowing for video conferencing, content sharing and screen projection.

– More groups will successfully create and manage the secure-platform smartphone apps known as “team apps.”

– Collaboration apps will increasingly be used by organizations to support the productivity of their field workers.

– 2017 will produce more consolidations in the united communications industry.

Talk to Custom Toll Free about how the latest in unified telephony technology can improve your marketing outcomes.