VoIP has virtually become the standard of corporate communications. During its early maturation stages, however, inter and intra-company communications were done via PSTN. It was quite expensive, considerably complex and could not accommodate a wide range of multimedia communications systems. SIP solutions were soon developed to address these issues, VoIP resellers came into the picture and the SIP trunking market was born.
What the Recent Past Says of SIP Trunking
Historically and as proven by various reliable surveys, VoIP and unified communications services have grown to be a multibillion dollar market in the recent past. SIP trunking services for cost effectiveness, flexibility and centralization of data centers as well as other cloud-based services are likewise fast catching up to meet the digital demands of corporate and SOHO or small office/home office consumers.
The Infonetics Research. Infonetics, a well-known market research company, found out in its most recent VoIP reports that VoIP services reached the $50 billion mark in 2011, improving by more than 15% compared to the preceding year. Similarly, SIP trunking revenues significantly leaped by 128%, unified communications services increased by more than 40% and hosted PBX revenues moved up to about 33%.
Based on this figures, Infonetics foresees a continued migration to VoIP and a steady growth of the use of SIP trunking technologies in 2014 and beyond. With no single provider dominating the VoIP market at the moment, the market is wide open for potential service providers and VoIP resellers.
The Webtorials SIP Trunking Market Report. Devoted to providing market research and in-depth analysis, Webtorials, ably supported by Sonus, another global IP enterprise, published its first annual report on the state of the SIP trunking market. The Webtorials findings concluded that VoIP has fully matured as a corporate communications tool, with more than 60% of respondents reporting significant or extensive use of VoIP. On the other hand, SIP trunking is a budding technology still in its early stages, with about a third of respondents using the technology.
According to the report, the apparent drivers of SIP trunking are cost savings and opportunities for new capabilities, making corporate communications more flexible and purposeful. With SIP trunking, the complexities of old the systems can now be eliminated and a wide range of voice formats and multimedia options can now be used. This spells yet another golden opportunity for service providers and VoIP resellers.
The Frost and Sullivan Annual Report. A global business consulting firm, Frost and Sullivan reports that 2011 was a banner year for the VoIP segment as service providers were able to more than double their revenues. This was in significant part due to a large number of corporate acquisitions and mergers while small and medium sized businesses continued to be strong as well.
Like the Infonetics report, Frost and Sullivan found out that SIP trunking is a relatively young technology but is quickly moving to show its potential. This can be seen by how medium and large industries are successfully assimilating the technology. VoIP and SIP trunking are increasingly becoming a logical choice as businesses of all sizes and types depart from traditional telecom systems and embrace cost-saving and more flexible options.
What the Future Says of SIP Trunking
What’s in it for VoIP resellers then? Recent history shows that SIP trunking is still a budding service but present trends also show that it indeed is a fertile ground for VoIP resellers. As Diane Myers of Infonetics puts it, the SIP market can be compared to a “wild west” situation where there are no identified dominant providers as yet even with At&T and Verizon around.
For people who are adopting SIP trunking, the prime driver is being able to experience new capabilities like managing call volumes more effectively and centralizing their communication resources with less costs. Specifically, businesses with multiple sites and a large data network can choose a given set of call capacity according to their needs and then remotely manage their calls from a centralized point.
As traditional T1 lines are expected to drop drastically in the next several years, SIP trunking is gaining momentum as a more relevant option. The future of SIP services as a new communications tool is bright, not only in terms of costs but of functionality as well. As such, the SIP trunking market is wide open for both big service providers and VoIP resellers.
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