Unified Comms voice market set to soar over next 3 years

The Unified Communications (UC) voice equipment market in enterprise will grow dramatically by 2021. According to a new report, the demand for voice mail, e-mail, audio and video conference, telephone PBXs and instant messengers is set to rise.

The increasing demand for mobility

The report segmented voice equipment for communication into terminal equipment and network equipment. Terminal equipment includes mobile phones and tablets, while network equipment entails router, switches, and private branch exchange. The major challenge when it comes to providing UC services is to fully integrate server based communication products into the UC infrastructure. The demand for UC is rising, however, as a result of the widespread adoption of mobility apps like wireless e-mail.

Top UC providers

The Middle East and Asia Pacific in particular could generate incredible growth for UC and voice equipment providers. This is partly due to a sharp rise in the number of companies in these regions. At present, Europe is the leading UC player due to its advanced network infrastructure and widely available resources. North America, Asia Pacific, and Rest of World fell behind. Leading companies contribute less than 15% of the total revenue of the market. The market is fragmented, but 8×8 Inc., Ericson-LG, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, and Siemens Enterprise Communication remain ahead.

Voice is tech's next revolution

Google's head of search, Ben Gomes, also sees the huge potential in voice technology. He spoke to The Guardian ahead of Google's 20th anniversary and said that “speech recognition and the understanding of language is core to the future of search and information.” Google has been using voice recognition technology in its search engine and AI digital assistant for some time. The technology has now become essential in developing countries with low literacy rates. It looks like voice will become a much larger part of the UC market, which could be worth up to $140 billion by 2024. According to Grand View Research, the growing need for real-time and efficient communication systems will augment industry growth over the next four years.

Interested in UC? Listen to our interview with Unified Communications key influencer Daniel Danto or check out the Top 10 Tips UC experts want you to know