There’s no denying the fact that the term “hosted” has become an integral part of the tech world’s vernacular. From terms like “hosted VoIP” to “hosted PBX” to “hosted services,” one message is resounding loud and clear – the process of hosted, or delivering services over the Internet, is here to stay.
According to a new report released from Infonetics Research, the hosted VoIP market is rapidly burgeoning as hosted PBX (News - Alert) and unified communications services revenue climbed 33 percent in 2011, while the number of seats rose 44 percent. The surge is in part due to the solid base of hosted VoIP business customers.
Diane Myers, directing analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics (News - Alert), said that while the hosted services side “still makes up a relatively small portion of the overall business telephony market,” it is quickly increasing in popularity. The fact that large players in the hosted VoIP space are seeing positive revenue growths is only helping expand the market. Moreover, there is also a push from master MSPs who offer hosted VoIP services that smaller service providers can market.
Other highlights of the research are that managed services in the VoIP space are also growing, as managed IP PBX revenue grew 16 percent in 2011 and Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) (SIP) trunking was identified as a high-growth area, reporting service revenue growth of 128 percent in 2011.
Anyone who knows a thing or two about hosted services might not be all that surprised that these solutions are taking off rapidly. That is because some of the chief benefits of hosted services include easy implementation, automatic software updates, lower monthly bills, limited maintenance or labor fees and eliminated complexities.
One company that has been making its splash in the hosted services space in less than two years is Sonetel, the only company worldwide offering a free, scalable PBX service, according to company officials. Touted as “the easiest, cheapest and fastest way” to get a telephony solution for your company, Sonetel is in the midst of commemorating its one-year anniversary, having unveiled the first version of its phone system in late 2010.
“Three and half years ago, we decided on the model of free and at that stage there was no other company offering this in the market and there still isn’t, besides us,” Henrik Thomé, CEO and founder of Sonetel, told TMCnet. “We were naturally really scared during this journey that there would be a lot of other companies popping up and that we would be late to the game, but we weren’t and there is still no one else in the game.”
“It’s extremely difficult to make something that is simple and user friendly and to build a solution that is designed to be free,” he added. “To make it really easy is really complicated.”
For more on Sonetel, click here.
Edited by Jamie Epstein