'PBX Going the IP Way'

Globally, we are seeing the mobility segment grow at a phenomenal rate-the Indian market is also enjoying similar growth. Looking at the numerous advantages that PBX offers, this trend was certainly expected.

According to a study commissioned by Cisco in 2010 across 13 countries including India, 2 out of 3 workers expect IT to allow them access to corporate information with any device-personal or company issued. Employees therefore should be able to collaborate, irrespective of where they are or which device they use. Due to this changing environment, the use for IP-PBX is expanding beyond the physical workplace.

In 2010 companies had been striving to enhance workflows and increase productivity. Hosted solutions was one of the major trends in the market along with the introduction of cloud computing. Technologies that required less capital investment-yet provided satisfactory results-were in high demand. Likewise PBX in India has also seen an increase in adoption, especially with regard to IP-PBX systems.

The penetration of cost effective broadband into millions of homes and small businesses has established a large new market segment that is extremely receptive to the delivery of rich, IP based information and entertainment services. These services include VoIP telephony, digital audio and video, multimedia instant messaging and applications that enable resource virtualization and collaboration.

If we take a step back, the growth in the mobility sector has established the fact that wireless technology and mobile connectivity have tremendous potential and immense scope. The growth of wireless PBX will lead to mobile VoIP technology, wherein the geographical limitation imposed by the wireless PBX will be removed. Mobile VoIP technology will allow one to stay reachable on the same telephone line anywhere in the world, where data connectivity is available.

So in general, this market is poised for a greater growth and although wireless PBX may be the initial benefactor, it will only lead to mobile VoIP clients.

Switch to IP

The rapid adoption of IP-PBX has opened opportunities for voice to be independent of the desk. Mobile phone being the primary voice communication devic. We are seeing customers trying out dual mode handsets along with wireless VoIP inside office/campus and to GSM/CDMA as they step outside. Also in sectors like hospitality and hospitals, we expect more and more shift towards wireless VoIP. The main challenges for wireless PBX have been QoS and the capacity constraint available on the Wi-Fi spectrum-these are pretty much addressed with the adoption of 802.11n. Hence, wireless VoIP adoption will increase.

From an enterprise point of view, the VoIP solves the problem of redundant cablings. With the unified Ethernet ports, the data as well as communication cabling is merged into single PoE powered Ethernet infrastructure. The VoIP market is evolving in India and apart from growing demand in the enterprise space, the small and medium business segment is also adopting and expanding its VoIP solutions. This segment is seeing tremendous innovation and investment interest within the communications and networking industry. Positive user experiences and heavy promotion by leading carriers and service providers have helped fuel the demand for affordable and reliable home and small-to-medium business VoIP solutions.

3G

During the initial stage, the expense required for a complete PBX system solution was too high for the smaller businesses to implement. With the development of hosted PBX systems, it has become possible for these organizations to catch on to the trend. Last year as organizations were recovering after the downturn, improvements in the overall infrastructure were considered an important aspect. The virtual nature of IP-PBX systems proved to be a suitable option as compared to older PBX systems. IP-PBX has therefore gained a strong foothold in the mainstream market.

The rising concern with IP-PBX is that now there is a possibility of losing control over the endpoints. This is pushing forward the access control technologies to secure the wireless and wired Ethernet. With Unified Access Control, enterprises can authenticate people as well as devices like laptops and IP phones so that no unauthorized devices/people can tap into the enterprise communication.

In the Pipeline

Fixed mobile convergence is another technology trend which will propel growth in the IP-PBX segment. A converged communications solution can increase revenues and market share while providing new competitive positioning, especially for mobile operators, mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), and converged wireline/wireless operators.

The combination of converged fixed mobile voice and messaging services along with innovative next-generation capabilities such as presence and location based services, provides an opportunity to offer differentiated services to the enterprise and SMB markets. We see immense scope for growth here as well.

Cloud based technology can be used in any place where calls or conferencing solution is required. As long as there is data connectivity, the need for dedicated PBX can be completely written off and instead cloud based voice solution like VoicePHP would be more appropriate.

Moving to cloud based computing optimizes in more than several ways. Best part is on-demand usage of cloud PBX restricts the power usage to only when needed. Also the dynamic scaling, optimized routing, large call volumes effectively reduce the power consumption per call. Compare this with dedicated PBX boxes in each and every enterprise which are running round the year, but are only used for a certain part of that duration adding to electricity and power wastage.

With 3G, WiMax, and thereafter 4g technology, the pipe is only becoming wider and wider and thereby more bandwidth is available for consumption. Voice is bandwidth intensive-very few players, including TringMe have been able to deliver real-time voice communication over 2.5G. The increase of bandwidth will definitely help the quality and reliability associated with VoIP technology in general. As per industry resources, nearly 100 mn users are expected to be using mobile VoIP by 2012 with over 471 bn calls likely to be made via mobile VoIP by 2015. There is a lot of demand and IP based solutions will only become better to serve such demands.

Akanksha Singh
akankshas@cybermedia.co.in