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What would be the trends in Hosted PBX Services for SMBs in 2011?
Hosted VOIP PBX systems are a low cost alternative for many SMBs lacking finances. In the coming year what trends should the Hosted PBX providers follow to improve business communication?
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3 Answers
I actually think topics of "cost" and "feature parity" are sort of out of date. Yes, of course features are important, and yes, cost is always king, especially in the SMB. But what I think we'll see more of in 2011 is an emphasis on Hosted PBX as a strategic initiative.
Super-consultant Geoffrey Moore talks a lot about "Core" vs. "Context" - how businesses need to focus on their core competencies, and outsource anything ('context') that isn't a core competency. For most businesses, communications falls into that realm. You're not going to be a better law firm, architecture firm, pizza shop, etc by running a better phone system than the competition.
So I think the trend we'll see is more of promotion of Hosted PBX as a smarter strategic play (both in the SMB and in the midmarket/enterprise.)
I would say first of all that not all hosted offerings are the same. Some providers are offering essentially a premise VoIP solution but hosted - in which case everything is dedicated and the functionality should be identical to that which the PBX vendor advertises. This includes all optional interfaces, for instance interconnect to existing corporate directories and third-party call control (such as click-to-dial solutions).
Other providers are using shared facilities: either specific products aimed at Service Providers - basically the VoIP equivilent of a local exchange but, increasingly, with many unified communications features built-in - or other VoIP PBX solutions with modifications to multi-tenant them.
I think the trends to look out for are feature parity between hosted offerings and on premise solutions, provision of presence, directory and third-party call control interfaces, and continued reduction in price. As bigger players come into the arena, and competition increases, there will be a major focus on the SLAs provided and the metrics made available to the customer in order to monitor this.
As we see more hosted VoIP take-up in business, we should also see more community-of-interest style services - at least reduced or free "on net" calling between customers, but also coordinated directory solutions and linkages with social networking.
How quickly this moves depends upon the market - I would expect the growth of hosted VoIP to continue to gather momentum, but to date growth has been steady rather than revolutionary. Significant new service introduction will require a much greater customer base. 2011 should be the year when the growth really starts to happen.
consult.mike-barnes.co.uk
Your question is a bit unusual, since your asking which trends the providers should follow - rather than the vendors or SMBs. A key trend for them is to gauge how the habits and usage patterns of their end customers are changing. With a little bit of effort, they could get a handle on how much VoIP they're doing, how much mobility, how much video, etc.
With hosted services, providers should be looking for clues get SMBs to go beyond voice and to start considering UC-like solutions. This ties into what Alex was saying about positioning your offerings a more strategic way. Providers can only grow so much by chasing the bottom feeders who only buy on price.
Providers should also look for indicators that their customers are ready for SIP trunking. This may reduce revenues by cutting back on TDM trunks, but it opens up possibilities for new services and revenue streams - plus it binds the customer to the provider, making it harder for them to switch.
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