Telecommunication trends: what you need to know to make profit

Image courtesy of Peter Harrison at Flickr.com

The modern world is propelled by the power of Telecommunications, which is the exchange of information over significant distances by electronic means. A complete, single telecommunications circuit consists of two stations, each equipped with a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter and receiver at any station may be combined into a single device called a transceiver. The medium of signal transmission can be electrical wire or cable (also known as "copper"), optical fiber or electromagnetic fields. The free-space transmission and reception of data by means of electromagnetic fields is called wireless.

To better understand this wide concept, lets analyze the simplest form of telecommunication, which takes place between two stations. However, it is common for multiple transmitting and receiving stations to exchange data among themselves. Such an arrangement is called a telecommunications network. The Internet is the largest example. On a smaller scale, examples include: Corporate and academic wide-area networks (WANs), Telephone networks, Police and fire communications systems, Taxicab dispatch networks, and Groups of amateur radio operators.

For businesses to remain competitive, they must monitor the latest telecommunications developments and adapt their products and services to meet marketplace demands. Small and medium businesses phone service buyers can find significant cost savings and employee productivity gains when choosing suppliers and technologies. Associated advances in technology, make telecommunications even more critical for SMBs. Global spending on cloud, mobile, social and big data technologies and solutions in 2016 will be growing to more than $3.8 trillion by 2019.

In order to remain competitive in their industries, SMBs need to consider four telecommunication trends that will allow them to make profit and take advantage of the changing technologies.

Information Technology and Telecommunications Convergence

Telecommunications convergence is the way distinct services are merged into single networks. For example, devices such as smartphones that offer voice calls, web access, video, productivity applications and more. In this, Internet is the way information is relayed across networks, and the cloud storage and computing services the massive deluge of data have spawned, foundational for businesses today. Cloud computing is the one with more increasing relevance because the cloud enables the use of all web based tools and applications, from smartphone apps to business basics, such as video conferencing. The cloud is third party, offsite storage and processing of data, in massive. SMBs can purchase their data storage and processing, from a “cloud” provider, avoiding huge capital costs and ensuring access to the latest storage and processing technologies.

The Rise of the App Economy

In the last year alone, an estimated 180 billion applications were downloaded globally. But what originated as an Information Technology catchphrase for smartphone tools has a much deeper meaning for business productivity. Business intelligence applications delivered through telecom systems, such as video conferencing and unified communications, help employees work collaboratively, increase their efficiency and optimize overall business processes. The potential payoffs are huge. Thanks to Business Intelligence, applications are growing in importance and have the biggest impact on a company’s telecommunications needs. Cloud based voice over Internet Protocol calls, and associated applications let small and medium business reap the benefits of applications that allow unified communications through virtually every business application imaginable. Unified communications applications bring productivity improvements for mobile employees, they can also favorably change ways in which all employees communicate as well as reduce the necessity of travel. And, with the right service partner, these solutions to complex business needs, can be implemented simply and cost effectively.

Cyber Security

Image courtesy of Christiaan Colen at Flickr.com

Cyber security ceased to be optional. Everything from banking and healthcare to education and government, is protecting these digitized networks and the data they hold is critical. Cybercrime is crime that involves a computer and a network, with the computer being used in the commission of a crime, or being be the target Cybercrime costs are projected to reach $2 trillion by 2019. 

Regulations to protect this sensitive data are substantially increasing and are becoming increasingly complex. This creates a dilemma for SMBs, for whom these expectations may be the same as large companies’ with substantially greater resources: to remain competitive; do they incur the huge costs of self-implementing every possible security protection; or do they just take the risk? Fortunately, SMBs have another choice: obtaining data and network security as a service from a provider with third-party data security certifications, covering the key risk areas and regulatory requirements.

Large telecommunication providers

The fourth trend is that large telecommunication providers are shifting their focus away from small and medium businesses. This market segment requires a greater level of customer service than consumer markets, leaving them out of the sweet spot of most large telecom providers. Selling and servicing SMBs involves a greater number of stakeholders and requires higher and more frequent degrees of touch.