There has been a wave of innovation in the field of communication technology that has touched every sphere of life in recent years. It has changed the way we do business, offer customer service and speak to each other.
Over the next few years, we are about to see this wave continue as several different technology trends come to fruition. They will impact businesses of all sizes, and knowing what to expect may help you take advantage of them.
1) 5G Internet Network
By 2020, the number of devices with internet connectivity will drastically increase, and the need for a faster, safer and cost and energy efficient network will be critical. Gartner forecasts that the number of networked devices will soar from approximately 5 billion in 2015 to 25 billion by 2020.
Following the ongoing trend of innovation in the mobile industry, 5G is the next logical step. It will help alleviate the problems we see with regard to network congestion, energy efficiency, reliability, cost.
2) Fibre Everywhere for Improved Connectivity
If you look back to 2014, you will see there have been notable efforts to increase available connectivity and meet the demand arising from an increased usage of HD video, 3G/4G, streaming and many other broadband services.
It has led to lower cost FTTH/FTTC, promises from BT Openreach to give service providers greater access and even government schemes to help businesses get better connectivity.
Over the next couple years, we will see this trend continue with even more focus on ensuring UK data speeds are on par with our continental neighbours. Looking further into the future, it was recently announced only a couple days ago in the government’s new digital strategy, that full-fibre broadband coverage should be available to every home in the UK by 2033. The proposed legislation would also guarantee that new homes are fitted with full-fibre broadband.
3) Big Data Playing Bigger Role
Today big data is one of the most talked about topics in the world of business. With an increased number of embedded devices, mobile users, businesses, contextual information, location information and network protocols, it is possible to generate 20 billion records a day (that amounts to 1TB information daily). And the data volume is only increasing.
By processing this colossal data with complex analytics, it is possible to understand a scenario, interpret events, predict a trend and decide course of action. When used right, big data is can yield bigger benefits and improved efficiency in terms of cost, power, and resources.
With more businesses realising its efficacy, big data is sure to transform communication systems into smarter networks.
4) Cyber-security Technologies Will Become More Sophisticated
We have seen over the past few years that virtually any connected device can be hacked. But thanks to the increase in cyber security breaches, businesses are taking cyber security more seriously. General internet users are also using security measures such as phone number verification and login verification. All of this has helped, but over the next couple years we will see the cyber-security industry’s full response—technologies that are better at catching, and stopping, increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks.
5) Smartphones & Wearable Tech Getting Even Smarter
Just when you thought your smartphone couldn’t get much smarter—it will. With Augmented Reality apps, bendy phones and facial recognition, smartphones are only going to become more capable and easier to use. Plus with demand going up, prices are going down. Read what the Mobile World Conference says is in store for us the next few years.
6) Unified Communications as Standard
With the PSTN & IDSN network ending in 2025, businesses are going to have to move to VoIP business phone systems. With that move to an IP-based service, comes the opportunity to connect office telephony to other applications—such as CRM, finance software and mobile. Over the next couple years we will see a large portion of businesses adopt this type of unified communications technology, increasing the ease with which staff can move between applications and reducing the admin time of manual tasks such as logging calls.
Mark Zuckerberg recently said, the future of communication is technology. As a company born in the cloud, we couldn’t agree more. Technology will change all aspects of how we communicate with each other, and indeed already has.
