A few decades ago, communication was through writing a letter or making a phone call. Then came the internet and, along with it, the email that became one of the standard methods of getting in touch. Today we have several options from social media and chat to collaboration platforms like Zoom and Teams and virtual reality.

In-person communication is still preferred for certain transactions. Businesses continue to use phone communication — through mobile than a landline phone — to interact with their customers, vendors, lenders, and other stakeholders.

Today, businesses generally choose to communicate with their stakeholders through voice rather than meeting them in person. As a result, the digital forms of voice communication quickly replace the traditional telephony method.

The Evolution Voice Communication

Voice communication has transformed from telegraph technology to the current cloud-based communication technology with a lot of innovations and mergers of multiple technologies in the process. From telegraph in the 1800s to telephone exchanges in 1877 to fiber optics in the 1980s and VoIP, voice technology has transformed a lot and is still evolving.

Voice Communication today

After the invention of the telephone exchange system, arguably, fiber optics technology ushered in the most positive change for voice communication. The magnitude of its power can be gauged from the fact that one glass fiber thread thinner than a human hair can transmit the amount of voice traffic that needs thousands of copper wires. In other words, the invention of fiber optics made voice communication better and less expensive.

VoIP (voice over internet protocol) and an open API (applied programming interface) further revolutionised voice communication. VoIP, as the name suggests, allows voice communication over the internet, and API connects software programs to communicate with each other. Both these technologies support unified communication as a service (UCaaS) system that is currently used extensively across businesses.

With several communication systems available now, you may get confused about what to select and whether voice communication is still helpful. The phone calls might have become inefficient. However, the evolving digital solutions make voice communication one of the most convenient and effective communication methods for businesses and individuals.

As a result of the path-breaking innovation in communication technology, the users have multiple choices. They can decide whether to include voice in their communication strategy.

The Ways of Communication Have Been on Change

Earlier, the only voice communication method was phone calls. Now, we can text, call, video call, or group call through apps (such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger) with minimal effort, zero call charges, or wait times. Personal communication has changed, and people expect the same change in their business communication.

The customer experience expectations have radically changed in recent times. Customers expect quick responses and resolutions to their issues. Phone calls can keep you on hold for hours, and emails may not give an instant response. But, the new digital voice communication means quick and instant interactions.

Compared to traditional phone calls, digital voice solutions come with a synchronous channel that provides real-time interactions that are convenient and efficient. The current trends of innovations are rapidly progressing in communication technologies. Therefore, digital channels will evolve dramatically in the coming years, changing how we communicate through voice.

The power of voice in communication

Voice communication allows you to talk directly with your customers, vendors, and customer support teams to resolve issues quickly than messages and emails can. For example, sales teams can respond to a prospect’s queries instantly, helping increase the conversion rate.

Prospects and leads feel comfortable talking directly to a company sales team, which can help build stronger customer relationships and trust, crucial elements during the sales process. This factor is more relevant for products or services like a CRM, ERP, security system, or sophisticated equipment. The prospect may have many questions that need your clarification.

In the same way, good voice interaction with customer support services can help you achieve high customer retention and customer acquisition rates.

Voice also allows both parties to have a better understanding of each other. It can easily reveal what the customer or prospect has in mind or the emotions they are under at that time, something an emoji cannot achieve.

Going further, talking to your customer or seeing them face to face over a video call can be as powerful as an in-person meeting. What is important is to know how effectively the voice can be an integral part of your digital communication plans.

The Digital Trends that have impacts on Voice Communication

We have experienced the benefits of internet-based communication services (VoIP, video, and collaboration) that have evolved over the last two decades. Many businesses that used traditional telephony extensively have already migrated to VoIP solutions.

While several new technologies and trends are emerging and evolving, we will take a closer look at five trends that can bring affecting changes. However, this is not to say that only these five are the trends in digital approaches to voice communication.

• The Emergence of 5G:The fifth generation of wireless network technology, better known as 5G, offers superfast speeds and shorter response times, radically changing mobile internet connectivity.

  With 5G in use, VoIP users can experience high call quality, faster connections for outgoing and incoming calls, and eliminate jitter during data transfers. The internet connectivity will be entirely different from what we have now.

• Adoption of Artificial Intelligence:Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not more an emerging, though evolving, technology. You see it working while on social media, when you seek customer service, on searching for products, services, or locations. Not just that, threat prevention systems and sales processes are all automated by AI.

  VoIP is no exception to this. AI helps analyze your VoIP interactions to predict future behaviour. It also helps form a better understanding of the issues, products, or services people search for most. You can also evaluate the customer experience. Furthermore, it provides useful metrics to help you make informed decisions.

• Unified Communications as a Service:Consolidation of various communication channels into a single service over the cloud is known as Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS).

  It is a cloud-based ‘as a service’ mechanism to deliver a unified communication system to users, particularly enterprises. This service leverages VoIP technology but offers both voice and non-voice services.

  The power of this methodology is its features in allowing bundling of various services into a single service platform to deliver web and video calls and conferencing, instant messaging, and team collaboration platforms.

  The biggest advantages of using UCaaS are that companies no longer have to install any hardware on-premise, making it purely Opex. And users can access it from anywhere as long as they are connected.

• Unified mobile communications:With fixed lines almost extinct, companies are looking for solutions, including VoIP systems, that work on mobile devices. Development is in progress to replicate UCaaS on mobile devices to overcome the major disadvantage of UCaaS that it doesn’t always work for mobile phones.

  The combination of 5G and the increasing power and mobility of mobile devices makes unified mobile communication a perfect solution for companies that need voice communication services on the go.

Voice communication is still evolving

Traditional landlines or fixed lines have been on the decline for decades, accelerated by the advent of mobile phones and the availability of VoIP communication services.

The demand for faster, convenient, and less expensive ways to communicate with businesses is driving more innovations in VoIP solutions. Find out how service providers that can enable you to experience digital communication services, including voice. Learn how they can help you save on your telephone costs, implement the best communication systems, and optimize your business processes.