The global web conferencing market is anticipated to witness remarkable growth in coming years due to increasing trade and business activities around the globe. Web conferencing enables real-time communication and conferencing events to be shared with the remote locations. Moreover, it helps to reduce geographic hurdles for professionals working on business projects at different locations. Growing need for flexible work culture and technological changes are likely to have a positive impact on market growth. Varied benefits offered by these services, such as enhanced user experience, smart work-flow, and product simplification, are also anticipated to boost market growth in coming years.
Rising demand for online workshops and interactive conferences among government and private organizations across the world is expected to stimulate market growth. Extensive usage of web conferencing services for training events, meetings, and professional gatherings is anticipated to drive the market in future. Direct customer support offered by these services is also likely to bode well for the market. In addition, companies are implementing this technology to reach their vendors or customers at flexible times, which reduces travelling expenses. Online workshops help in reducing costs related to conference hall renting. Technology’s capability to enhance productivity and maintain continuity in emergency situations, such as natural disasters, will also augment its adoption among companies.
Continuous development in internet services, information technology, and web cameras are expected to boost market growth. Technological advancements, such as unified communication and cloud platforms like software as a service (SaaS), are also compelling organizations to deploy better conferencing solutions at affordable costs. High demand for real-time communication and growing trend of outsourcing of IT solutions are also likely to stimulate market growth. In addition, increasing efforts for the introduction of mobile apps in order to provide unified communication and collaboration are expected to propel market growth in the coming years. For instance, Grandstream Networks, Inc. launched the IPVideoTalk Web Meetings service. It is a web conferencing platform that enables users to conduct high quality online meetings with HD video and audio from any Mac, PC, and iOS or Android devices. IPVideoTalk Web Meetings plan is a free Personal plan which supports up to 3 participants. It allows any user to meet with anyone, anywhere at any time for free.
Web conferencing technology is increasingly adopted in several verticals, such as government, education, healthcare, retail, and banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI). BFSI holds a prominent share in the market due to declining cost of technology. Benefits, such as reduction in traveling cost and improved customer services, are boosting the adoption of technology in BFSI sector. The education sector is expected to emerge highly lucrative owing to rising demand for web conferencing applications to conduct online education programs in schools and colleges. Growing preference for cloud platform has increased the adoption of hosted deployment type. This type of deployment is gaining traction among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Demand for on-premises solutions is likely to increase due to rising security and privacy concerns. Large enterprises generally install web conferencing software on their own servers.
North America is a leading region in the market due to rising adoption of web conferencing across different verticals. Presence of required infrastructure and continuous technological developments are likely to boost market growth in the region. The U.S. represents one of the largest markets across the world. The country has headquarters of various financial institutions, where there is a need to connect to different countries for trade exchange. Asia Pacific is likely to witness strong growth in the coming years. Growth of outsourcing industries has increased the need to establish technologies for connecting countries across the world. The U.S. and other European countries are increasingly setting up their facilities in Asia Pacific. Countries, such as Philippines, China, and India, are expected to witness significant growth in the BPO sector. Europe is likely to emerge as one of the promising regions in the market owing to growth of service sector in Sweden, France, and U.K.
Some of the key companies operating in the web conferencing market are RHUB Communications Inc.; Genesys Meeting Center; OmNovia Technologies; IBM Sametime; and Genesys Meeting Center. Pricing pressure is continuously rising on players. Thus, numerous companies are taking initiatives to develop collaboration services that include web conferencing along with messaging, e-mail, and groupware. This is expected to reduce price pressure as many solutions are provided in a single suit at affordable price. For instance, Cisco WebEx bundles its suite of Web conferencing services under Enterprise Edition and as a part of Cisco Unified Workspace Licensing (CUWL). The company offers flexible licensing options to meet customers’ needs.
