Casual observers of the voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) services market know that it's been on the rise for some time, as businesses and individual consumers alike discover the value of placing long distance and international calls over the Web at extremely cheap prices. But a new report suggests that what we've known anecdotally is about to be proven, as the VoIP services market is poised to record “strong growth” in both corporate and individual consumer fields alike over the next five years.

How strong? The reports suggest that the market for VoIP services worldwide is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.7 percent for the period of 2014 to 2020, until it reaches its ultimate value of $136.76 billion in 2020. Driving this impressive upward mobility is what's called the “price to performance ratio,” wherein essentially people get more bang for the buck. A variety of other features contribute to this value, like the portability of phone numbers, high-end voice quality, and a set of rich media features that contribute to the overall value inherent in this system.

Another key driver of this growing market is its connection to another familiar phenomenon: the rise of mobile devices. With a wide range of consumers from corporate to individual users taking advantage of mobile devices, that's driving a further demand for VoIP services that can go along with these devices. The mobile VoIP segment is actually expected to grow at a faster rate than the market itself, suggesting that it's driving some of the averages upward; it's slated to grow at a CAGR of 14.7 percent through 2020. Throw in the impact of the bring your own device (BYOD) concept in most workplaces and the averages go up still further; projections say VoIP services, as well as phone-to-phone VoIP subscriber numbers, are expected to rise at a CAGR of 16.6 percent for the corporate segment.

Easily one of the biggest growth factors in VoIP services is corporate use. International long distance calling is set for a CAGR of eight percent by 2020, and will account for 62.3 percent of the global market for VoIP services by then. Just to illustrate the growth involved, in 2013, international long distance calling reportedly comprised 54.9 percent of the market.

The projections here suggest a critical point: while there will likely be development of the VoIP market for regular consumers, most of the growth involved in this market will be generated by corporate sources. That means that much of the development in this sector will likely target the corporate user, as it will represent a bigger market than its counterpart in regular services. Thus, new advancements will likely start with the corporate sector before reaching regular consumers. That's not necessarily great news, but not necessarily terrible either; it's just something to understand as we proceed into this market.

VoIP services are valuable tools for work and at home, even if work will likely drive more of the market for the next few years. Making those calls will always be an important part of things, and the VoIP services market will likely be right there to respond to users' needs.