Consumers believe video-calling services from operators would be better than those from OTT players, amid growing use of the service, a new survey has claimed.
A report from YouGov, which was commissioned by software company OpenCloud, found almost a third of consumers (32 percent) in UK, United States, Germany and France use OTT voice or video-calling services on any device, with 18 percent using their mobile. Almost 40 percent said they expected their usage of video-calling to rise during the next 12 months.
Across all respondents, 74 percent said they would be interested in an operator provided voice-calling service, with half of them showing a “significantt” enthusiasm for it. Almost nine in 10 (89 percent) said they would be interested in a “native” experience, similar to how they make regular phonecalls.
Among those who use OTT services, 60 percent said they would be interested in an operator provided service, with 62 percent of them preferring a “native” experience and 58 percent choosing an operator provided app.
Respondents rated operators higher than OTT players when it came to ease of use, number of contacts avalable, quality of video and being able to use the service on multiple devices. The survey found having a greater number of contacts was the biggest draw for an operator led service, because many OTT services offer a closed user group of who can be called.
Mark Windle, Head of Marketing at OpenCloud said: “The use of video-calling services is set to grow. Following the launch of 4G, the video-calling market is now up for grabs and OTT services and operators’ Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) services, which feature video, will compete for their share.
“OTT brands have been successful in offering innovative video-calling, but with consumers appearing to believe that the network operators can now do better there is opportunity for them to regain some lost ground. Operators will need to address both perceived and actual levels of service innovation in a cost-competitive way in order to capitalise on this opportunity.”