Whatsapp revealed in a recent blog post that its users make more than 100 million voice calls each day equating to more than an astonishing 1,100 calls per second showing the growing demand for Voice over IP (VoIP) calls as consumers move away from traditional ways of communicating.   What’s even more surprising is that the app only completed the rollout of its new voice-calling feature for Android and iOS users in April 2015.

The chat app offers the facility to all its users, allowing them to transmit a voice conversation as ordinary internet traffic rather than as an ordinary voice call. This means that callers can use wi-fi networks or their data plans to make these calls.

While VoIP is now offered through mobile applications such as WhatsApp and Messenger, mobile operators are increasingly providing the technology as part of the package offered to their customers.  Following successful testing, EE recently introduced voice over 4G calling which they’ve now started rolling out in cities across the UK.  Three has offered voice over 4G since September, and O2 have an app ‘TU Go’ which offers SMS and voice functions over wi-fi.

For one thing, the use of wi-fi networks saves money, since wi-fi data is not usually capped. It also offers better coverage, with wi-fi networks often being available in areas where normal cellular coverage is not. The call quality offered in these calls is also said to be better and the calls connect faster.

For businesses, the benefits of cheaper and higher quality calls through Voice over IP calling are obvious, with the added fact that employees travelling abroad could use wi-fi calling to avoid potentially hefty data roaming charges.

The strong expansion of WhatsApp’s voice calls suggests that this is a market that operators will ignore at their peril, and businesses could be one of the key areas set for expansion.