Google rumored to be purchasing WhatsApp for $1 billion

One of the more popular reasons that companies have cited for implementing a VoIP phone system or unified communication solution is improved connectivity and cross-platform communication functionality. By using the internet as the backbone of the solution, many companies are able to implement a system that incorporates voice, email, instant messaging and video conferencing. This ensures that every conversation is held in a manner that is effective for all parties.

The importance of these two features can been seen in the latest corporate acquisition rumor. According to an article from Digital Trends, Google is in talks to purchase the popular mobile messaging application WhatsApp for $1 billion. The program allows users on almost every mobile platform – Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Phone – to send instant messages, images, audio and video with one another without needing to pay for an SMS service.

WhatsApp has been growing in popularity since being introduced in December of last year. On New Year's Eve, the company reported a personal record of processing 7 billion inbound messages sent and 11 billion outbound messages received in one day. The previous record was 10 billion total messages.

A price tag of $1 billion does seem steep, especially considering that is the same number that Facebook paid to acquire Instagram last year. Instagram's popularity was much higher than what WhatsApp currently has.

While most businesses are not going to implement WhatsApp as a communication tool, it is very reasonable to believe they will be looking at systems that do something similar. This is why VoIP systems or unified communication solutions are growing in popularity. With the help of an IT consulting firm that is experienced with these systems, any company can implement this technology successfully.

From our offices in Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland, PRO OnCall is your single-source technology consulting service, offering managed IT support, unified communications solutions and on-call IT support.