As 2014 comes to a close, it's time to look into the future and see what 2015 has in store. Bring-your-own-device policies were all the rage this year, and industry experts predict they will only grow in popularity in the new year. However, enterprise BYOD initiatives involve a lot more than just letting employees bring their own mobile phones to work. There are a variety of factors that come into play when creating a BYOD program, and below are some of the predictions for what will be in demand for 2015.

Vertical solutions
Targeting the BYOD and mobility needs of specific industries will become a much bigger market as certain sectors require increased security or customized features. Health care is one such example. Doctors often work in multiple hospitals or offices and need access to medical information in one convenient place. Utilizing unified communications tools like real-time messaging and voice-over-IP allows health care professionals to achieve the mobility necessary while still staying in contact with co-workers and receiving the information needed to care for patients. The ability to implement extra security precautions while using such services helps protect sensitive medical information.

Increased mobility
Technology research firm Ovum expected that employees will begin to demand greater mobility in the coming year. There is currently a "mobility mismatch," as Ovum described it, where employees want more flexibility than IT departments are capable of providing. By employing advanced UC solutions that offer staff members the ability to make phone calls, chat and share information from anywhere, companies can provide the mobility their employees want while still being easy on the budget and tough on security.

"While pressure from end users continues to have an impact on the shape of the enterprise mobility management market, it is time for enterprises to become more proactive with their mobility strategies and look for ways that mobile devices - whether corporate or employee-owned - and apps can work in tandem with other endpoints to transform the way that people work," said Richard Absalom, senior analyst of enterprise mobility for Ovum.

VoLTE playing a bigger role
As more organizations have implemented BYOD policies and cloud-based communications solutions, Voice-over-LTE has started to make a bigger impact. According to Network World contributor Larry Hettick, IP telephony and UC portfolios have seen double-digit growth over the past year, and this will likely only increase. Going into 2015, VoLTE will play a much larger role in enterprise communications as it is able to provide users with high-definition voice calling and increase interoperability with video and other collaborative media.