Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal may be the most influential newpaper writer when it comes to technology. Why? Because when he writes it means volumes in business if he gives it a thumbs up. He did for Vonage. (registaration required)
Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
The New York Times has a very nice write up about patents being awarded in the VoIP realm.
It’s good to see invention is not dead, and that taking ideas that worked in the past, are going to impact the future.
My question, what’s so different about a switchbox in VoIP and one used by Ham radio enthusiasts or to toggle between a VCR and a cable box….I realy wonder sometimes if the patent office thinks this stuff through.
Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
I don’t spend enough time writing about SKYPE, what I call the ICQ for VoIP.
Muniwireless.com has a good summary of what having SKYPE on a PDA can mean. I’ve played with other VoIP clients on my HP iPaq and, even with the 400 mhz processor, the voice quality still is lacking.
Until more powerful PDA’s come along, these tools are more hobbyist in nature than carrier grade. But, in the future, and I suspect, the not too distant one, we will be using PDA’s in lieu of a cell phone in some locations, and, for an enterprise or campus network, it sure will be a way to cut down the cell phone bill.
Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
According to a recent report it seems YahooBB, the VoIP carrier in Japan keeps growing.
They’re now up to 3.6 million customers. I’d say Vonage has a lot of catching up to do.
Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
Of all the news out in the last day or so, and as I reported on during yesterday’s KenRadio’s World Technology RoundUp it seems explaining just what VoIP is, seems to be the first step in figuring out how to regulate and tax the next generation of telephony.
If you want to hear the commentary send me an email and I can send you the Windows Media Edit.
Andy
Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
The Baltimore Sun has a very positive story about VoIP. While much of it is rehashing, it does reveal how the people selling VoIP are going about doing it and where some of the business can be found, and why.
Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
The BBC Magazine has an interesting discussion story about VoIP and how it is changing communications.
By recognizing that the paradigm has changed from dial, talk, hang up, it is showing that how voice communciation is changing.
Free services like Skype, SipPhone, Firefly all now mean that instead of typing and chatting via an IM client, you can now "talk" to the other party in real time. For those who are "always on" the phone becomes less and less of the primary means of communication with tools like email and IM at their disposal. Now with high enough voice quality being available for free think of these new VoIP services as the intercom for the distance workers.
Stay connected,
Andy Abramson
Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
Covad, one of the original CLEC’s that has had its ups and downs throughout its history, due largely to the efforts of the telcos to make their life miserable, has announced plans to roll out VoIP services by the end of 2004.
What this means is all customer currently on Covad’s DSL network will be able to add voice by the year’s end. That puts them squarely in competition with the carriers like Quest, SBC and Verizon which want to have both the customer’s voice and data services.
The traditional carriers have been slow to move into the VoDSL marketplace. Once again, some upstart has to get the ball rolling. Seems that Covad has now fired that shot. Covad, which has one of the largest nationwide deployments of DSL, is in a good position.
They are taking their time, rolling out three tiers of service and more importantly, they have customers now to whom they can upsell at reduced marketing costs.
Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
You’re likely wondering why I’ve been so quiet. Largely it’s because the news around VoIP seems to be a rehashing of what has been posted here. The stories that have come out continue to revolve around issues we already know about.
For example, the FCC is getting ready to rule of Jeff Pulver’s petition that VoIP is not the same as regular telephony. That’s a great starting point.
Primus, who we have mentioned before, is making noise, and may pose a threat to Vonage. The big issue with their technology remains the need for a static IP address, something the USA cable broadband providers moved away from a few years ago.
At the same time Vonage keeps pushing for no regulation, and drives head on for more subscribers, especially for their all you can talk plan. Coming on top of their raising more cash from two VC firms, CEO Jeffrey Citron has to produce results. Much of the money came from funds looking for late stage investment, meaning almost ready for IPO.
Interoperability is the key word with ITXC. Loaded with bandwidth and connections in different countries. Operatiing SIP and h.323 connecting points, ITXC is pushing their ability to do switching between protocols, in session (meaning during the call).
San Diego based Viper Networks, maker’s of the vPhone, keep expanding. They acquired a bunch of termination points meaning they now have more direct access and thus lower cost to place calls internationally. One guess is they are going first after the exPat market that resides here in the USA.
In Africa it seems VoIP is on the rise. Illegally in some places. Seems eveyone wants some kind of regulation. But where they start, nobody knows.
Stay connected,
Andy Abramson
Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
While this news came out earlier in the day, it’s still deserves recognition. Given Vonage’s growth one has to give credit to aggressive marketing, public relations and the refer a friend program.
Vonage is not doing anything special in marketing terms. They’re just working smartly and being aggressive. Their staff is youthful, stays on the mark of getting new customers.
One thing we have not heard yet from them is churn rates. Time will tell.
Andy
Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
David Beckemeyer of Toys.org has put together a very nice PowerPoint about VoIP.
While it deals mostly with SIP, it provides a very good introductory primer for the uninitiated.
It’s worth taking a few minutes to see his handiwork.
Stay connected,
Andy Abramson
Source: andyabramson.blogs.com
An FBR buy side analyst questions just how major VoIP will be for the cable industry, in this column on TheStreet.com
The key to all this is churn. Cable operators have forever been fighting the battle with the satellite companies (Dish Network and Direct TV) here in the USA to retain customers. With Cable Telephony 1.0 they had no real competitive advantage over the telcos so a customer, other than getting one bill, had no reason to adopt it. Now with next generation VoIP services Cable Telephony 2.0 should offer enough reasons to keep the customer from jumping to satellite, or at least that’s the idea.
Time will tell!
Andy Abramson
