VoIP Is About More Than Replacing The Phone
from the realizing-this dept
For way too long, most of the attention on VoIP has focused on how it's a cheaper telephone replacement option -- which a few people have pointed out is the wrong lesson to take from VoIP. Yes, it can provide cheaper calling, but the real value of VoIP is that it opens up the ability to add new and useful applications to voice communications. When looking for game-changing ideas, simply doing something cheaper tends not to be nearly as revolutionary as enabling something that couldn't have been done before. That's why it's been disappointing to see so many VoIP providers focus on price wars rather than offering something different. The good news is that we're starting to see some companies offer something different using VoIP. The disposable phone numbers idea seems more like a gimmick (though one that some folks might find useful). However, what's more interesting are the features the service is looking to add on top of the disposable numbers, such as the ability to offer specific content to callers. Who knows if this particular solution will catch on, but it's nice to see companies trying to provide something more than just a telephone replacement service when it comes to VoIP.
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Woot! First Post!
With my Skype line, it's inexpensive enough to keep the service and it gives me a phone line for my 'outside' contacts.
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AOL's 'AIM Phoneline' offers free local phone numb
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obituary
I'm the youngest daughter of Genoveva Caubat. I live in Denmark.
I would like to hear from you. Ok?
Lisa Caubat Olsen
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Re: obituary
best
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Something Different
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Market Entry
I've been providing IT management & strategy consulting to companies for years, and no matter which aspect of VoIP I chose to really push to help a company move forward, when I really needed them to move on the issue it was cost savings that got the deal done. Phone systems in business environments for so many years have been major headaches - combined with absolutely predatory contracts and equipment lease structures that made it a serious point of pain for a company to switch vendors.
So in the end, I could parade feature after feature after feature and future potential application integration - and they would all be received well. But then the discussion would invariably center on the pain of changing the system, the hardware, getting out of existing lease and service contracts and training staff on the new system and the discussion would bog down...until I brought out the savings figures. For a small to midsized company, saving $100,000/year is a really big deal, and the one that got them to pull the trigger.
Only then can you push to get them to use features that will make a long term difference.
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two words - coochie coupon
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The next great SPAM vehicle
but the real value of VoIP is that it opens up the ability to add new and useful applications to voice communications.
Yeah, like giving low-cost telemarketing capability to spammers!
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clogged internet
if everyone were to use this, the internet bandwidth will increase so much.. and demand will drive up cost.
ill be damned if all my neighbors switched to voip with video making my connection laggy causing me to get fragged or not frag as much on CS. DONT LAG MY GAMES FOR YOUR STUPID PHONE CALLS!
thank you.
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clogged internet
if everyone were to use this, the internet bandwidth will increase so much.. and demand will drive up cost.
ill be damned if all my neighbors switched to voip with video making my connection laggy causing me to get fragged or not frag as much on CS. DONT LAG MY GAMES FOR YOUR STUPID PHONE CALLS!
thank you.
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Vonage
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OK, Sure
Vonage doesn't offer anything revolutionary to the VOIP market, I mean, they don't even offer such features as being able to block incoming calls for specific caller ID's, a feature that any VOIP service should excel at. I asked their customer service why they don't offer this feature, and they say they are looking into it, as if it requires lots of research and development.
I know on the open source PBX Asterix used with VOIP this is a very easy feature to implement. Once you add a software layer to telephony service, it is easy to implement this feature, you just block the call from going to the phone or extension if it has a certain number in its caller ID header. The fact that Vonage doesn't offer this service seems to suggest they are more interested in keeping telemarkeing companies happy by not having Vonage customer block their numbers.
Sorry, still bitter about switching to Vonage, but I mean, in the VOIP business, no company is looking for to offer more then cheaper service compared to the telcom giants. If anything changes in VOIP it will be more marketing and advertising which will ruin this industry.
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To be honest...
Disagree! The major advantage of VoIp is the cheaper price. At least for who live in places where the normal phone companies charge 3x or 4x more tha in UAS, or 10x more than i.e Skype.
Lets try a call about 5 minute and you'll pay ~$12.00, using Skype ~$1.20
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Innovating with Voip
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three words: moves, adds, changes
for big companies and organizations it can take days to get a new phone extension, or to move and existing one, or change the class of service for something. a voip phone extension is super easy to install or move. soft phones are even easier.
for redisdential users, move from NYC mexico city and teach your family to call you. with a VOIP service, the only thing to get used to is you ansering the phone in spanish.
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sacjnqwdijvfiq3ri
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