When I returned from my travels to connectivity I was catching up on reading some blogs while sitting in the airport. It was nice to see Alec Saunders‘ return to text format – I was not a fan of podcasts. I’ll add my two cents to a network discussion he began with his posting on
Alec wrote about 2008 marking the death of VoIP. I disagree. As I wrote years ago, for the most part, most VoIP was simply delivering cheap POTS: cheaper prices, and mediocre quality. I asked then:
I’d like to know when VoIP companies will be able to advertise “we’re better,” rather than just going with “we’re cheaper.”
VoIP was simply a technology change with no substantial benefits to the consumer other than price. Not an easy way to earn consumer loyalty: switch to me, I’m cheaper.
That only works until the next better deal emerges.
Alec asks if it is hard to get “hot and bothered about plumbing”. As Alec and I have discussed in the past and as he wrote yesterday, regulatory arbitrage was the main advantage being used by a number of, if not most, pure play VoIP services providers. At the end of the day, these folks were not much different from rum runners of the last century, smuggling long distance minutes across borders.
How many have been able to convert into sustainable businesses?
Unified communications, connecting voice, image, data, mixed media holds is being delivered in a number of ways to consumers. Voice and text chatting while gaming and enhanced business conferencing are but two examples of VoIP enabling real enhancements.
It isn’t the copper and PVC plumbing that gets people hot and bothered, but the really nice faucets, shower fixtures and hot tubs. That’s what we want to see.