VoIP Now

Top Residential VoIP Providers?

Garrett Smith has a list of his choices for the top 10 residential VoIP providers. His criteria for inclusion is service plans, hardware selection, call quality/ reliability, customer service/ support, and overall customer experience and satisfaction.

On that basis, VoIP.com took the number one spot, Vonage third, and Skype fifth. I like his buying advice at the end of the article, which includes "don't pay more than $24.99 per month."

Now, I've heard of all 10 providers and have to admit that it's actually nice that Vonage is in third place, given how their stock has been hurting the past year since their IPO.

What's With Skype?

Late last week, I received an email from Skype saying the my transaction had not completed. Ten days prior to this message (about Jan 30th), I'd bought the US$14.95 unlimited SkypeOut for Canada and the US. I'd previously sent an email to support, and they replied within three business days that, no, everything was fine and that the $2.21 SkypeOut credit showing was for International calls.

Great, I thought. All clear. Then I get this new email around last Thursday or Friday. I sent a query back, but also said how peeved I was, especially as a VoIP blogger. It's now close to 4 business days and I have yet to hear back. I'm even less happy. Especially since the money WAS withdrawn from my PayPal account on Jan 30th.

What's the dealio, Skype? I'm now absolutely certain that my next telephony purchase (VoIP or otherwise)  will not be from Skype. I'm increasingly disappointed with them.

Free FuturePhone International Calls Not So Free

At least not for AT&T, who apparently had to foot a bill for US$2M per month, according to GigaOm. I'm behind on my VoIP reading again, but apparently AT&T's lawsuit against them has caused FuturePhone to slap a huge red sign on their website: "This service is no longer available."

FuturePhone played a sort of telephony arbitrage, setting up a phone number in telco-friendly Iowa, who offers certain subsidies. For whatever it cost you to call the Iowa number, you could terminate your call to an international number for free. I suggest you read the GigaOm article for a clearer explanation, but essential this arbitrage amounts to who foots the call termination costs, and instead of being billed $2,000/mth, AT&T got billed $2M/mth due to FuturePhone's "unlawful practices".

A few other states have similar subsidies for telcos. Gizmo Project's parent, SIPphone, has a VoIP service named area775 based in Nevada.

VoIP Subscribers To Increase Significantly by 2012

If ABI Research is right, there'll be nearly 270 million residential VoIP subscribers around the world by 2012. Now that doesn't sound like a lot when you realize that there are already about one billion Internet users. Of course, not all of them have Internet access at home, although I don't have a figure handy. So, just my opinion, but 270M is a fairly significant number - certainly a large gain over last year's estimate of nearly 40 million subscribers.

Now VoIP might have been declared having gone mainstream, but this suggests that VoIP isn't going to replace PSTN systems anytime soon. As has been mentioned before, there's over 100 years of tradition to replace. Not everyone is comfortable making calls over their computer, though VoIP Wi-Fi phones seem to be increasing in at availability - and possibly sales.

So now I'm thinking that instead of the residential segment of VoIP subscribers leading the charge, it might actually be the business segment.

Unfortunately, Even Skype Can't Get PayPal Payments Right

If you don't already know, the online payments processor PayPal is owned by eBay, who also owns the Skype VoIP soft client and service. I finally convinced myself that the N. American Skype promo, which is only US$14.95 for a full year of unlimited calling, is worth buying. Even though I won't use it much until after I move to Toronto later this year, the $14.95 deal ends in a few days and increases to $29.95 after Jan 31st.

So, with PayPal being a sister company, you'd think Skype could get the payment process simplified. I just went through the process, and clicked on the "pre-approved" checkbox (for simplifying later Skype purchases), online to find that instead of taking money out of my PayPal account, the transaction wanted me to add a credit card. I don't use them, plain and simple. So that means I had to start the whole process over, but without the preapproved setting. Which means that if I want any additional services, I have to go through the process again.

Of course, Skype doesn't yet have SkypeIn numbers for my area (soon to be Toronto), and the promo gives me free calling within Canada and the US for a year, so the point is moot. That is, I don't need the preapproved option yet, but I will. And then again, this is a PayPal problem that I repeatedly encounter when I try to buy subscriptions or give pre-approval for something. That means, with my forgetful nature, businesses lose out on sales from me. I just wish they'd display a clear message saying that that such and such an option requires a credit card.

VoIP Costs To Increase?

[warning: rant ahead] I'm not sure about cable providers in the U.S., but Rogers Cable in the province of Ontario, Canada, is increasing Internet access costs. Now, up here, cable service is a virtual monopoly by region, so my only choices are cable or high-speed dialup. Both have their pros and cons. I'm not happy with my cable Internet service, and now I have to pay more. The only other choice I have is my wireless data connection through my Palm Treo (through Telus Mobility), which costs $100/m and is limited to 250Mb per month, which I use up in two days of normal surfing.

On a side note, Rogers is also pulling MSNBC, the only TV station I watch during the day, to keep up on the tech industry. They're moving it off the basic cable package to a Personal TV package. So now, if I want to keep up on the tech market, product announcements, stock prices etc., I have to pay an extra $30 or so month to get a 6-pack of TV channels I don't give a damn about. And of course, Rogers is always so customer conscious that they're only taking complaints by snail mail. What decade is this?

So cable companies continue to wield infrastructure control and charge us whenever they want. (Who said the net neutrality battle was won?) I think we're going to pay increasingly more for Internet access no matter what the reason is called. And no matter which VoIP provider you pick, you'll still pay more to the cable companies. Unless of course you choose an alternate provider type such as high-speed dialup, satellite, or powerline. On the other hand, with IPTV clients such as Joost, maybe we won't need our cable TV packages for much longer.

How VoIP, Presence and IP Conferencing Can Help Your Career

Phoneboy recently asked (on Web Worker Daily) whether telecommuting affects your career, in response to a similar piece at Network World. If someone asked me that in the 90s or even a few years ago, I'd have to say yes from what I've seen of other people. It's primarily because of what he said: executives tend to want/ need to meet their charges. It's been hard to do over traditional telecom and conferencing solutions that the average company can afford.

Now, we're entering into an era where VoIP, IP conferencing and presence applications are setting up the framework where I don't think telecommuting will be as much of a barried to career advancement. A couple of things still need to change: faster computers, faster Internet connections and attitudes. It might be years (maybe a half generation?) before being a full-time telecommuting executive becomes commonplace. It might become a reward of the job. (Part-time telecommuting has been allowed at all levels of staff for years, as I learned at IBM in 2001, even for meetings.) The acceptance may take time but the technology is already here.

Skype: The Price is Right?

At the end of the month, the SkypeOut rates for Canada and the US are going up to US$29.95. That's not a monthly rate; it's for unlimited calling for a full year. The current promo rate is US$14.95 for the full year - less than $2/m. I'm probably going to take advantage of the special rate on the last day of January.

I don't typically make a lot of long distance calls anymore, now that I work out of the house, and since I use text chat or email for the most part. However, I'm moving back to the big city, Toronto, Canada, sometime this summer or early fall, to be able to make it to various tech conferences and possibly do some teaching.

That means that if I want to stay in touch with my parents, it'll be a lot of long distance (two different places). And that'll be from my cell phone, since I haven't had a land line in around 10 years and don't plan to. That'll add up, even for the occasional call every month. Skype's price looks more appealing now (though they still don't have SkypeIn numbers for Toronto while Gizmo does).

Even at the doubled price after Jan 31st, it could still be worth it. Skype Journal's Phil Wolff puts the Pro Skype pricing in perspective: 4.3 SkypeOut minutes per day pays back the Pro calling plan, when compared to the new per minute rates - which are higher than they were last year, with no promise of quality. (He even offers a spreadsheet if you want to see the calculations.)

And that's my main beef. The quality of my Skype calls weren't great in December. What's more, since my mother doesn't have a computer and my father doesn't want to use VoIP, for them to call me is going to be costly for them. One the one hand, it's a piddly sum for a full year of unlimited calls. On the other, both parents have complained to me of the quality of my Skype calls to them, even though we all live in the same town. The other problem, as mentioned above, is that SkypeIn doesn't support Toronto yet. It'll be expensive for my parents to call me (my brother just emails me).

That means I need some other option, possibly SkyNET-tel's 1-800 number and a Toronto VoIP number for inbound calling. Why can't there be a single computer-based VoIP solution for a city as large as Toronto (as large as Atlanta, Georgia, if I'm not mistaken). No doubt people in other cities are wondering the same thing. So is the price right or isn't it? I'm undecided.

VoIP Roundup - Thur Jan 25, 2006

TellMe: What's The 4-1-1?
TellMe, a new service for Java-enabled mobile phones, is a potential 411-killer, and voice-activated at that. See Techcrunch for details.

Skype Gross Profits Heading Upwards
Apparently in Q4 2006, Skype sold a lot of minutes: US$1.5 billion worth, compared to $1.1B in Q3. More at GigaOm.

Bring The Woize
UK-based Woize is bringing it stateside in February. All 50 states will have VoIP service and DID numbers. [via VoIP News] So the already competitve US market will have yet another contender.

I Think I Cracked My (Blue)Tooth
One flaw of Bluetooth is that it's susceptible to easy hacking. Well, that just got even easier with Bluetooth cracking tools released by a couple of German programmers. Companies apparently don't put as much emphasis on security for Bluetooth, and these cracking tools are proof-of-concept.

Communication Breakdown: 5 Fake New Year's VoIP Resolutions

VoIP/ IP comm and related companies have made some boo-boos this year, and are probably making some resolutions for the New Year. Here's what they might be resolving to do.

1. Skype. We resolve to put more thought into our business version's design, and actually let bloggers know about new versions ahead of time. Well, at least a day or two.
2. Vonage. We resolve to boost our stock's share price to at least $15 in 2007.
3. Gizmo Project. We resolve to stop being the Rodney Dangerfield of VoIP services and get some respect. And more subscribers.
4. Google. We resolve to think through our click-to-call products before releasing them.
5. Cable companies. We resolve to stop screwing subscribers with ridiculous residential VoIP rates when we're already screwing them on TV subscription rates.

How Do You Define VoIP?

VoIP Central asks what is VoIP: information service or telecom service? This is in relation to a suit filed by the City of Baltimore, Maryland, against Vonage America regarding the latter's avoidance of a telephony excise tax. Baltimore obviously defines VoIP is a telecom service, which I'm inclined to do as well. Vonage say no, thus feeling justified in avoiding a US$3.50/month city tax for each telephony line. The tax was introduced by Mayor O'Malley to pay down the budget deficit.

If you ask me, I think it's kind of high, given how little VoIP monthly subscriptions often are. Even the FCC backed off on their proposed VoIP tax. But this kind of issue will likely be raised over and over again over the next several years, for as long as PSTN systems are around (likely quite some time).

Are You Phone-y Baby? Rowwwrrrr

Oh behave. The UK Sun reports on a BT poll that says about half those surveyed talk naked on their cell phones (though this is not what Robert Scoble and Shel Israel meant by Naked Conversations). Women, it seems, are more likely to participate in the buff. What's more, over 80% of people multitask while chatting. Maybe Andy Abramson was right about multitasking while video calling. Women are also more likely to answer the phone if a parent is calling [via 21Talks; Sun link not provided; NSFW - site not (always) safe for work]

I guess if you consider that cell phones (and cordless phones) actually enable this sort of thing. Imagine walking around au naturel using a landline phone. Speaking of stuff going on in the background while conducting business video VoIP calls on your laptop, there was a great TV commercial clip at Very Funny Ads (companion website of the TV show World's Funniest Commercials, hosted by Saturday Night Live alumni Kevin Nealon). Seems a young man is in the middle of a video conference for work, from his apartment, and his girlfriend unwittingly gets into her lingerie and tackles him. Except that it was there yesterday and it seems gone today.

Reading: Some VoIP/ IP Comm Lists

Light Reading presents Heavy Reading's top ten noteworthy tech research findings for 2006. Several them are about VoIP or are directly related. This is one of those must-read lists. While you're there, you may also want to check out bad tech demos, about tech show demos the writer does not want to see in 2007. To supplement these lists, VoIP News has top 10 VoIP predictions for 2007.

In terms of predictions, eWeek's Paula Musich talks about the new roles that VoIP will take in 2007 (via Ken Camp and Luca Filigheddu). She quotes Burton Group's Dave Passmore in sayiing that Microsoft's joint partnership with Cisco, which will allow MSFT "to develop IP PBX functions that can run on any Windows server," and that this "will in 2007 hasten the demise of the hardware-based IP PBX." The gist of what Ken says in response to the eWeek piece is that "2007 is the year to watch the small players, not the big ones".

What small to medium players do I predict might stir the VoIP waters some in the coming year? Gizmo Project. Or at least, that's what I'm hoping. SightSpeed, who are already stirring things up in the video calling arena, with their free video click-to-call web page buttons.

Funding Free Municipal Wi-Fi

You've no doubt heard or read about all the muncipal Wi-Fi projects popping up across the United States and elsewhere. In some cities, there are several subscription options for different access speeds. In others, it's all free. One question that comes to mind is who is going to pay for the costs of this "free" Wi-Fi? In Portland, Oregon, Microsoft is involved in a full-speed wireless network that'll offer free access in return for showing users paid advertising. Dailywireless asks whether this will work.

My own feeling is that in any given city, some people will be more than happy to have free Wi-Fi, even if they have to watch ads. It's why VoIP subscription models like that of Globe7 could work. However, are there enough such people? Way back in the early 90s, I tried free regional long distance calling in return for listening to ads (pre-Internet) and got sick of wait, the crappy music, and the same old ads. If, however, I had to watch, say, movie or TV trailers for access to the Internet, I might be okay on that. What about you?

If there are not enough people supporting the advertisers of such wireless networks, however, what happens to the city? Do taxes go up? Do they force paid subscription on users? And when people say sayonnara, does the city tear down the infrastructure? That costs money, too.

The concept of free wireless access is relatively new. I'm not sure, but I think it was used by some ISPs for dialup Internet access, though I'm not so sure that succeed as I can't think of any examples. Only time (or indepth surveys) will tell if such payment models will work.

Skype Call In Numbers Not In Your Country?

With the impending SkypeOut pricing for the entire world to be revealed at the end of January 2007, you'd think Skype might also try to push their SkypeIn option. SkypeIn is essentially a local phone number. If you get one of these, people can call you on your computer from landlines and mobiles (and from Skype), just as if you had a regular phone number. Well, call quality issues aside, this a very appealing idea to me and no doubt some other Skype users. Except that SkypeIn numbers are only available in about 14 countries.

I sent an email to Skype support recently, and here is part of their response:

Thank you for your dedication to Skype.

We are doing our best to add more and more SkypeIn numbers in different locations. Sometimes there are more difficulties in negotiating with corresponding authorities than we expect, so it takes time to introduce this product in certain areas.

As soon as there are new locations added there will be an announcement on our web site.

We are sincerely sorry for keeping you waiting.

That's a reasonable, polite explanation, though it would suggest that some providers, such as Gizmo Project, are better negotiators, seeing as they have CallIn/ local numbers in 28 countries.

8% Of US Households Use VoIP?

Dal at Asterisk VoIP News discusses In-Stat's findings that 7.9% of US households use some sort of VoIP. While that's good news, I think VoIP isn't ubiquitous enough yet for anyone's statistical sampling techniques to come up with an accurate figure. I don't know how many "households" there are in the USA, but according to In-Stat and their "newly launched Residential VoIP Tracker Service", over 9M US households are using VoIP. That is, one or more people are using some form of VoIP service.

Now if they have that kind of hard evidence instead of approximations based on questionable Neilsen-type survey household defintions, that's great: very good news indeed. This apparently includes both soft client services like Skype and broadband phone service like Vonage. Skype also announced their new disruptive, unlimited North American calling at $29.95/yr ($14.95 until Jan 31st, 2007), which is likely to increase usage, at least, say, among homesick college students.

More Cheap or Free VoIP/ Voice

Just a reminder that Jajah has free calls to 80 countries today, Christmas 2006. Vinay at VoIPGuides weblog also has several posts for free calling:

• 5 free VoIP providers for international calls (one of which is Jajah).
• A hack for free calls through Free Call Planet.
• MediaRing free calls from Dec 20 - Jan 6.

Nuno at 21Talks pointed out that Jajah is also offering ad-supported calling in Europe. This is something that Globe7 has been offering for quite some time, though in their case, you have to watch video ads and trailers. Of course, Google is planning to give away mobile phones in return for your eyeballs watching advertising on the phones.

Free Phone Calls This Christmas With Jajah

It's festive time and you're probably calling friends and relatives across the globe to wish them well. Well, on Christmas Day 2006, Jajah is offering free phone calls, conference calls, scheduled calls, and text messages to any person in 80 countries. Jajah is a web-based service that uses a VoIP bridge, which allows you to use your regular phone (and sometimes mobiles) to call other people. No installed software is used.

Here are the preconditions to satisfy and the steps to follow.

Preconditions that apply

• You need to register at Jajah first (free).
• That you are calling people in countries listed in zone 1, zone 2 and zone 3.
• If you are making a call to or live in a zone 3 country, you can only use a land-line to make the calls. Also zone 3 has no free text messaging.
• The person whom you intend to call need not be a registered user of Jajah.
• You can call friends and relatives at any time (24 hours) on the day of Christmas for free, in your time zone.

Steps involved to make the free calls

1. Log in as the registered user. Make sure your calling number is registered.
2. Enter your the mobile/landline number you are calling.
3. Click on the 'Call' button that appears on the web page.
4. Your phone will ring. Pick it up.
5. Wait until the phone rings at the other end and your intended party takes the call.
6. Enjoy your free call.

New North American Skype Promos

A quick glance at the Skype website shows not only a brand new home page but a new 50% off promo for North American users. If you'll recall, N.A. Skypers can call any phone in the US and Canada for free until Dec 31st. Now, you can get one full year of unlimited calling in these two countries for only US$14.95. (Skype has also had promos in the UK, France, and other places.)

Not a bad deal, and you can use PayPal to pay. Except that my most recent conversation using Skype, which was actually to another Skyper, was of terrible quality. It may have had something to do with my running Audacity to record the conversation, but having successfully used HotRecorder and Skype on a laptop with one less processor and half the memory, I'm not so sure of that. In fact, because of this, I opted to use my mobile phone to make a long distance call today to a tech support team (not Skype) instead of worrying that sound quality would suck.

The sum of $14.95 is paltry, especially if it'll save you more than $1.25/mth in long distance. But if the quality is questionable, you have to decide on your priorities. (That said, my cable Internet connection has been terrible the last few days, so maybe it's not Skype's fault.) Though if you do opt for it, they throw in US$50 in coupons for a Motorola headset, Netgear Wi-Fi phone, and Polycom speaker phone. What I would have liked to see is, say, an unlimited calling plan for $39.95-$59.95 for one year that includes a free Skype-certified Wi-Fi phone.

A couple of notes. After Jan 31st, 2007, the plan's price goes back to US$29.95. During the first three days after signup, you can only use Skype for 7 hours per day. Seriously. Even a chatterbox like myself has never spent more than 6 hours on the phone in a single day.

Show Me The Money In VoIP: Is Free A Four Letter Word?

Pat Phelan asks where will it all end, in regards to all this free VoIP and VoIM going around. How long can a free model sustain itself? Will ad-paid models like that of Globe7 be accepted? Will Google's rumored free phones in return for ad-watching take over the world?

I had a second chat last Friday with James Wanless, President and COO - one of three entrepreneurial spirits behind Talkster, a new mobile-to-VoIM service that just relaunched on Monday. He made a very astute comment to me regarding free services, and wrote The great race (to zero). I'm paraphrasing him (so any misquote is my fault), but he said that so many [startups] think that giving away everything for free and grabbing a subscriber list is sufficient enough for someone with deep pockets to buy them up. He then pointed out that while Skype gave away a lot, they still had a monetization plan that they implemented, including CallOut minutes.

Exactly my point. We can hope that maybe we'll have some sort of idealistic moneyless society as portrayed in the Star Trek TV series, but the truth in my eyes is that we are very distant from any such reality. And that means that if you're giving away your VoIP for free, without any monetization plan, you are not going to last very long. And as James Wanless said in his blog, quality costs money. Would you use a VoIP service because it's free but the quality was poor? [Irony of ironies: Skype was misbehaving when we had our chat.]

Show Me The Money In VoIP: Emerging Markets

Could emerging markets hold the key to the future growth of telecoms? That's what a new Gartner report says. There is promise in emerging markets, especially because of the large potential customer base. But the fact is, disposable income is smaller in many of these countries compared to developed nations. Thus cost per call is is higher relative to income compared to other parts of the world. (Then there's the minimum startup and infrastructure costs.)

Those are the hurdles telecom operators face. Regardless, the Gartner Group says that emerging markets will account for nearly 90% of the 1.5Bln increased mobile phone connections by 2010. Throw fixed connections in the mix and emerging markets may account for as much as 70% of all new total phone connections by 2010. Cellular News has several tables showing a breakdown of potential revenues by region.

VoIP For Telecommuters

If you watch Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, you know that the United States hit 300 million people in October. As you might know, The Daily Show is a humorous look at World and US news. But VoIP providers are smiling, not chuckling. As total workforce population grows, daily traffic becomes an increasing nightmare in many cities and even towns. More people are telecommuting for work, or working at home. And VoIP is being promoted towards this particular niche of the residential market: the telecommuter.

Especially happy are the cable companies, who are promoting the benefits of their services over other types of broadband Internet connections. Since telecommuting typically requires an Internet connection throughout the day, the old slow 56K modem over dialup just isn't going to cut it for work. Some companies will pay for broadband installation in their telecommuting employees homes. Then there's the work-from-home types with their own business, who could loosely be classified as telecommuters (for lack of a more accurate term).

Telecommuting in either case requires communication with others, of course, and thus the potential for added long distance calls and costs. VoIP in both voice and video forms can save them a considerable amount of money over regular phone lines and mobile phone services. And cable companies are hoping to get a fair share of converts from dialup.

While other types of VoIP providers might promote themselves as well (they'd be crazy if they didn't), my money's on cable, simply because of the triple play they can offer: TV, Internet, VoIP. A convenient package. On the other hand, don't count out other types of broadband providers. If someone is working at home part or all of the week for their employer (as opposed to running their own business), the broadband service may be paid for.

Consider that in the average North American city, operating costs (office space, electricity, equipment leasing, telecommunications) for each employee is $40-60 per square foot per month, maybe more. Many employers would be happy to spring for broadband access for the occasional/ regular telecommuting employee - especially since their telecom costs are lowered, and there are even free or inexpensive video-conferencing options.

That may mean, for accounting purposes, that the employer wants a separate billing account for the broadband connection and any VoIP services. If an employee already has cable (TV or TV and Internet), they may have to get a second connection for work. Putting in a second cable line may or may not be an option in some areas. Which may mean that other VoIP providers, such as highspeed dialup or satellite types, may still be contenders in the market for VoIP for telecommuters.

[additional sources: Computerworld Networking, Telephony Online]

Splish Splash I Was Skyping In Bath

I can't find the original page at the Skype site that I read, but here's another that says 75% of all UK Skype users have talked to people on the phone while in the toilet - some even in the bath, particularly women. I know someone years ago who did a radio interview (recorded, not live) while on the toilet, and his friend played it on her college radio show. But I digress.

The info is part of a survey that Skype did as part of their free Talk for Britain SkypeOut promo. This is the third region in the world where Skype is offering free calling to landlines for a limited time. The other two regions are France and North America (Canada, US only). Hong Kong also has free Skype-to-toll-free numbers only. Yahoo! had a holiday offering for East Indians on the past weekend for the Diwali festival: free calls from Yahoo Messenger IM (from North America?) to landlines in India. Russell Shaw wondered if this holiday/ promo trend would be the beginning of free VoIP calling all over the world. Jim Courtney asks if this new SkypeOut promo for the UK is a trend for SkypeOut.

I'm inclined to say yes. Skype had other promos during the summer, where people could call out from North America (Mexico excluded) to different countries (UK, Mexico, Japan) for a limited time frame each weekend during the promo. With the VoIP/ VoIM market suddenly becoming so competitive, we'll no doubt see more such promos, and maybe even some from Microsoft and AOL. Gizmo Project already allows free calling to landlines in 60 countries, provided the person you are calling is registered with them.

I know that I plan to get SkypeOut when the North American promo expires. However, they don't have local numbers in my area, and since I'm planning to move back to the big city next year, I'm still seeking the optimum VoIP service for me. Note to VoIP providers: I'm getting SkypeOut because I can pay with Paypal. I don't have/ use credit cards.

VoIP Roundup - Thur Oct 26/06

Nextel Wireless Impersonates Speed Racer
Twenty-one metro areas in the US will be getting faster wireless Internet before or by late 2007, thanks to plans by Sprint Nextel Corp. They will be using EV-Do Rev A technology, which is supposed to enable video-conferencing. [via Kansas City Business Journal]

Real Chat In Advertising
Nuno reports that IBM plans to run two-way advertising, which lets you actually talk to them. I wonder if "truth in advertising" will stretch to VoIP.

Easy PBX Management: Just Add Browser
Want to manage your Asterisk IP PBX via web browser? VoiceOne 0.4.0, which is not only web-based but open source, lets you do this.

Comcast Choking?
Comcast may have the lead in cable VoIP subscribers in the US, but reports indicate that they are running into service outages in the Northeastern US. What's more, these outages seem to have started after Comcast started offering VoIP service only a few months ago. Maybe they'd better finish hiring those extra 4,000 employees. I don't have Comcast, but I'm finding that in the last couple of days that many sites with servers in the US have been difficult to reach.

17 VoIP + IPTV-Related Xmas Suggestions

If you are not already familiar with VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) or vVoIP (video and voice over IP), it's a means to voice and video calls from a computer. Most VoIP services also let you call to regular phones. VoIP is a great way to save money on long-distance calls, as PC-to-PC calling is free, as is some PC-to-phone calling. IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) refers to a variety of TV-watching services on the Internet, and loosely includes streaming video.

Here's a short-list of some things that might be nice to give as holiday gifts this year, for the VoIPr in your life. I am going purely on specifications and my knowledge, not necessarily because I've tried something (although I have tried some). These are in no particular order, and are not endorsements of any product or service. The suggestions are for both mobile and stationary VoIP calling.

1. VoIP soft phone. There are tons of choices for VoIP software, all free. Some IM (Instant Messaging) clients such as AIM Pro, Windows Live (MSN) Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger also have the ability to call out from computer to regular phones. Google Talk cannot, but if you add Talqer, you can.
2. Calling credits. SkypeOut credits for Skype, or the equivalent for SightSpeed, Gizmo Project, Hullo, etc. This lets you call from your PC/ Mac to a regular phone. Gizmo Project already offers a lot of free calling to landlines in 60 or more countries, but only if the callee is registered.
3. Call-In phone number. A "Call In" phone number for Skype, SightSpeed, Gizmo Project, Hullo, etc. With one of these, people can call you on your computer as they would your regular phone. Skype is limited in the cities that they support; SightSpeed has a bit more variety.
4. 1-800 number. SkyNET has a reasonable plan for internationally-accessible 1-800 numbers, which can be redirected to a VoIP Call-In number. If you live in an area where Skype or SightSpeed (or whatever) do not offer local phone numbers (for Call-In), you can get a SkyNet 1-800 number and redirect it to whatever Call-In number you get. SkyNet also has local numbers, but that means you have to purchase their VoIP calling plan instead of Skype's, etc.
5. Webcam. Mobile video may take a while, but desktop video calling is free and functioning, courtesy of SightSpeed and Skype. MTV's Total Request Live (TRL) even incorporates fan input via SightSpeed, right into the show. My suggestions: For a laptop, get one that clips on easily. For a desktop, get both a flat USB port and webcam with a "snake" cable, so that it's easily adjusted.
6. Microphone. You don't need an expensive one, if you are not doing podcasting. But most built-in mics on laptops are relatively low-quality. Alternately, you might want to give someone a headphone/ mic combo headset (#7) or Bluetooth headset/ earpiece (#10).
7. Speakers or headset.
8. New smartphone or PDA. Pretty much any new Nokia N or E series phones, most of which, I believe, support VoIP (properly). Some PocketPC or Windows Mobile-based devices might as well. I don't know all the specs on the RIM BlackBerry Pearl phone, but it is a cool phone. Many phones will allow "mobile VoIP" services such as EQO or Mino Wireless, etc., to function correctly. These services essentially call you back, once you activate a call, so your cost per call is only your cell minutes, plus the cost of your cellular Internet usage. Of course, if Apple actually releases the iPhone/ iSmartphone, that might be nice, too.
9. Cellular wireless data plan. Great for accessing the Internet from your mobile phone, and making mobile VoIP calls. Just make sure that an "unlimited" plan really is unlimited. Many cellular providers only allow 250 megabytes per month, and cut you off after that.
10. Mobility. Bluetooth earpiece or headset, to give your voipr some mobility around the house or office - or for hands-free operation while driving. Also nice for when it's cold out. You might want to test earpieces, as some chafe the inner part of the ear. A headset is another option, or the Motorola Bluetooth hat, or the Motorola/ Oakley Bluetooth sunglasses. But Bluetooth devices are not only more expensive than regular wired headsets, they eat power for lunch. And mobile phones operating in "find Bluetooth devices" mode will also need to be recharged more frequently. A new Nokia wireless protocol called Wibree may change that in the very near future.
11. Mobility, part 2. Wi-Fi VoIP phone - maybe even a Skype-certified one. That, or maybe a dual-mode Wi-Fi/ cellular phone. These are going to be hot, with all the municipal Wi-Fi projects going on all over the world.
12. Wireless router. If you want to be walking around the house while VoIPing, one way is to use a Wi-Fi phone. Depending on the type, you will probably need a wireless router attached to your broadband Internet connection. Most large office supply or consumer electronics stores have these.
13. VoIP call recorder. You may want to record VoIP calls for posterity, business reasons, or even interviewing or podcasting. HotRecorder is my fave, but there are lots of others. HotRecorder activates itself when a Skype call comes in - and it's supposed to work with other VoIP soft phones. It's only about US$15, but if your budget is running a bit thin, there's the free audio editor Audacity, which has to be manually activated, but works fine.
14. Business VoIP. An iBlue IP PBX, made with a Mac Mini. Great for that Mac-lover who also has a small business and wants to use IP telephony for communications. Or for a larger business (including call centers), there's Pika Technologies' bridge over troubled VoIP. It marries the Skype interface with Asterisk IP PBX.
15. VoIP knowledge. A copy of Ted Wallingford's VoIP Hacks, where he'll teach you to make your own iBlue with a Mac Mini and Asterisk software.
16. Cinema screen. For all the good little boy and girl voiprs, if they've been extra special this year, get'em a 50" Apple display, to watch both IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) and video calls via Skype or SightSpeed, at the same time as the do other stuff on the screen.
17. Plug'n'play VoIP adapter. Know someone who can benefit from inexpensive VoIP calls but does not like/ have/ want a computer? I know a few people like that. For them, you can get plug-and-play adapter/ router that (usually) configures itself once you plug in a broadband Internet connection, your regular phone line, and your regular phone. Of course, if you don't have a computer, why would you have broadband Internet? Well, if you have cable TV, for a bit more money each month, you can have broadband, and all on one bill. Your cable company will try to sell you their "digital phone" plan, but they usually charge a lot more. You'll have to decide.

Happy voiping.

Telecoms Scared Stiff Of VoIP?

My mother, a woman who refuses to have voicemail and who shirks a computer, told me last night that she thought the telephone and cable companies were worried about all this "computer calling". That was in response to my mentioning that she could make some free long distance calls over the computer. Now I assure you, my mother doesn't really know anything about VoIP, other than that I sometimes use my computer to talk to her.

But she is like a spymaster, with a network of two dozen or so people who regularly inform her of goings on in the world. She constantly surprises me with what she's learned, even if it may sometimes be superficial knowledge. She does know that the bottom line is that if she gives in and starts using VoIP, that she'll be saving  money: several hundred dollars per month in her case. And that scares the telecoms. Want more reasons they are worried? Here are 33 reasons why VoIP is destroying traditional telecoms.

deltathree iConnectHere World Plan VoIP

World Plan is a new VoIP service from iConnectHere, a division of deltathree. As the name suggests, the plan provides international calling at reduced rates. Subscribers can select a phone number from any of twelve countries. Calling plans start at US$6.99/mth. Service features include:

...voicemail, caller ID, 3-way calling, advanced call forwarding and real-time call records

There is also the obligatory free soft client for pc2phone calls, and a Virtual Calling Card that provides toll-free access numbers in 27 countries - allowing you to use you calling plan elsewhere. A $30 signup bonus is given for World Plan, a free broadband plug-and-play phone adapter, and a phone number. See the feature list for more details. [via PRWeb]

deltathree also announced a partnership with telSPACE  to allow MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) to offer VoIP and cellular services on a unified platform. The company won the 2005 Product of the Year for iConnectHere, from Internet Telephony magazine. deltathree has been expanding their presence in the Carribean and LatinAmerica, amongst other places.

Sightspeed Call-In 800 Numbers

Not sure when this was added, but a quick browse of the Sightspeed website shows that they you can get either a 1-800 or local Phone-In number all over the US. A local US number is US$3.95/mth, which includes free voicemail. A 1-800 number costs only $1.00 per month, plus $0.02/minute for incoming calls. It's only an US toll-free number, though. So they cannot even accept calls from outside the US.

It's not a bad rate for a toll-free number, provided you don't have friends and family outisde the country. Hopefully they'll add support for "international" toll-free numbers, where you can accept calls from (select) other countries. If you are looking for an International toll-free number, try Skynet-tel.com.

Vonage Bundles VoIP With Computers

If you've purchased a computer in the last few years, you may have been given free AOL, Netscape or other Internet access hours as part of the package. Well, Vonage got smart and is now offering a discount on their VoIP service bundled with new Hewlett-Packard and Compaq computers. [via Teleclick]

Now a discount may not be enough for everyone to get excited about, but the marketing exposure might garner Vonage a few more customers and keep them in the VoIP subscriber race. In fact, it might be enough to stave off the subscriber increases that cable companies like Comcast have enjoyed lately, and increase Vonage's odds of staying in business.

VoIP Roundup - Wed Oct 04/ 06

GoTalk: Free Happy Hour VoIP Calls
GoTalk is offering new customers free calling to landlines and cell phones during the 6-7 pm slot, provided you sign up for a year. A free plug'n'play adapter is included in the package. [via The VoIP Weblog]

VoIPing For Profit: Skype Moodmessage
Skype has a plugin known as Mood-o-Matic, which displays clickable mood messages. A guest blogger, Hans Blaauw, at Skype Journal is suggesting this as a vehicle for unobtrusive advertising, as a way for Skypers to earn some VoIP calling credits. This might be more palatable to some people than Globe7's plan to have people watch video ads to gain VoIP credits.

IP Telephony Changes Canadian Telecom Market
The Canadian telecom industry is undergoing changes due to new technologies such as VoIP, which allows non-traditional providers into the market. And that of course is a good thing, resulting not only in more choices for consumers but lower prices. The Canadian telecommuncations market, watched over by the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission), also underwent deregulation just like the American market did, and that's what has paved the way for these changes. [via Teleclick]

SkyNET: Single Geek Male Finds Single Toll-Free VoIP Number

Well, I didn't find it, exactly. After I posted my Single geek male seeks single toll-free number article, Michael Steverson from SkyNET-tel.com posted a comment saying that they can do what I was asking for right now: a single 800 VoIP number. Do my eyes deceive me? Really?

The deal is US$9.99/month for a Personal 800 Number. That has to be teamed with the One Cent Plan, which is $4.99/mth. Calls are then $0.01/minute. While I haven't been as much of chatty kathy lately, if I were to resume my old talk habits of 800+ minutes per month, well that'd still only be 14.98 + 8.00 per month. My old toll-free number cost me about $35/mth, if I remember correctly. So even if I used 1000 minutes per month, that'd still be just under $25/month. There's also the unlimited plan of $23.99/mth (first month free) or the unlimited business plan of $39.99/m.

Coupled with a personal 800 number, that's not a bad deal at all, if I can find a reasonable VoIP call-in number plan and suitable area code, then I'm set. The 800 number requires a local number, but if I can get a local area code with VoIP when I move to the big city, then I'm good. (That might be a problem, as most popular VoIP services do not cover the city I'm moving to, including SkyNET, from what I can tell.) But the 800 toll-free number is apparently good for 36 international locations. People from all of these locations can call the number as if it were local. Man, am I excited. I can finally enjoy vishing and annoying telemarketing calls from all over the world.

Sounds like a deal. Currently, most of my voice chat minutes are local. I've been taking advantage of Skype's SkypeOut free calling promo in North America, to test quality and generally freak friends and family out with my pc-to-phone calling. On the other hand, I did say I was moving. I would still need a soft phone Call-In number for the new locale. If I find one, basically for not more than what I used to spend only a regional 800 number, I can get pretty much what I was looking for: a single toll-free 800 number, not counting a local number. (SkyNET will have their own soft phone in the future. Just a suggestion, but guys/ gals, base it on SIP, so that it can communicate with users on Gizmo Project, iPhox, and others.)

Incidentals: There's a shipping charge of $25 for the free SkyBOX, which I assume is a VoIP adapter for the broadband connection. They're charging sales tax, even though it's the Internet. Maybe it has to do with where I am. And there's a $19.99 activation fee. Okay, I'll stop being a cheapskate. This still seems like a pretty good deal

I'm listening to Roy Orbison, the man with the soothing golden voice, right now as I write this. So maybe I'm a bit sentimental at the moment, but this might just be the beginning of a beautiful VoIP relationship. Thanks, Michael. The only things that worry me are (1) the secure HTTP server certificate on their website has expired. So I hope they'll fix this before I decide to commit to a serious relationship. And for those of you that don't use credit cards, like myself, they accept payment by Paypal. I'm not moving just yet, but when I do, I'm itching to try this. Although if Skype ever gets real mobile support going, I'll have a grand time combining Skype and SkyNET.

VoIP Roundup - Fri Sep 22/06

How To Choose A VoIP Provider
Ron King offers some tips on how to select a VoIP provider, and deciding what service is appropriate for your needs. VoIP Lowdown has a brief overview on types of VoIP service, which may help you decide.

VoIP TV Ads Attack Australian Telstra
Television ads promoting VoIP service Soulmate gently attacking Telstra, an Australian telco, will not be blocked according to decision by the Federal Court in Melbourne. Sounds like Soulmate struck a nerve. [via SMH]

German Telecom Converts Contact Center To VoIP
German telecom O2 is migrating its customer contact center platform to VoIP. This will reduce costs for customers of their platform. [via TMC Net]

Could Alarm.com Help Pure Play VoIP?

Yesterday, I reflected briefly on Alarm.com's signing of SunRocket as a partner, who follow Vonage, the first to sign. Like other competitors InnovAlarm and NextAlarm, Alarm.com offers home security alarm services using VoIP for the communications component. Garrett Smith thinks that this sort of additional VoIP-based service might give pure play VoIP providers such as SunRocket and Vonage a bit more competitive edge, by offering their own "triple play" of services, compared to broadband providers.

While I vaguely said something similar, I still feel that cable providers have the edge, especially considering that Alarm.com is target this type of VoIP provider next for partners. PhoneBoy weighs in, basically agreeing, and says any advantage will be minimal because pure plays won't be offering anything unique.

That doesn't mean that there isn't any market for pure play VoIP. Anyone who does not have or want a computer (there are such people) might prefer to opt for a service such as Vonage, were they forced to change from traditional telephony. Or simply want to save on long-distance calls.

Alarm.com Signs Second VoIP Partner

Alarm.com, a home security service that uses VoIP as a means of communication, signed their second partner, SunRocket. Earlier this year, they announced their first partnership with Vonage. [via PC Mag] Vonage recently announced that they would be providing optional VoIP installations courtesy of a third party. Now if Vonage is smart (or maybe Alarm.com?), they'll work out a package deal for customers whereby they can have both their VoIP and Alarm.com's security system installed simultaneously.

While both current partners are "pure play" VoIP providers, Alarm.com is also aiming at partnerships with ISPs next. ISPs, of course, offer "triple play" services: television programming, Internet access, and VoIP. The PC Mag article talks about quad-tier services, which would include cellular phone service, and refers to Alarm.com's service as being like a fifth tier for ISPs.

A similar VoIP-based security alarm service is being offered by InnovAlarm, who will be getting US$10M in venture capital.

VoIP Roundup - Tues Sep 19/06

What's Digium's VoIP Business Strategy?
Garrett Smith reflects on what he thinks might be Digium's plan of action for their future. Digium is the company that offers the Asterisk breed of SIP-based open standard IP PBXes and related software and hardware. While they've been giving away their software, presumably to sell their hardware and support services, Garrett thinks that Digium may take a different approach now that they have US$13 M in venture capital. Go have a read.

Cable VoIP Gaining Ground
Vonage may have reached 2 million subscribers for its true VoIP service, but  cable VoIP providers in Canada and the US scored over a million new subscribers in Q2 2006. This isn't it all suprising, since cable companies have the advantage of offering a "triple play" of services, including TV programming, telephony, and Internet access in a convenient bundle.

Summary of Weak + Strong Areas For VoIP
Light Reading has a recap of a report from Keynote Systems of some areas that VoIP is either lagging behind in or ahead of traditional telephony. And if you're in the mood for overview, Andy Oram at O'Reilly Net summarizes the report from VON. Both articles are worth reading.

Vonage VoIP Installations Courtesy of Endeavour

Having never used services like Vonage, I can't tell you about any experiences trying to install any necessary hardware. But I can tell you that even for a long-time computer person like myself, I occasionally run into some weird glitch while trying to install hardware related to my computer - such as my wireless router for Internet access around the house.

So anyone just a little reluctant to use Vonage and similar true VoIP providers will be happy to know that the company will be offering installations [ZDNet IP Telephony VoIP] courtesy of a new deal with Endeavour Telecom. Installation costs start at US$99.95 and are aimed at both residential and business customers. Endeavour field techs will represent themselves as being from Vonage, which will be a psychological plus for most people.

As Russell Shaw says (link above), this deal will be a good thing for Vonage. Not only will this increase the chances of new customers, but support calls will be likely be reduced, and only those customers who feel they need the service have to pay for it. And considering that Vonage is reputedly cutting back on their advertising campaign, despite reaching a 2 million customer milestone, it's little things like this that might make the difference between gaining customers or losing them. Of course, adding services like ReVos long-distance calling packages (courtesy of RNK Telecom) will also help.

New VoIP Providers: RNK Telecom

RNK Telecom Inc. of the Massachusetts region is launching [Biz Journals]their new consumer VoIP service, ReVos, which gives subscribers low-cost calls to over 40 countries. They also  get a number of features including a virtual number and IP calls from a cell phone. The company sells both prepaid phone cards and wholesale services. Vonage and Packet8 are both customers.

In the Biz Journal's article, they thank Vonage for "doing all that premarketing". Vonage spends over US$20 M per month in advertising, although word is that their annoying TV ads are disappearing. It's been a while since I've seen one, and at least one other VoIP blogger said the same thing a few days ago.

I guess with the bottom expected to drop out of calling cards, this is a good move. I feel sorry for all the mom and pop stores that are going to lose yet another source of low-margin income. But I don't see them selling VoIP services - unless they get VoIP phone booths.

Things To Think About When Signing Up For VoIP

I'm linking to Russell Shaw again: he points to Tom Keating's recent frustrating experience trying to move his Vonage phone number to his cable provider. Tom encountered technical problems as well as what he believes are political issues. I'm not entirely clear what he did finally with the phone number, but he did get fed up and dropped his cable provider to go with a more flexible company. Good for you, Tom! Read his article for a synopsis to determine under which scenarios you can move your phone number around between VoIP providers.

While I do 98% of my calling on soft VoIP clients or sometimes my cellphone, I haven't yet signed up for a VoIP phone number. I did, however, get a free call-in number when I signed up for the Hullo VoIP service - which is like a combo of Jajah and Skype. I was actually able to call my computer from my cell phone with it, and as far as I was able to tell, the quality was pretty good. I didn't try it yet, but I'm sure that I could call my Hullo client from Skype this way.

As for cable providers, I have one and only one option because of where I live. But I suppose if I wanted to have VoIP over cable using a regular handset, I could get an adapter and plug my broadband connection through it. Why unnecessarily pay for an additional service I won't need? I'm a very nomadic person and have lost track of how many phone numbers have been registered under my name over 15 years, and in how many cities. I need some sort of global, portable calling number, which only soft VoIP seems able to support at present. Any such number will always work no matter where I am.

What you ultimately choose for your VoIP service will depend on your options and your needs. I work all day at two computers, so I don't need/ want to pick up a phone handset unless necessary. (Haven't owned a landline in about 10 years now.) But for people who want the convenience of a regular phone and the low price of VoIP calls, and who have a broadband connection, a plug'n'play adapter is probably your best best.

If you're prone to being nomadic like myself, check to make sure that you'll be able to transfer your phone number. Ask three different people at the VoIP provider you've selected, and if you don't get consistent answers, run away. Or for convenience, consider a triple-play package from a cable provider. The bigger they are, the more likely they'll be able to pull strings to port the number to your new location.

Avoiding The Fate of Dixon's Freetalk VoIP Service

The Dixons Store Group (DSG) recently pulled the plug [VNUNet] on their Freetalk VoIP service, after barely a year. Oddly enough, they told existing customers they'd be switched over to Vonage, an obvious competitor. The company feels the VoIP market hasn't "lived up to its expectations".

Sure there's a lot of competition, and sure some providers won't survive long. But if they have such a short term view as this, their failure is guaranteed. They can't expect to make money on VoIP in just one year. The revenue potential in VoIP is not in service but in hardware (phones, adapters, IP PBXes), consulting, and enterprise integration. There is also a great deal of potential in voice data applications.

For those companies focused on only a residential market, it's the hardware where you'll make any real money. If you sell only service, you might as well just hand your customer list over to your nearest competitor. Of course, cable providers do have the advantage of being able to offer the triple-play services - TV, internet, telephone. Other types of VoIP providers better be innovative if they want to live long enough in the market to compete.

BellSouth and Verizon Sent Letters By FCC

Verizon recently announced a new surcharge to their high-speed DSL Internet customers. It appears BellSouth did so as well, and the US FCC sent them letters asking them to explain. BellSouth has reputedly since dropped the surcharge and will be crediting customers back to August 16th. The FCC is still waiting for Verizon to respond. There is the possibility of fines, if regulations have been violated. [via eWeek]

While Verizon at least claimed the charge had nothing to do with the a similarly priced federal charge (USF - Universal Service Fee) that has been phased out, it's hard to believe otherwise, given the timing and price. It's still my premise that they were instituting these fees to cover telecom losses possibly due to the increasing use of VoIP.

Show Me The Money In VoIP - Yet More Thoughts

Are triple-play services another potential area for VoIP revenue potential? Russell Shaw points to Tom Keating's article about pure VoIP providers (Vonage, etc.) vs cable and DSL VoIP providers. The premise is simple: aren't customers going to be more comfortable giving a company they already know a bit more money, fixed sum, for VoIP services - if it saves them on a large long-distance bill - than giving less money to a company they don't know - or looks bad in the marketplace? I.e., Vonage.

I agree with this assessment, and believe I've already brought it up in the past. Most human beings follow the path of least resistance, and would prefer a minimum of bills arriving in the mail each month. Why wouldn't they want they convenience of a single bill instead of two or three bills from separate companies? It means writing more cheques each month, which of course costs more in bank service fees, etc.

That doesn't mean pure play VoIP providers cannot make a living, but I don't think all the companies in this niche alive today will be around in 2010. Who are you more likely to go with? A company that's been around for at least ten years or a company barely a couple of years old?

VoIP Roundup - Thur Aug 24/06

VoIP Reduces Operating Costs
[VoIP] This story is from late May, but Network World talks about a global training firm in the US that has 25-30,000 students, plus company staff, depending on phone calls. Monthly toll-free lines became expensive for the company, and administrators around the world were less in touch with each other. Part of their solution was to use a Siemens-brand PBX to handle VoIP calling from 16 international offices. Whereas they were previously spending as much as US$1.50/minute for international calls, now there are no extra charges for the same calls. [via Network World]

Other companies and small businesses have demonstrated that VoIP can reduce operating costs.

New Indian VoIP Service
The state of Andhra Pradesh in India will be getting a VoIP service, Matallo, using special phones that work over a broadband Internet connection. The state's Chief Minister was said to be happy that users need not be computer savvy. The service is intended for both residential and enterprise use, and will also offer video-calling options. [via The Hindu]

VoIP is expected to have a good future in India if a telecom policy can be agreed upon by the industry and government.

NEC Offers Managed IP Telephony
NEC Unified Solutions is now offering its Managed IP Telephony Services. The service is aimed at SMBs (Small and Medium Businesses) and was announced at VoiceCon. There are two offerings, both charged monthly, and a remote technician manages the hardware. Additional features are available, including trend analysis for VoIP network traffic. [via eWeek]

Maximizing VoIP Functionality For Your Home

Thinking about adding VoIP service at home? Here are a few tips and options for maximizing the value of your setup.

Plan on keeping your regular phone line for the time being. While some companies are developing solutions for e-911 emergency calling, most providers don't offer this. If you have children or elder family members, I suggest you keep your current line, or maybe a cell phone.

If you already have a broadband Internet connection, you don't need to get your VoIP through pure play providers such as Vonage. If you still want to be able to take regular phone calls, try one of the plug'n'play adapters that are popping up. They let you use your existing handsets and come with VoIP service, usually by the minute. Most of these VoIP adapters have a bypass feature which allows you to take/ make regular phone calls as well.

Alternately, you can set up a wireless router and purchase Wi-Fi VoIP phones, which can then be used pretty much all over your house, and possibly even outside, within range. Since this setup makes use of soft VoIP clients, the only way that people can call you from a PSTN or mobile phone is if you have a call-in number and service such as SkypeIn or Gizmo Call-In, or something similar.

Evidence suggests that phone2phone calls using a VoIP bridge tend to be of higher quality than pc2phone or phone2pc calls. So keep that in mind when deciding what type of setup to go with, and consider ways to improve call quality for pc2pc and pc2phone.

VoIP Roundup - Fri Aug 11/06

The Deputy Director General for Telecomunications at the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) in Jamaica feels that VoIP will eventually dominate fixed phone lines. But VoIP industry players there are understating that, saying that VoIP will supplement rather than dominate fixed lines. [via Jamaica Gleaner]

I don't know exchange rates but unlimited calling there costs between 1500-2000 Jamaican dollars per month. Service initiation fees cost almost double that, one time. Sounds like a lot, but apparently, though, this is "low cost".

Daily India has an interesting perspective to the value of VoIP in the home: family ties. The article points out the cost of long-distance calls have a negative social effect: loss of family ties and resulting regret.

A rather heavy verdict, but maybe it's true for immigrants of some countries. It's not surprising that many of the reader questions on this site are basically "how can I call from/to India for free". By sheer population size, India and, to a lesser extent, China will have many ex-pats living elsewhere, say North America, than other countries. Free calls, or at least inexpensive net2phone calls, would give families a stronger bond.

I've asked the question before: when you think of VoIP, who do you think of? Skype? Vonage? Despite the reputed US$20 M/ month that Vonage spends on advertising, and their slogan "VoIP with Vonage", more people might be associating VoIP with Skype. [via Networking Pipeline]

Regardless, I'd choose Skype over Vonage any day simply because of all the extra features, such as video, the ability to plug in Jyve to get paid for my time, file sharing, etc. Although, there are people who would benefit from a basic service such as Vonage.

Cable VoIP vs Pure Play

Apparently cable VoIP is giving providers such as Vonage a run for their money. That's because for a few dollars more per month, customers are getting cable (data + video) plus telephony, as well as other features that pure play VoIP cannot provide. [via CED Magazine]

This IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) architecture promises far more than pure play VoIP. One of the most important expected features, to some people, will be a global phone number, which can be used anywhere and can be called from anywhere.

While Vonage is still in the lead in volume, it's probably due to the extra features why cable companies are leading in new VoIP subscribers, and why one company, Time Warner, isn't far behind in total subscribers.

On the other hand, I know people who do not watch TV or use the Internet, but do have a need for a telephone, without any "global number" feature. There's always a market for basic telephony. It just may no longer be worth the amount of monthly advertising that companies like Vonage are said to spend (US$20M).

VoIP Roundup - Thur Aug 10/06

Successful personal development blogger Steve Pavlina wrote recently, in an article detailing 10 reasons why it's worth learning some technical abilities, that he disconnected his entire house from traditional phone lines and switched fully to VoIP. [via Steve Pavlina] He does not say anything about e-911 emergency calling nor the service he's using.

Riverside, California is initiating a pilot project for muni Wi-Fi. It's also being touted as a public safety network. [via Xchange Mag]

Got a GSM-based cell phone? The new CelluNet gateway allows mobile- to- mobile VoIP calls on a GSM network, via a SIP bridge, which should produce a cost savings forproviders of GSM. [via Asterisk VoIP News]

If you're an AOL subscriber, you may be pleased to hear that their parent company, Time Warner, is changing their fee structure to provide email, IM (Instant Messaging) and VoIP free of charge. But only to broadband users. So if you're on their outrageously priced dialup plan, it's time to quit and move up to broadband. [via Teleclick, CNBC TV]

Digifone Plug'N'Play VoIP Device For Regular Handsets

Digifone UK has a new plug'n'play VoIP unit that lets people make free broadband phone calls using current handsets, without a computer. All you need is a broadband Internet connection, and you're good to go. You'll probably need a broadband router as well, so that you can split the broadband line between the Digifone unit and your computer.

Digifone currently has 3 models. The EL1 (GBP 50) handles one line. The EL2 (GBP 100) is for two lines. For three or more lines, there's the EL4, which is GBP 100, plus GBP 50 per extra line. Prices are inclusive of VAT, postage and handling.

The system is compatible with H.323/ SIP-based terminals and will work with a PBX. The unit itself runs with an embedded Linux operating system kernel. (More details are available by contacting Digifone via email.) According to the detailed specs, you can call PSTN even if AC power fails. The unit is FCC approved, as well as MIC (Korea).

The list of countries for free calls numbers roughly 30 and includes Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, UK, New Zealand, USA (+mobile), and several more European and Asian countries (but no India). This is comparable to Jajah, which requires you to use a computer, and calls are limited to 30 minutes. While Gizmo Project offers free calls to 60 countries, both parties in a call have to be registered.

The Digifone VoIP service is provided by a German company,  Betamax. You're allowed a maximum of 300 minutes per week of free calls. After that, a rate of 0.7 pence (British) per minute is charged (0.8 p/min for British mobile phones, free for British landlines). Call summaries are sent monthly by a customer's choice of email or snail mail (post).

Other countries and rates will be listed on Digifone's website, but I don't recall seeing anything up there yet. There's also no mention of e-911 handling, but I'm assuming that since you can make direct calls to PSTN numbers, that it's not an issue. Whether or not the emergency service will see your number on their call-display I'm not sure.

If you're a communications company, Digifone is looking for licensees anywhere in the world. The EL series has received a number of awards, including Pulver100 (USA), 2004 Mae Kyung Venture Grand Prix (Korea), and Certificate of Technology Evaluation (Fraunhofer Institute, Germany). Just a guess, but I think more devices like these are going to be making telecoms quake but cable providers happy. Get in on the action.

VoIP Roundup - Wed Aug 09/06

Jeff Pulver (Pulvermedia) and Paul Kaputska have just launched Vonosphere, a website dedicated to voice- and video-on-net news. Jeff is a very proactive person who writes letters to politicians regarding issues such as net neutrality. Congrats to both of you on the new site. [via IP Inferno]

The pricey (US$350) new Mylo from Sony, like the HyunWon Boxon, is a combo consumer electronics gadget. But it actually has VoIP, in the form of Skype. [Sony via Engadget, The VoIP Weblog]

Vonage has come up with a way to offer real e-911 access to their customers. The service ties the caller's phone number with a phsyical address. [via Xchange Mag]

Cindy Waxer of TMC Net says that VoIP job opportunities abound. So, she says, forget about become a doctor or lawyer. Apparently,  the second-fastest growing occupation is in the area of network systems and data communication analysis, right through to 2014. Job numbers will increase by 55%.

VoIP in the enterprise to date relies on WANs (Wide-Area Networks), but deployment's been a headache for some network managers. That's because VoIP is a demanding application in terms of network usage and traffic patterns. [via TMC Net] An alternative is to deploy VoIP over MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) networks.

VoIP Roundup - Thur Aug 03/06

Ted Shelton of IP Inferno and VoIP Magazine has been busy and proactive. First he sent a letter to Meg Whitman of eBay, urging her to open up the Skype VoIP protocol. Then he sent a letter to US Senator Dianne Feinstein, and got this positive letter about network neutrality in response.

Dal of Asterisk VoIP News asks, is residential telephony past it's sell date? Both mobile comm and VoIP have threatened providers of regular phone service, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. Analysis from Frost & Sullivan shows that the industry there reached its peak in 2005, and the subscriber base will be growing at a paltry compound yearly rate of about 2.3 percent up until 2012. There are, however, other areas of growth in the business. [via Asterisk VoIP News]

For those of you familiar with RSS (Really Simple Syndication), you know that it's a handy way to consume the content of your favorite websites, especially news sites. Well, here's a leg up on RSS news reader software: one that reads you one minute headline summaries via an Asterisk-based VoIP phone. [via Nerd Vittles] There's also MailCall for Asterisk, which reads you your email by VoIP phone.

New Zealand's Slingshot offers the iTALK VoiceBox to bring VoIP calling to regular home phone users. This is done by connecting a regular phone to a broadband connection via a suitable adaptor device. [via The VoIP Weblog, Scoop]

VoIP Roundup - Tues Aug 1/06

Verizon reports that their net revenue for Q2 2006 was down $500M. Part of this had to do with costs involving their FiOS fiber-optic broadband service. The other reason, although it doesn't explicitly mention VoIP, is that the company had a more than seven-percent drop (over a year) "in the number of switched access lines in service", due to customer migrating to other technologies. [via InfoWorld]

Microsoft had egg on their face when a live demonstration of their IVR (Interactive Voice Response) voice recognition software completely misunderstood the demonstrator and, after fitfully trying to interpret what he was saying, actually typed out some gobbledygook about erasing everything. [via CNBC TV, InfoWorld] (Now do you believe me when I say that the domain name wewillassimiliateyou.com - or something like that - was once registered to Microsoft?)

While the software in question  was not VoIP-based, voice-processing is increasingly become a part of popular VoIP packages, typically through add-ons or plugins. Microsoft has also expressed a strong interest in VoIP lately

You know VoIP's about to go mainstream and become a household word when the Motley Fool personal finance and investing website starts talking about VoIP. [via Motley Fool]

In the article, Fool contributor Tim Beyers mentions that in the eight months since using Skype instead of a landline in his office, he's had a lot of dropped calls but ended up with a total (prorated) annual savings of nearly $450. However, he's opted to stick with a regular landline at home, for a variety of reasons. In all, a fairly balanced look at the pros and cons of using VoIP.

The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) describes how one branch of the Health Services Union assessed their undesireable phone system situation and, after considering a number of vendors, went with a US-based VoIP provider, Zultys Technologies.

This is an interesting read because the Union branch was not obviously a candidate for VoIP, especially because there's no need for long-distance calls, and most calls were expected to be inbound from 20,000 members. [via SMH]

SOHO Owners Most Interested In VoIP

A new survey by IDC [via Info Week] suggests that SOHO (Small Office Home Office) owners will be the people driving the consumer adoption of VoIP for next year, in the United States.

According to the survey home offices have typically been early adopters of advanced technology, and are doubly likely to be currently using, or soon adopting, VoIP than other US households. At present, nearly 40% of corporate home offices and almost 24% of home-based businesses have in interest in VoIP - at present or in the near future.

This makes a great deal of sense, considering the potential savings from implementing VoIP either in the home office or on a laptop during business trips. Any business owner who has travelled knows the cost of cell phone roaming charges or even hotel phone bills.

SOHO-based businesses typically have to bootstrap, especially in the early lean years. It just goes with the territory. So the bottom line is that costs have to be cut wherever possible. Since SOHO offices are more likely to be connected to the Internet on a broadband line than a regular household, owners are more likely to be aware of the advantages of VoIP.

However, as mentioned previously, a lot of free soft VoIP clients are not enterprise ready. A business owner who may want to set up a voice menu or some other sophisticated phone interface likely has to go with pure-play VoIP services instead of something like Skype. Though that's likely to change in the next couple of years.

VoIP Roundup #2

TechCrunch reports that SightSpeed 5.0 launched. Yet when I checked the Sightspeed site (10 PM Pacific time), there's a message saying you should return at 9 PM Pacific time. The new version apparently includes place-shifted TV, a new video codec, PSTN out- and in-calling, and more. The beta was available a couple of months ago. Sightspeed is a competitor to Skype, but went one step further by incorporating native call recording as well as video calling and free voice and videomail. [Update: 5.0 is now available for both Mac OS X and Win XP. Unlike Skype, Sightspeed is keeping version numbers for both platforms in line.]

GigaOm points to a post on Andy Abramson's VoIPWatch about a new deal between SixApart and Gizmo Project. The new service would let LiveJournal webloggers VoIP and text IM site visitors. This is in addition to the recently announced Jabber-based text IM that LiveJournal would be adding. These kinds of integration of web services are going to appear a lot more often, as innovative companies like SixApart see the value to the end users.

Benjamin Higginbotham presents a compelling argument for why Skype has not won the VoIP battle yet, saying that while it's great in the C2C (consumer- to- consumer) market, it falls down in the B2B (business- to- business) and B2C markets. Skype did announce late last year, and again recently, that they were going after the enterprise VoIP market. That is despite saying their software was not enterprise grade. Nevertheless, I think I have to agree with Benjamin, as Skype (and most other softVoIP clients) support neither VoiceXML nor CCXML, which would really make a difference for businesses.

Vonage Is Still #1 In VoIP Market Share

Despite the beating that Vonage (NYSE: VG) has taken in the stock market, they are still #1 in terms of pure VoIP service popularity, according to a survey by Telephia.

The survey (PDF, 3 pgs) shows that of all US households subscribing to "pure-play" VoIP services, Vonage currently has nearly 54% of the market. They're followed by Verizon VoiceWing and AT&T CallVantage, each with a distant 5.5%. The remaining providers in the top nine each hold between 0.9-4% of the market share, with tenth place being an aggregate of providers holding 20%. (Given that Vonage supposedly spends $20 million per month in advertising, it's only fitting that they're in first place.)

These numbers only include services categorized as Internet telephony providers, and thus excludes "digital phone" services offered by some cable and telecom companies. Soft VoIP services such as Skype are also excluded. Still, with Vonage so far ahead of at least a dozen companies, there's enough motive to want to bring them down. (What me? Sound like a conspiracy theorist?) I still maintain that Vonage needs to ally themselves with some big player, to save themselves, at least in terms of market valuation.

Telephia conducts performance measurements of both the converging communications and mobile industries. Their survey shows that of the reasons that customers might switch VoIP providers, call quality ranked highest (27.4%), followed by customer service (14.7%) and then plan price (13.4%).

A survey earlier this year by Telephia showed that residential VoIP increased to 3.1% of households compared to June 2005. That number is now 4.1% for Q2 2006.

via PC World, VoIP News

Could RFID Transponders Be Used For VoIP e911 Caller Verification?

If you've been following our sister publication, RFID Gazette, you'll know about a new type of RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag called RuBee with IP addressing capabilities. This means that if an SED (Service-Enabled Device) is equipped with a RuBee tag, it could be accessed via the Internet. This could be a potential solution for the VoIP e911 problem.

SEDs could be any networked device, including a digital camera, digital toaster, digital lighting system, etc., which can communicate with each other, based on predefined roles. What this also means is that if a transponder with a RuBee tag were devised, it could potentially be used as a means of directing and responding to VoIP-based e911 emergency calls.

Now this is pure speculation, and there are still a lot of technical issues that have to be solved. For example, RuBee-based transponders would have to be stationary and thus not attached to VoIP phones or to any mobile device such as a laptop or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). However, any device used to make a VoIP call would have a RuBee tag to transmit emergency status to the nearest transponder. The transponder would be designed to route the call appropriately.

This means that each transponder would have to be geocoded, possibly in sync to a postal/ zip code grid. Alternately, in cities with Municipal Wi-Fi, e911 transponders could be integrated wherever signal boosters are installed. That at least helps narrow down where a call is coming from, even from a VoWiFi phone. Finally, household or neighborhood transponders could also be made available, for those interested. Of course, in the latter case, you wouldn't want the transponder accessible to just anyone over the Internet. Just speculating.

Mercer town agrees to become a part of E911 emergency network

Residents of Mercer at their town meeting voted to join other Maine communities in being part of the E911 emergency network.  This action follows a town meeting vote five years ago which took a decision not be part of the system which helps police and ambulance crews and firefighters pinpoint the homes of callers in emergency situations.

According to Duncan Steele, town resident, Mercer

It's very frustrating if we get a call and we don't know where your house is .If you're lying on the floor with a heart attack, seconds count.

This could be critical in life or death situations as there have been instances where ambulance crews have been delayed by as much as ten minutes in finding a house.

via   [MaineToday]

Residential Seamless Mobility Gateway by Motorola

Motorola will be releasing its new Residential Seamless Mobility Gateway (RSG). An 802.11b/g access point, four-port router, and a built-in VoIP adapter will be a part of the RSG products. These will act as a hotspot for mobile phones, provide power to phones, and enable users to control their home networks. RSG can be combined with the dual-mode handset (DMH) for the seamless transfer of voice calls between the home wireless network and the cellular network. engadget.com reports:

As such, they will eliminate the hassle of multiple providers for home and mobile allowing callers to dial a number while the gateway determines the best available network or service option.

Read More: Motorola's RSG bridges VoiP and cellular phone services

C-VoBB by Sonus Networks

Consumer Voice over Broadband (C-VoBB), which is a residential VoIP service solution for network operators has been introduced by Sonus Networks. C-VoBB supports both e911 and CALEA and provides features such as voice mail and speed dialing. It comprises a call routing server, a call management server, and a management system.

VoiP considerations for homeowners

One of the main attractions of VoIP is its low cost. Before homeowners decide upon switching to VoIP, there are a few things that they should consider.

• The compatibility of their high-speed connection to manage IP calls should be tested. TestYourVoIP.com provides a free test to this end. Also, it is safer to switch to VoIP on a secondary line and consider switching the main line if the results are satisfactory.

• VoIP service providers offer different packages. Consider your requirements before opting for one. Elementary schemes with bundled long-distance minutes can be availed for as less as $10. Business packages may cost more but they offer services such as conferencing, fax, etc. A soft phone service is a good option if you travel with your laptop. Also, many providers offer unlimited long-distance calls, but only to select countries. Calls to Canada are treated by most as domestic long-distance.

• Services like AT&T offers AT&T CallVantage that searches for the call receiver by ringing up to five different phones as a part of its call forwarding service. A large VoIP company may charge $10 more for its service but it offers the guarantee of continued service, which may not be the case with tiny startups liable to fold without notice.

VoIP Image Still Needs Work

Although the number of people who know about VoIP has increased significantly, many are simply choosing to not use it.  Some have attributed this to the fact that companies have failed to show the consumer that VoIP better than a regular phone telephone line.  The recent regulation on the E911 also has consumers questioning the possible dangers of switching to the new technology.  Until the industry can quell these fears, people will continue to stick with what works and not upgrade to VoIP systems.  According to GlobeAndMail.com:

“The industry has made progress in clearing up some areas of consumer confusion, but interest in VoIP hasn't grown,” said Lynne Bartos, senior vice-president and head of Ipsos-Insight's Cable, Media & Entertainment Practice.

Read more at: Americans aware of VoIP but don't actually use it

Consumers Like Bundles

A recent study conducted by Decima Research of Canada, found that 9 percent of the 2000 people polled said they were probably going to sign up for VoIP in the coming future.  When asked if they would get the service if it was bundled with cable and broadband internet, the percentage doubled.  It is believed that there could be a greater amount of cost efficiency having all of the services together.  Additionally, the notion of having everything going through one company is just as appealing as the cost factor.  Anyone who has dealt with customer service doesn't want to call their broadband company because they lost their internet, then be told to call their VoIP provider because it's their problem, and then them saying your TV is broken somehow.  Bundling from a company prospective is attractive because it is an effective marketing tool.  You can sell people broadband internet and VoIP services that were just in the market to get cable TV.  According to ZDNet:

From a pricing standpoint, these services are and will cost signficantly less when they are bundled as compared to their a la carte price points.

Read moer at: Study: consumers twice as likely to sign up for VoIP if part of a price-bundled service

Read The Fine Print

While companies like Vonage preach the promise of lower telephone bills at the end of every month with VoIP services, the savings could in fact only be for select customers. For example, if you do not currently have a broadband internet connection, then you can tack on another 30 to 40 dollars on to the monthly fee of VoIP.  Then if you put together a home network so you can have more than one phone and security features, you're looking down the barrel of a couple hundred dollar set-up cost.  Therefore, unless you are a heavy user of long-distance phone calls, then VoIP may in fact not be your best option.  According to CNN:

Think twice about plans with limited minutes. You'll have to keep a tab on the number of minutes you use. If you go over your monthly allotment, you'll be charged 4 cents per minute or more for every call. And it doesn't matter if it is a local or long-distance call.

Read more at: VoIP Adds Up

Explain It? I Just Use It

A recent study done by SunRocket, a Virginia based VoIP provider showed that nearly 85% of the people had heard about VoIP.  More importantly, over 20% of the 2,228 respondents were already using a VoIP service of some kind.  While this figure is an example of the quick spread of Internet phone services, many did not completely understand how the technology actually worked.  For instance, only half knew that you did not have to route calls directly through a computer or could use a regular telephone to make calls.  On the other hand, consumers did know that the Internet phone service was saving them close to 500 dollars a year on their phone bill.

While saving money is great, it is highly recommended that you fully understand a technology before diving into it head first.  Always make sure that you know what you are plugging into your wall, and know what it is capable of.  Additionally, know ahead of time if the provider supports 911 forwarding and the ability to make calls in the event of a power outage.  These two emergency applications should outweigh any savings whether its 500 or 2000 dollars.

As a side note, I would like everyone to keep in mind that since a VoIP provider did a poll about VoIP in the market place, there is a chance that the numbers could be biased.  SunRocket could have made this poll in the best of faith, but evidence of VoIP’s expansion into the market helps them sell products.  Take the number for what they are worth, I don't want to mislead people.  According to PCWorld.com:

The poll "demonstrates that consumer awareness does not equate to consumer understanding," says Joyce Dorris, co-founder of SunRocket, was which founded in 2004.

Read more at: VoIP Awareness Outpaces Understanding, Poll Finds

Consumers Hesitant to Make Switch to VoIP

While 72% of businesses are likely to deploy voice over IP (VoIP) this year, most consumers are leery of switching to the new technology because of privacy, security, and complexity issues. This is according to the "2005 Telecommunications Report" published by Harris Interactive. The survey also finds that 87% of business decision-makers are familiar with VoIP, while only 35% of consumers are VoIP savvy and only 3% of them currenly use it. The IP telephony technology still faces a host of issues that must be resolved before widespread adoption is possible. One of the biggest issues is integrating full emergency 911 support for residential customers. According to Communications Convergence:

On the whole, businesses are attracted to VoIP primarily by the expected cost savings the technology can provide. According to the Harris Interactive survey, some 72% of businesses that are likely to deploy VoIP this year expect telecom savings of between 11% and 40%. Customer satisfaction is high; some 88% of businesses using VoIP are either somewhat or very satisfied with their service and, of those consumers using the technology, 40% expressed satisfaction.

Read more: Businesses Bullish On VoIP, But Consumers Remain Leery: Survey

AOL VoIP Service Plan Announced

AOL has announced that they will begin to offer a voice over IP service within a month. Initially, the service will only be available to AOL subscribers, but eventually the ISP giant plans to expand to the mass market. Customers of the service will be able to use their existing phones by connecting them through an adapter that will link to a broadband router. According to PC World:

The service, called AOL Internet Phone Service, will leverage the "buddy list" used in the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service to show a subscriber whether friends or associates are currently available, said Jonathan Miller, chairman and CEO of AOL. Miller gave a keynote address at the Spring VON (Voice on the Net) trade show here.

Read more: AOL to Launch VoIP Within a Month

911 VoIP

VoIP users expecting to pick up their phone and get 911 service in an emergency may be surprised to learn that the service is not always available. On February 3, a Houston girl dialed 911 from a VoIP phone shortly after her parents had been shot in her home. Instead of being routed to an emergency response center, she received a recorded message indicating that the service was not available to her. While VoIP provides the greatest opportunity for long-sought competition in the telecommunications sector, the trouble that public-safety answering points (PSAPs) are having with VoIP phones has already begun to jeopardize public safety; unless rectified, the situation will only worsen in the coming years as the number of VoIP users grows. But regulating the 911 difficulties is its own problem According to Contact Center Today:

Most believe the FCC would be hard-pressed to require Skype to provide 911 services -- or anything else, for that matter. Skype is not a U.S. company, and it's not a carrier. Regulating a software company like Skype or U.S. VoIP poster child Vonage would open a Pandora's box that could lead to unwanted regulations on other packet-based communications, including instant messaging and e-mail.

Read more: VoIP Challenges for 911 Call Centers

AOL Testing VoIP Service

Softswitch deployment activity at AOL has spiked recently, lending some credibility to the rumors that AOL may be preparing to launch a residential VoIP service very soon. One source familiar with the company says that the targeted launch date is March 16. According to Light Reading:

AOL's VOIP offering, as reported earlier by Light Reading is riding across Level 3 Communications Inc.'s message board network, the same carrier that powers residential VOIP services offered by Skype Technologies SA and other companies. [...]

But VOIP gives AOL more than just a feature. It makes the service more attractive to carrier partners who need to sell something beyond a basic high-speed data connection.

Read more: AOL Marches Toward VOIP Rollout

Vonage Launches VoIP Service in UK

Vonage has announced that they are now offering residential VoIP service in the United Kingdom. According to the Vonage VoIP Forum:

It said the service would allow U.K. residents to choose telephone numbers within London and the surrounding area. U.K. subscribers will have access to international virtual phone numbers with U.S., Canadian and Mexico City area codes for $5.62 per month per number.

Vonage said it hired Kerry Ritz, ex-Hutchinson 3G, as managing dir. of Vonage U.K. The company also plans to hire "half a dozen" executives in the near future, Vonage Chmn. Jeffrey Citron told us.

Read more: Vonage launches broadband phone service in the U.K

iBasis Introduces DirectVoIP Broadband

iBasis, a wholesale carrier, is now offering DirectVoIP Broadband for retail users who have broadband IP connections such as cable modem or DSL. According to Phone Plus:

Using DirectVoIP Broadband to connect voice over broadband providers to the iBasis global VoIP network means retail providers do not need to make a large infrastructure investment, according to iBasis.

"With the dramatic growth in worldwide adoption of broadband, the growth potential for voice over broadband services appears to be tremendous," says Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis.

Read more: iBasis Launches Retail VoIP Offering

Vonage F-1000 Wi-Fi VoIP Phone

Vonage and UTStarcom have partnered to develop a new Wi-Fi consumer VoIP phone, the Vonage F-1000. The new product will offer mobility across 802.11b networks and will be available to Vonage subscribers in the U.S. this summer.

According to the press release at Business Wire:

While this is not the first foray into providing cellular phone services over Wi-Fi -- Net2Phone has been conducting a trial in Newark, New Jersey -- Vonage's extensive reach, via hotspot aggregator Boingo Wireless's 12,000+ locations in 48 U.S. states and 32 countries, means that F-1000 purchasers will enjoy a practical alternative to traditional cellular communications.

According to Philip Solis, senior analyst, wireless connectivity at ABI Research, many consumers will use the new phone as a cordless phone replacement on their home or business Wi-Fi networks. Some might not want to carry the extra VoIP handset in addition to their standard mobile phone when traveling. But such a service could have value for anyone wishing to make a large number of calls from public hotspots.

Read more: New Vonage VoIP Phone to Speed Voice-Over Wi-Fi to Consumer Market, Says ABI Research

SunRocket Uses Oryx/NEXT from uReach

SunRocket, an IP provider, has partnered with uReach to provide American households with a platform with enhanced voice mail features and access.

According to Phone Plus:

SunRocket is using Oryx/NEXT, an open source VoIP platform, from uReach Technologies Inc., a communications application provider.

SunRocket IP home phone service now allows users to define how they want to receive voice mail alerts, whether via SMS, e-mail or instant messaging. Some telephones also support message-waiting lights. Oryx/NEXT also automatically sends voice mail audio files to e-mail and lets users check messages from the Web.

Read more: SunRocket Uses uReach VoIP Platform

AT&T and Linksys Form VoIP Partnership

Beginning later this month, AT&T and Linksys will offer VoIP to home users across the United States. The service will be available to AT&T's CallVantage customers.

According to internetnews.com:

To take advantage of the nationwide VoIP service, which lets users make telephone calls over their broadband Internet connection, users will need to have broadband Internet access at home—either DSL or cable—and then purchase a Linksys Wired Router with 2 Phone Ports or a Wireless-G Router with 2 phone ports. The Ethernet version is currently available directly from AT&T, and Linksys expects that all versions will be available at retail outlets such as Staples, Best Buy, Circuit City and Office Depot later this month. The routers will also allow users to network several computers while simultaneously talking over their high-speed Internet connections.

Read more: Linksys, AT&T Team for Consumer VoIP

Household VoIP Usage to Jump

JupiterResearch expects that by 2009, 12 million U.S. households will be using VoIP Net phone technology.

Accoriding to CNet News:

About 17 percent of all homes with broadband in the United States will use Web telephony in 2009, up from just 1 percent by the end of 2004, according to a study released Thursday by research firm JupiterResearch.

But companies that offer voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services may have to fight off two key challenges: landline companies that already have strong brand recognition with customers and the increasing popularity of wireless telephony among the younger population, JupiterResearch said.

Read more: Study: VoIP to proliferate in U.S. households

Lingo, Vonage, Skype, AT&T VoIP for Beginners

Business Week Online's technology editor Alex Salkever offers a good beginner's guide to getting started with VoIP. Below is his answer to the question, "How much money will I save?"

From Business Week Online:

One well known VoIP provider, the Lingo service offered by Primus, is offering a $19.95-a-month plan that includes unlimited talk time on all local and domestic long-distance calls as well as calls to Canada and Western Europe.

Even the VoIP plans offered by big cable operators, long-distance providers such as AT&T (T ), and the larger upstarts such as Vonage undercut the cost of traditional phone plans by as much as 50%. Skype Technologies is offering a VoIP service that allows any Skype user to talk to any other user of the service over the Net for free, using a PC or phone-like device.

Read more: The ABCs of VoIP

Vonage, AT&T Offer Virtual VoIP Phone Numbers

With AT&T's Simple Reach plan, customers can dial long distance at local rates. Vonage has recently introduced the ability for VoIP customers to acquire virtual phone numbers from Mexico City.

According to the Chicago Tribune:

"VoIP is absolutely going to kill institutions we are familiar with," said Barnich, former chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission. [...]

This year AT&T said it would stop marketing traditional local and long-distance phone service to residential customers and instead would actively promote VoIP. It is doing so by offering unlimited VoIP calling in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and the U.S. Virgin Islands for just $20 a month for the first six months and $35 thereafter.

Read more: Long-distance takes local route

Saving Money with Vonage VoIP

The VoIP market in the U.S. is growing albeit slowly. Yankee Group estimates that there will be 1 million VoIP users in the U.S. by the end of 2004, up from 131,000 in December 2003. Lowering costs may be the number one reason for the growth.

According to the Boston Globe:

Old-line phone giants like AT&T Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc., cable TV companies, and start-ups like Vonage have stormed into the market in recent months.

But all projections indicate that by decade's end, Internet phone plans will still lag far behind the 100 million-plus regular US phone lines.

What sells Internet calling more than anything else are unlimited domestic phone calls for $30 or $35 a month, and international rates such as 3 cents a minute to London and Rome and 4 cents to Tokyo.

Read more: Is this call for you?