.: VoIP Providers Doing Their Best To Get Your Money
Category:Home / Technology / VOIP
We've seen this happen before. A new technology promises cheaper and better service.
But when consumers try to take advantage of it, the new "cheaper", "better" service ends up being a degraded level of the same old thing, and usually for more money when all is said and done.
Think cell phones. Think internet connections.
The problem with cheap new technologies is that they don't provide sufficient profit to be developed at a mass level. That's why telcos and cable companies dragged their feet for years before getting serious about broadband internet. Do you remember when 128k connections cost $300 a month? Why give people ten times as much capacity for much less money?
Which brings us to VoIP. There appears to be no incentive at all for the major telco and cable carriers to get into this business yet. Until they find a way to leverage their infrastructures for their own profit in the VoIP business, you can expect them to throw up obstacles. Like tollgate fees. The idea of charging companies like Vonage and Skype for use of the "free" IP network has been floated, and is not likely to go away any time soon.
**Fracturing of the VoIP market**
That leaves companies like Vonage, Skype, and Microsoft to compete at the consumer end of things. They are fighting over who will get the most customers. Just like the cell phone companies, they are using specialized hardware and added services to differentiate themselves from the others.
You can expect they will all be taking a page from the cell phone marketing book. Offer cut rate (or free) hardware to get customers signed up to a long term contract. But the catch is, the hardware will only work with one system. That way customers will not jump ship without thinking twice about investing more money in new hardware.
The strategy was apparent at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Each of the major players unveiled new gadgets that only work with their system: a special Wi-Fi phone for Vonage, speakerphones and USB handsets for Skype, and handsets from Uniden and Philips that only work with Windows Live Messenger.
The dilemma is that the major players in the VoIP business need to generate cash. They hope to do that by tying up lots of customers with exclusive hardware that is not compatible with their competitors. But the risk is they will alienate a lot of the same consumers they are trying to convert.
**Will new handsets make Microsoft a VoIP player?**
Bill Gates announced at CES in Las Vegas in January that Uniden American and Royal Philips will have new VoIP phones available for MSN Messenger users by the time the new VoIP-enabled version of Messenger is available. According to Microsoft, there are 200 million MSN Messenger users worldwide.
The new version of MSN Messenger, called Windows Live Messenger will have advanced VoIP capabilities, and an interface with the traditional phone system through an agreement with MCI.
The handsets available from Uniden and Philips will be cordless dual landline-VoIP phones making them a complete replacement for both traditional phone service and PC to PC services like Skype. The companies hope the three way combination of Microsoft and MCI along with Uniden and Philips will make the MSN Messenger service a leader in the VoIP battle for subscribers.
The new Uniden phone, due out in the spring will be a 5.8GHz unit and will cost in the $ 100 range. The Philips phone will have similar features and price, but will be targeted to non-North American markets. The combination is aimed at putting the Microsoft/MCI service on par with Skype and making it a serious alternative to providers like Vonage.
As with Skype, PC to PC calls will be free using Windows Live Messenger. Microsoft and MCI claim that PC to landline calls will cost only a few cents a minute, and much less than some other alternatives currently being developed.
**Who is Microsoft targeting? Skype or Vonage?**
According to Russel Shaw, writing in the ip telephony blog (http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=821), the real target of the Microsoft/MCI project is not Skype, but Vonage and other "pure play VoIPs" like Packet 8, as well as the traditional telcos waiting in the wings to pounce once the market gets going.
Services like Vonage are extremely vulnerable because they rely on the infrastructure of the telcos without paying a surcharge to use it. Those costs are off-loaded to their customers who pay connection charges. But it is almost a certainty that the telcos will not sit idly by while companies like Vonage use the telcos' own capacity to take away their customers.
That means the "pure play VoIPs" are going to get squeezed between Microsoft/MCI on one hand, and the telcos on the other.
Article keywords: VoIP, voip telephone, voip telephone service, voip phone service, voip comparisons
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
Rick Hendershot publishes Linknet Business News | German mobile users can get Free SMS service - Freesms versenden - kostenlos freesms in deutsche handynetze versenden.
.: New VOIP Articles
1). 6 Voice Over IP Tips
There are many benefits to VoIP. Here are 6 benefits we found to voice over ip. You may be able to think of even more reasons to switch or to include this exciting way to communicate at reduced prices.
2). Top 10 Reasons You Should Switch To VoIP
If you are considering changing to voice over internet protocol or VoIP for short you need to know the arguments for changing. Here are our top 10 reasons to switch to VoIP.
3). 7 Good Reasons Not To Switch To Voice Over IP Technology
For every positive there is a negative when it comes to voice over ip technology. Here are 7 good reasons not to switch in spite of the savings you may realize.
4). How To Choose The Best Voice Over Ip Provider
Choosing the best voice over ip provider may require you to do something that you have never done before. Here are a few tips to help you choose the best voice over ip provider.
5). Residential VoIP: Things to Consider Before Switching
Choosing VoIP over traditional telephone services has its pros and cons just like anything else. It is up to the consumer to weigh the advantages and disadvantages, and to come to a conclusion with eyes wide open.
6). Advantages of IP Telephony for the Residential Consumer
As more of us are building our own local area networks at home to connect our family members to each others data and appliances, broadband connections to the outside world have expanded our pipe to the Internet, giving us plenty of bandwidth to consider converging our home network with voice over IP telephony.
7). VoIP Communication Technology
VoIP... or Voice Over Internet Protocol, is the latest and greatest communications technology.
.: Top VOIP Articles
1). VoIP Problems?
Well of course there's VoIP problems, although I think problems is too strong of a word. Instead I would call this VoIP issues. (Just semantics? maybe, read on!)
Some may be old enough to remember making long distance calls where there was static or crackling on the phone line connection. Maybe you remember having to speak LOUDER in order to be heard on the line.
2). How To Set Up A Business VoIP System
To set up a business VoIP system, you need several components. A central device to manage the calls, the way a private branch exchange (PBX) or key system unit (KSU) does in traditional phone systems is one of them.
This can be a dedicated piece of hardware such as an IP PBX, a regular PBX that has been IP-enabled, or a server running specialized software.
3). VoIP Information: Benefits & Drawbacks
Once upon a time, a telephone was just a telephone. You set the base in your home and it featured either a corded or cordless handset for talking to family and friends. Even though that same telephone remains the standard, VoIP, which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, is increasing in popularity and gradually beginning to change the way that the world sends and receives telephone calls.
4). Skype versus Yahoo
With the influx of complaints regarding Skype’s fall from grace, Danny Wirken measures up the top competitor and internet giant Yahoo!’s news internet telephony service.
Cheaper, faster, better quality, better customer service and a brand you can trust. These are the things Yahoo! want you take away from any of their promotional material for the new Yahoo! voice VoIP service.
5). Voice Over Ip – What Is It And What Are The Choices?
Voice over Internet Protocol. First was the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell had a vision. He saw people communicating over long distances with their own voice, not trough beeps and squeaks. Then came the Internet. A few students and the US military had a vision, somewhat similar to Bell’s. They saw people communicating over long distances, but this time in writing.
6). Why VOIP?
Voice Over Internet Protocol delivers the service of converting the analog line into a digital signal so that voice could be transferred through the internet and this proves to be a lot cheaper than the PSTN (public switched telephone network). Voip is the best for making long distance calls in, inexpensive rates.
Voip and IP telephony are fields which have seen extensive growth and they continue to develop efficiently.
7). Advanced VoIP Gateway Technology
Increased demand for video-based applications in the mobile network drive the deployment of 3G networks. Inherent complexities in traditional video gateways cause performance bottlenecks and inflate costs. If the industry expects to absorb the impending explosion in demand, these proposed cost-saving and complexity-reducing changes are needed.
Unrelenting market demand for video-based applications over mobile networks is driving the increased deployment of 3G networks.