Is VoIP the "Next Big Thing" in Telecommunications?


VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol has been simmering for the past few years. This year the market has heated up. Many large businesses have jumped on the VoIP bandwagon and have realized savings of 50-percent or more off their phone bills. VoIP providers are competing to add to or replace large PBX systems for the corporations and add web conferencing capabilities plus wireless VoIP (wVoIP) over LAN's as well.

Hospitals and other large, fragmented workforces are discovering the value of using wireless VoIP phones to converse with one another quickly and efficiently while in different wings, floors or buildings of a large facility. This kind of wireless VoIP setup can have huge cost savings over cell phones and is more efficient that using pagers.

While business VoIP has caught on in the corporate landscape, residential VoIP is still trying to take hold. This is largely because of a couple of current disadvantages of VoIP. First, not all current VoIP systems have power backups. When the power goes out in a residence, the landline is still operational. Since VoIP works over a high-speed Internet connection, which requires power, if the power goes down, so does the VoIP connection. This will be of concern to many concerned about emergency situations. The good news is that many VoIP hardware providers are starting to deliver systems with power backup to address just this issue.

The second drawback of residential VoIP is that not all current VoIP service providers offer full, 24-7 emergency 911 service. After hour calls in Florida, may be mistakenly rerouted to Idaho for instance. This is also about to change. The Federal Communications Commission has mandated that all phone service providers offer e911 service as standard. According to the FCC, "All interconnected VoIP providers must automatically provide E9-1-1 services to all customers as a standard, mandatory feature without customers having to specifically request this service. VoIP providers may not allow their customers the option to "opt-out" of E9-1-1 service."

Clearly, though, residential VoIP is heading towards direct competition with the local phone companies' coveted landlines. A couple of years ago at a meeting in SBC's Publishing division, one of the executive managers cried, "Landlines, we need to stop losing landlines!" This was in response to cell phone companies taking away market share from the local Baby Bells. Now that VoIP is on the radar, the executive management teams for the local and long-distance phone companies must be huddling in their back offices, trying to figure out how they will stop the bleeding in the years to come.

With VoIP costing far less that traditional local and long-distance phone service and overcoming the last of the residential hurdles, one can be sure that consumers will soon be taking notice. Many will also start wearing t-shirt like "VoIP VIP" and "Got VoIP?" to herald in the new era in telecommunications.

Copyright © 2005 VoIP Service Providers3

VoIP Service Providers - Marvin Bellnick writes for VoIP Service Providers, a company dedicated to publishing the latest happenings in the Voice Over IP industry.


MORE RESOURCES:

Market Wire (press release)

NGN spending outlook mixed as VoIP slows, policy grows
TelephonyOnline - Nov 21, 2008
Large service providers are already pulling back on VoIP equipment purchases, though other key components of next-generation IP-based networks – such as ...
Service Provider VoIP Market Down, But Shows Signs of Recovery TMCnet
Foreclosures, consumer cutbacks freeze carrier spending on VoIP NetworkWorld.com
Infonetics: VoIP equipment down, capex spending not so much FierceTelecom
Telecom Paper (subscription) - MarketWatch
all 32 news articles


Toktumi VoIP Service Broadens Distribution
Twice, NY - Nov 21, 2008
San Francisco — VoIP provider Toktumi announced a partnership with Dell to distribute its small-business voice service through a co-branded micro site on ...


Regional Service Providers Continue to Select Nortel for Anywhere ...
MarketWatch - Nov 20, 2008
The CS 1500 is an IP multimedia softswitch that brings some of today's most innovative VoIP applications to regional providers such as the Automated ...
Nortel Helps Small and Medium Sized Businesses Get More Powerful ... MarketWatch
all 43 news articles


Nortel Offers Carrier VoIP for Regional Service Providers
TMC Net, CT - Nov 21, 2008
By Susan J. Campbell Nortel is changing the availability to the latest voice and multimedia applications with its Carrier VoIP solution. ...


TMCnet

Deutsche Telekom Enhances VoIP Application Using Paradial's Solution
TMCnet - Nov 21, 2008
It can be configured and setup as a VoIP SSL VPN. It is also ideal for P2P (peer-to-peer) and music/content distribution. "RealTunnel’s comprehensive and ...
Networked Homes and the Network Chasm TMCnet
all 2 news articles


Fluke Networks Intros Addition of VoIP Phone Functionalities to ...
TMCnet - Nov 21, 2008
By Susan J. Campbell Fluke Networks has announced the addition of VoIP phone functionalities to the MetroScope carrier Ethernet analyzer. ...


"No VOIP yet"
BroadbandReports.com, NY - 9 hours ago
VOIP is not here yet, but they are giving me the VOIP cost which is a deal. I waited 22 days to get a tech due to lack of engineers. ...


Net Quintum VoIP Gateways Achieve Certification for Microsoft ...
MarketWatch - Nov 20, 2008
The VX and Tenor lines of MultiPath VoIP switches and gateways allow customers to consolidate their existing messaging infrastructure -- including voice ...


ITProPortal

BT's Ribbit Revs VOIP Developer Platform Launch
eWeek,  NY - Nov 17, 2008
VOIP and telephony software maker Ribbit is allowing application developers to use its APIs to integrate voice communications into business applications ...
Ribbit Rolls Out VoIP Developer Platform InformationWeek
BT and Ribbit Launch Platform for Building Web-Based VoIP Apps Mashable
BT launches Ribbit platform for developers CNET News
TMCnet - TMC Net
all 35 news articles


The Changing Value Proposition for VoIP
TMCnet - Nov 21, 2008
By Tony Rybczynski Of course, in real world deployments, enterprises have to answer the question, “Why now?” Some of the more common triggers include: ...

VOIP - Google News

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