Another attempt from Vonage

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Vonage to Target Enterprise Market with “V-Phone” Mobile VoIP Device
Broadband prone provider, Vonage, has revealed that its new V-Phone device is being targeted not only to consumers, but also enterprise-level users.
The V-Phone is a 256MB USB drive, which comes loaded with VoIP software, and lets users remotely access their Vonage accounts from any computer in the world. It is now being sold for $49 on the company’s website and will be available through numerous retail channels starting in September. The V-Phone’s launch was the company’s first major announcement since its disastrous IPO in May, and is seemingly an attempt to adopt a more mobile approach to VoIP, while breaking into new markets.“
The V-phone is designed to replace existing phone lines for large and medium businesses,” commented Vonage chairman and co-founder, Jeffery Citron, at a recent press event. “We’ve spent a lot of time and money marketing our service to a particular subset of the market, and now we’ve expanded the capabilities to service a new demographic. Just like any other business, we are always looking for new market segments.”

I know Mr. Citron is acclaimed on many fronts as a business genius. I think he's off the mark here. First, the widely touted V-Phone is doomed to be less than a flop in enterprise business. As companies worry about portable data and lost records (se VA data theft for starters), USB drives and other portable media are coming into question as one of the problem areas of security. From a practical standpoint, USB ports in the office are all too frequently hidden at the back of a machine, inaccessible and unused.

Large enterprise companies watch IPOs and closely as anyone. They're watching Vonage. I can't imagine a CTO, CIO or CFO anywhere who's willing to contemplate betting corporate capability on Vonage's floundering record. I see dark times still ahead for Vonage.

Technorati Tags: VoIP, Vonage