VoIP as a Force in Telecom
Interesting article in ITWorld -
VoIP Will Become the New StandardIs VoIP becoming the standard by which we measure things? It's become pretty clear in recent months that VoIP is gaining traction and momentum with residential consumers. SOHOs follow because they're home-based businesses. And the electronic cottage industry has grown significantly in North America for the past ten years. I know that trend is mirrored in several parts of the world, but I suspect it isn't yet a global trend.
Dan Blacharski, ITworld.comThis week's highlighted research:
IDC. "Home office households set the stage for consumer VoIP adoption."
Infonetics Research. "User plans for VoIP: North America 2006."
Juniper Research. "Global VoIP: Hosted & non-hosted services: Business & enterprise markets, 2006-2010."
We tend to be creatures of habit. We like to stick with the "same old same old" regardless of whether there's something better out there, proclaiming, "better the devil I know than the devil I don't know." Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) isn't exactly the devil, but it is something new, and it takes a lot to get telecom consumers to change their habits.
At this point, thanks to a combination of more refined technology and clever marketing, most consumers are aware of VoIP and believe it is a legitimate alternative. The early adopters of VoIP are the small offices and home offices, according to IDC, whose report notes that households with home offices have always been early adopters of advanced technology, and VoIP is no exception. Households with home offices are twice as likely to implement VoIP than other households, according to the report, which says that about 40 percent of corporate home offices, and 24 percent of home based businesses are interested in VoIP, while only about 11 percent of general households without home offices are interested.
I'm not sure I entirely agree with Blacharski's premise that "Naturally, the biggest driver in VoIP implementation in home offices is cost savings on long distance." Cost savings might be a large factor for residential users, yes, but SOHO and SMB VoIP users are generally looking for more than just cost savings. They look for mobility, integration and other features beyond dial tone and cost.
The Juniper Research paper linked above looks at forecasts and the projected impact on telco revenues. The fact that VoIP is now, after ten years in the market, genuinely having an impact on telco revenues speaks volumes to the success of VoIP technologies.
Technorati Tags: VoIP, unified communications
Technorati Tags: VoIP, unified communications
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