VoIP Is Dead; Long Live VoIP!
Thursday January 15, 2009
It's been on blogs for some months now, ever since someone influential on the technology blogosphere uttered what looked far-fetched but sensational, "VoIP is dead!" I couldn't care less, but after having read here and there, I'd like to throw in my two cents about it.
Analysts are sensing a slowdown on VoIP demand, mainly among SMBs. So, according to them, VoIP died because, among others, Vonage has been spotted as the only surviving pure-play VoIP provider, and we know that Vonage came back from the dead some time back, in a field of fallen VoIP companies; because these so-called carcasses are termed by some as having represented mediocrity and marginal ideas; because VoIP will fade out in the dark into behind-the-curtain mechanism like TCP-IP did some years back; because subsequently, VoIP is simply 'plumbing'; because VoIP largely relies on PSTN, which limits its full potential; etc. Finally, some squarely declared 2008 'the year VoIP died'. "Really?" I ask.
One reasoning I stand by is that VoIP is part of a continuum that involves other multimedia elements (think of IPTV, faxing etc.), and that Unified Communications may in some way overpower it, and why not, empower it too in the process. Acceptable also is the idea that 'VoIP is not dead, but just not sexy anymore', and if there is no innovation, it can fade away. But then, for the other side of the coin, think about, for example, how Nortel sees the future of VoIP, or the fact that nearly half of all IT companies worldwide have adopted VoIP, or still Verizon's recent decision to go all VoIP, leaving the copper behind. How about you? Do you think VoIP is dead? Take the poll:
Analysts are sensing a slowdown on VoIP demand, mainly among SMBs. So, according to them, VoIP died because, among others, Vonage has been spotted as the only surviving pure-play VoIP provider, and we know that Vonage came back from the dead some time back, in a field of fallen VoIP companies; because these so-called carcasses are termed by some as having represented mediocrity and marginal ideas; because VoIP will fade out in the dark into behind-the-curtain mechanism like TCP-IP did some years back; because subsequently, VoIP is simply 'plumbing'; because VoIP largely relies on PSTN, which limits its full potential; etc. Finally, some squarely declared 2008 'the year VoIP died'. "Really?" I ask.
One reasoning I stand by is that VoIP is part of a continuum that involves other multimedia elements (think of IPTV, faxing etc.), and that Unified Communications may in some way overpower it, and why not, empower it too in the process. Acceptable also is the idea that 'VoIP is not dead, but just not sexy anymore', and if there is no innovation, it can fade away. But then, for the other side of the coin, think about, for example, how Nortel sees the future of VoIP, or the fact that nearly half of all IT companies worldwide have adopted VoIP, or still Verizon's recent decision to go all VoIP, leaving the copper behind. How about you? Do you think VoIP is dead? Take the poll:
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