It's no secret that the communications world is changing. Telecom companies have been put on notice to either adapt or die and some of them seem to be taking it seriously. A recent pew survey shows that one quarter of the online world has already placed an Internet call at some point of time and on any given day, around 5% of Internet users use VoIP calling. This is a dramatic increase from the mindshare VoIP had just a few years back. And so while VoIP isn't ready to replace regular calling, it's certainly getting there.
There are quite a few opportunities for the VoIP industry. For example, one of the most important things VoIP providers can do is to stop the fragmentation of the market and allow users from other VoIP networks to make calls to them. For this, we need a universal addressing system that isn't just based on telephone numbers. As long as VoIP only remains accessible through numbers issued by the telcos, it will always remain a secondary technology forever dependent on an outdated form of addressing. We're already seeing some steps in this direction with Google Voice planning to release SIP URIs for Internet calling, so this might become a regular feature in time.
To further this goal, we need to accelerate the setting up of a universal and open directory which can convert phone numbers into SIP URIs if they exist. This means that we can still dial phone numbers but have the call travel over the Internet if the number is linked to a VoIP phone. This will be suitable for the transition phase before we begin dialing SIP URIs directly in the same way we send email to people.
The opportunities for VoIP have also increased largely due to the explosion of smartphones. These devices give customers the flexibility to place calls in a variety of ways and application developers have taken full advantage of this.
A few limitations remain however. Mobile broadband is still spotty and can be unreliable. While technologies such as 4G can help overcome this, there's a danger of telecom companies trying to hamper voice usage over 4G by claiming that VoIP clogs these networks. They can try and slow down VoIP calls leading to a poor experience. But the technology for VoIP is fundamentally sound and it's just a matter of time before these wrinkles are sorted out. So while there may indeed be a few problems today, we're well on our way to solving them and moving into a VoIP dominated future.
Tags: secret communications online internet users voip calling industry users networks
© Copyright 2012, Inc. All rights reserved.