Unbound Spiral

More P2P Wannabe's

I'm completely bored with yet another stupid P2P telephony play. Last week it was TelTel and this week it is Buzzfon. Oh and I forgot GeckoPhone Really, these aren't newsworthy and the claims they are making are not compelling. Before saying anymore I should add I'm rather jaded so I've not downloaded any of these.

The similar claims start with everything from dialup connections to fantastic sound quality. Most of them use a dial format and eschew any instant messaging capability while centralizing something in the process. Some are giving away the free calling to anywhere on earth just to get you in the door while the "operators" try to build volume.

At this point there should be some marketing basics. If these are the products dreamed up post Skype then the designers failed to do their due diligence on the product, explore consumer behavior and work out how to position a better product. Even the feature sets on these products don't stack up much less the real benefits. Let's be clear a better product than Skype is possible and given time and some rapid learning even one of the motley crew above could evolve into something interesting.

However, these are starting points.

Easy to Install: You are up and running in two minutes. No firewall problems. (Skype when are you going to provide a test numbers?) And it must just keep on running. Any early failures will kill it.

A clean GUI. You will need to win a design award with your solution. There are a few elegant solutions. Eg If FireFly came before Skype I'd guess it influenced them. Or was it the other way round? What are you going to add that is new or different? Userplane is clean and Pangean identifies some new modifications.

Fantastic sound. I've only head one Internet sound engine that provides an experience that may compete with Skype's. So for all these wannabes... I want to know who provided your sound codec. It's not that easy. At the moment if the audio engine isn't provided by GIP's then I'd suggest you better be able to make a story of your own home grown one and if it is not wideband or stereo don't bother.

Something new. From presence, to lifestyle provide me with an economic model or insight into why this will be really different. It's not enough to say P2P, you must give me a perspective on how you beat Skype's cost structure and profile. Alternatively create new listening experiences. Plus despite the current infatuation with video, I don't think that is the key driver.

Critical Mass. Consumers aren't stupid. I look at each one of these and ask how many will adopt it. If my experience with Multiply invites is any indication (I've not yet responded) people are jaded on social networks. For these VoIP Communications applications it is even more difficult. If you are going to be able to use it you have to have buddies online. Getting buddies onto a new system is no simple matter. Orkut certainly managed an accelerated launch. If you want to operate as a Skype competitor your business model must ramp to 500K users on line almost after a weekend. Unless you have a deal with eBay or an angle like Chatango or a deal with "Friendster" you are going to find it rather difficult.

Identity: Think identity not numbers. People are connecting from phones with click to call. How often do you want to dial a number? How often do you type an e-mail address. Numbered accounts are an increasingly an anachronism from the consumers point of view. So each time I see number-centric dial pads I think old telephone, old model.

On day I may just post little pictures of all the soft phones out there.

Posted at 05:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
more like this: VoIP

Buddy Buddy Squared?

I'd like to learn more about the behavior of people that have more than 150 people on an IM buddylist. As a potential indicator of change MSN Scobleizer and AIM have recently increased the allowable size of their buddylist. AIM doubled theirs from 150 to 300.

While my list of buddies is too distributed across AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Skype to have reached any thresholds, I recently learned from my 12 year old daughter that AIM was limiting her list and she was dumping names. (Many of these kids have more than one handle.)

Not everyone will be happy about bigger buddylists. Is this an interesting early warning signal? When IM lists contain the contact names and information approaching 150 people will the utility be way ahead of e-mail? I think so! Where's the tipping point? Is it an organization size? Is it the size of your network? For my 12 year old it has already tipped with e-mail hardly ever used.

There's another post in this, and it has got to do with interruptions, presence, availability etc. For another day.

Visiphone Design Insights?

In a little item on Smart Mobs there is a post that is much more intriguing. Visiphoneuses visual aids to help you and me improve our awareness of each other. It enables a new form of visual communication to support audio and enhance the communication experience. I particularly identified with the graphics below as a monitor for individual or group exchanges.

Using an audio-only speaker phone to provide a continuous, long-term connection has several drawbacks: in a noisy environment, it is difficult to know whether one's voice has carried or to know to pay attention to new voices emerging from the phone; long periods of silence make it easy to forget the device, which then takes on the unwanted quality of unobtrusive surveillance.

VisiPhone displays two parallel visualizations, one derived from the local sound reaching the device (input audio) and the other from the sound emanating from it (output audio). We are experimenting with several designs for the visualizations. For example, one basic design depicts filtered frequency with hue, creating bursts of color when someone is speaking. With this display, one is able to see at a glance if someone is speaking at the other end and can tell if one's own voice has carried over the ambient noise to audibly reach the listeners at the other end.

Representing Speaker A & Speaker B

Representing both Speakers

Vonage Mimics Telecoms

Is there a connection between lousy customer service and being an incumbent telecom manipulating for advantage. Perhaps only if lousy Vonage service mimics the old telecom format while incumbents work on raising consumer prices for landlines. That will squeeze them! How much longer can they survive financially?

Some time ago I added a fax line via Vonage for an extra 9.99 per month which I really don't need and wanted to cancel it. So I went to the website and looked and looked for how to cancel it. It is easy to add services on Vonage. Just a point and click will do. Dropping their services is more difficult.

Finally after searching a second time for a simple delete option I called customer service. 1-866-Vonage. It took 16 minutes of which I spent less than two minutes with the operator. I have the cheapest Vonage account limited to 500 minutes. Their accounting system lodged the call against my minutes. So I pay for their lack of responsivness. Had they answered at the ring rather than after 14 minutes I'd be a lot happier.

I'm not quite ready to give up my Vonage line although the only reason I have it is because my cell phone service isn't reliable in the office.

Separately, each day sees a new player in the ATA - VoIP solution space. Lingo offers international numbers as a option as part of your plan. As you might expect the countries are limited. Still now rather than taking that ATA box to Japan Joi you can simply get a second international line. Bet call forwarding to a local cellphone from either one works too.

Another way of getting that unique inbound number may come from LibreTel who promises to disintermediate the relationship between "inbound" and "outbound". Costs are similar to a very stripped down phone line. Then there are moves afoot to hike those rates too.

Chatango

I've just loaded up the Chatango message application that activates this real-time chat box. It certainly shows the way to the future. The Presence indicator "on" or "off" is really too simple and most visitors using it for the first time will be "anon" unless they decide to tell me who they are. Still I like the idea that it is "real-time" rather than the Zonkboard that I've had there for too long and which only gets sporadic use. Chatango in contrast to Zonkboard doesn't leave a message behind. It's your little exchange with me that then disappears right when the windows are closed. I have no idea what happens if two "anon" visitors are trying to chat at the same time.

Thanks to TeledyN and Joi Ito for the pointer. As a simple Flash application I presume it could be upgraded at some point to include the extra "Flash Communicator" capabities including voice and video although I'm not sure how useful that would be.

CEOBlogs II

It was nice to get an idea confirmation. The url www.ceoblogs.com was registered within two hours of my CEO post. There will be many CEOBlogs syndication opportunities in the future. The real opportunities may actually come from companies that already have all the CEO information. Dun&Bradstreet; would be an example. Bet they just don't have a field yet for "blogs" in their database.


Charles Coxhead provided a quick review of simple tools to create and manage it. Nancy White asks why limit it to CEO's. And here with the new PR wiki it is working. And more over at Blogdigger. In a twist on names we also have a CEOBlog

CEOblogs.com

Business blogging hits the headlines in this week's Business Week. It's a nice article and suggests a new opportunity. To my knowledge no one is yet syndicating top CEO blogs. The url www.ceoblogs.com is available! So here it is. Create a syndicated blog forum that captures Fortune 500 CEO blogs. By aggregating CEO blogs you get some unique opportunities. Afterall all you are doing is aggregating their blogs. They don't like it... they can stop blogging. Centralizing the most important ones will add new perspective to the investment community, corporate direction etc. The Fortune 500 is just one slice of this. CEOBlogs can be sliced by country, industry, turnover etc.

The criteria is they must be written or audioblogged by the individual. No ghostwriting. They must have a bi-weekly average frequency to stay on the list. When the list volume needs managing readers will become involved Slashdot style. There will be a special section for "registered analysts" comments. Blogs will be assigned industry categories etc. The site may also provide some interesting traffic data. Additionally most commented on... most trusted etc could emerge.

"There's no fundamental difference between giving a keynote speech in Shanghai in front of 30,000 people and doing a blog read by several million people,"

Sun expects to start supporting staff blogs within a month, according to Schwartz. Employees won't be censored, they'll only be warned against releasing confidential information. "There's no better ambassador for Sun Microsystems than an employee," Schwartz says. BW Online | August 9, 2004 | Blogging for Business

Benefits for Ceo? More exposure, part of a syndication. Come closer to people seem more personable. Downsides? CEO's may have to understand what other CEO's are saying. For all of us..... Perhaps the majority of CEO's are boring and can't write.

So if you are a CEO and don't blog you and your company are not in the rankings. That would be like missing out on Google rankings. CEOBlogs could provide the indices. Similarly, Technorati may uncover new "influence" pools. The owner of CEOBlogs may just write one little summary per day. That would create some real value.

Who could do this? I'd think it may be an interesting addition to Feedster. Then it would also work in the world of Corante. For example CEOblogs - Corante. I'd also think that Weblogsinc could execute on this as could Red Herring. In the end one will win. While giving the idea away.... I do realize that this is potentially a powerful network enabler. To run CEOblogs may bring you into contact with 500 of the most influential business leaders over time. Providing critical feedback would only enhance your position. There is a business here!

Perhaps Jonathan Schwartz should put up the money to kick this off!

Blogs and Quick Links

Some advice on bloggers and your startup strategy in the news today. Some get it and some don't. Then it is also a reminder to bloggers that real people are behind the startups and there are lots of them who have done their research. So when one is jaded by new launches it is possible to be too dismissive. I'm both dismissive and ready to hear more below.

Weblogs could help make or break your startup's marketing strategy. Here's how to get them on your side. Red Herring Article

In the copy camp another Skype competitor emerges. TelTel. (Note I downloaded this, then one friend got crashes each time they loaded and the other couldn't get it to log in to their server and I couldn't log in this morning.. So I don't know whether it works.) As it doesn't claim to be better than Skype and misses many of the features and comes with a name that sounds like the babytalk dressed in baby blue I'm at a loss to get excited. Oh they are prepared to buy some traffic and testers with a free call bribe. You must have at least three friends on the system, and there is no guarantee the calls will go through. There is nothing new here and I can think of others including italk2u and Peerio maybe phonegaim? (still new) which will probably vanish.

TelTel is telephony with a new perspective. We are not aiming to reproduce the standard phone. We are looking to combine the best of the familiar features of the phone with the rich possibilities of the internet, coupled with the flexibility and power of your PC. TelTel.

On the emerging companies with blogs and talking to bloggers I got an immediate response to my earlier IM posting yesterday which linked to a post by Stowe Boyd on InterComm. I still haven't tested out the product although I did look at it in more detail. Glenn Reid wrote me and added a few new details.

I think you hit the nail right on the head with your observation that IM infrastructure is the "fat pipe" on which business applications will be built. This is exactly where we're headed. InterComm is our introductory product, but we have a very rich protocol that we've developed (called XSIP) that's intended for computer-to-human and computer-to-computer conversations that simply aren't possible with the human-language centric protocols that carry most IM traffic today. Imagine a database in your buddy list that pops up a form interface when you double-click it.

....we see IM networks as being more structured and involving business-class data transfer, not just human language.

As you would expect there is a real depth of thinking to InterComm's approach. So if you are an Enterprise I wonder what your current shortlist for enterprise IM clients is? Anyone know of a list? I still believe that voice and mobility should now be part of any "presence / IM" startup strategy. This is Glenn's blog . He's using metaphors Eg "circles" which i like and I hope he keeps blogging away. I'd also like to see some thinking on IRC vs... IM for groups and teams. The trick will be helping to define this emerging category of products. That's a hard thing to do.

Getting further away, this also reminded me of a friendly note that pointed me to Pangean Technologies. There is no demo to try out although the claims looks interesting. They have announced some "push to talk" features.

IM - Facilitating Future Markets

Combine 330 million IM business users with the 600+ million cellphones to be sold this year and think new real-time collaborative applications. Then consider presence, mobility, and commerce and then ask how you can make it all disappear. Tomorrow's IM solutions exist for those that facilitate connectivity agents. What do I mean? Your PIM can handle millions of micro data exchanges on your behalf without you knowing. It really begins to work when IM and Mobility converge. This is beginning to happen now.

People are waking up to IM. >"Yankee Group projects that there will be 330 million business users by the end of next year (up from 65 million in 2004)". Stowe Boyd looks at InterComm from a collaboration perspective and wants shared calendaring, tasks and project management and includes a passioned plea to integrate it with blogging. That's before including voice and video.

While the merits of collaborative solutions are increasingly obvious, the discussion around communication should pay more attention to IM as a data transport. If you are to run a scenario that suggests that IM (or IM / VoIP / Presence / Blog CMS) is likely to replace the phone system then we shouldn't focus just on the voice part, or the click to connect. The real value will be in the zero cost of shuffling almost unlimted data between individuals. This little clip I recently saw sort of supports this. DIM - Hijacking. Unfortunate I don't think it is from a user centric perspective.

Move over teenagers, the heaviest users of instant messaging are about to become computers themselves. In the beginning, IM communication was strictly a human-to-human affair. A few years ago companies starting sending alerts (and increasingly spam) via IM making it a computer-to-human affair. Now, with the advent of Data over Instant Messaging (DIM) technology, IM is rapidly set to become a computer-to-computer affair.

Why send data over IM? One reason is that IM infrastructures have solved a lot of tough technical problems such as firewall traversal, multi-protocol transformation, and real-time presence management. Sending messages over these networks allows applications to leverage the investments made to solve these tough problems. Another reason is that many companies already have IM "friendly" infrastructures which means that all the necessary firewall ports are open, the clients are already certified and installed, and operations infrastructure like logging, back-up, and even high-availability are already in place. Thus by using IM for computer-to-computer communication, developers are able to "hijack" all the valuable investment made in IM and use it for a purpose that its creators likely never intended.

Burnham's Beat

I tend to think of this as creating an eBay environment for sharing personal information.

My Feedster

No Need to Click Here - I'm just claiming my feed at Feedster

Seeking Intelligent Presence

Packet Pick Pockets is the best review I've seen on the FCC ruling this last week. I alluded to this in my FCC post, Martin just says it so much better.

The way out from the conumdrum of whether to wiretap VoIP is to understand it’s the wrong question. There’s a paradox at the heart of the wiretap concept. Wiretapping is aimed at real-time communications. These are connection-oriented; there is a session in place. But session encryption is (now) easy. Store-and-forward data encryption is hard, because you need to involve all sorts of third party key management and directory services. The very data you want to intercept is the least likely to be interceptable on an Internet-style network.

So we’ll see a shift in focus from the real-time intercept of transient data on the fly, to after-the-event recovery of transaction data. The real questions are do we force all intermediary application services to retain and hand over copies of stored messages and transactions? And if not, is there a well-defined subset of those service capabilities that should be intercepted? My take is “maybe” and “yes”.
That said the core routing services "directory, presence and identity" are clearly defineable and limited in scope. A reasonable trade-off is to make it easy for the state to know who is associating with whom, even if the state has no knowledge of the purpose of the interaction.
Telepocalypse: Packet pick pockets

Plus I'm warming to the the opportunity to re-think "status" in terms of sharing and who might need your presence information. For example it may be useful for my neighbors to know I am away, or it may help to know to simply have a system that acts as a watchout notifier someone approaches my house while I am gone. Police may receive different data to the Neighborhood Watch. It is too easy with today's simple IM presence to stop with the current definitions rather than thinking about how it could serve us in new ways. I googled "Intellgent Presence" and in a quick search found little. Far from just being visible to everyone, "intelligent presence" may just serve us in ways yet to be dreamed up. I'd think the IM/VoIP platform that enables a "Presence Agents" market may shock incumbents.

Metaphor Usage for Wiki Wins Praise

This is a great example from Eugene Kim on how to bridge the digital divide between excellent facilitation and creating a "project" that assembles up the work as one goes along. In his post Eugene explores the value of "creating a book". What's important here is it is not the tool (wiki) it is the concept of the "book" that made this work. He also highlights a simple initial exercise for getting involvement.

.... the primary group exercise at the event was to write a book. The exact topic and format was not specified -- that would evolve as the workshop unfolded.

The book exercise solved many problems. .... it built knowledge assembly into the workshop process. More importantly, it made the participants responsible for that assembly, which kept them invested in the content.... At this event, the participants documented the workshop themselves using the Wiki.

As an initial exercise, we precreated pages for every participant. We then asked people to add some information about themselves, then to go through the Wiki and comment on another page that interested them. Having people write in their own pages allowed us to avoid a massive edit conflict problem. It also gave people a fallback if they were unsure of where to add content, and it populated the Wiki with a lot of useful and interesting information. People are social animals. We like to read about other people. (212)
EEK Speaks

I believe there is not enough thinking going into how we shape the leaders and managers of tomorrow. They will learn to use these tools however the discovery and integration of them into learning programs must be focused on managerial and leadership skills and performance. They use them as part of the program. It happens without thinking and as part of enhancing their skills and how they will project themselves and manage their boss, peers and team. So go use the book metaphor and include a moblog learning journey around the organization. Do audioblog interviews of each other. Add in some leadership development or TMI programs. Discuss what it takes to be a principled blog leader etc. Consider management and leadership style. Then let them decide on what the benefits are who should do what and put a program into motion. I'd keep a group like this to 8-12 people and focus on accelerating the leadership of creativity and innovation..

Now if you are an HR professional I presume you will say... time and efficiency and will these new "things be additive to my workload? I'd suggest certainly not by design, in fact quite the contrary. Still it begins for any organization with an exploratory leap and a small group.

Skype Activists on the Horizon

If you take on the global telecom companies then you are social activists. Activism is probably in the Skype teams DNA. However activism requires a grass root movement and leverage to topple what was. Skype now has a lever in SkypeOut and millions and millions of minutes so now it has to empower the army. There can be no conscription, membership is voluntary. Skype must now understand that the tech alone won't change the world but its users can by participating. It is time for Skype to take a bold step forward and embrace users with a new compact. This little scenario below may scare the VC's. It would be a great step towards changing telecom forever.

So, create a Skype Members program, add in an understanding of social marketing and activism and a new threat emerges to telecoms. Members programs are not new ideas (eg American Express, mileage programs etc.) although membership participation in this program may swing collective real benefits for the community rather than just the individual. For an example consider how the eBay community works and interacts.

Create leverage by using Skype's potential for talking billions of minutes served. The paid minutes are a number that Niklas won't be ready to share yet and the PC to PC minutes are unknown. From the markets perspective Skype is either smaller than expected or much larger. It is a no win. However, if they go "open" combining reporting of paid minutes and PC to PC minutes then the data becomes more interesting.

When "paid" minutes becomes public knowledge as they certainly will given time then they will represent only a small portion of Skype's "connectivity" value. Skype would be understating it's case. As incumbents play their games "paid minutes" can't determine economic arguments or fuel protection into the future.

Thus Skype should create an open rates dialogue with members as part of an open and transparent policy. This completely changes the playing field. What we have learned is Skype now has the minutes to start wielding power. (The interconnects may still be shakey.) So now they have to rapidly build the number of minutes used.

When Skype goes public with contract numbers then we as a skype community also reap benefits when together we achieve these targets... get these rates etc. Thus as each new mega million minute threshold is reached Skypers get lower rates. By adding statistic and time we engage users in the conversion. This is part of the daily tracking and monthly community reporting. This is smart business move with additional side benefits. Currently no other VoIP network can match Skype for minutes connected. Thus an important "market" statistic is created. Concurrently traditional telecoms are threatened by "open" VoIP statistics. Should Skype talk minutes then the regulators may have to look at minute costs and values. In Skype's case money spent this month divided by the total of free minutes plus paid minutes is the average cost per minute. No current telecom on earth can match this figure further highlighting inefficiency and the need for change.

The statistics and numbers game here is Skype’s to be won. The telecoms cannot afford to publish the same data. If they do their share prices will tank. Right now Skype remains a minnow. Soon Skype will be larger than some countries and then one day maybe with enough consumer participation it can present numbers to the FCC and say game over.

Telephony's Changing Audio Paradigm

This links to a post written four years ago. Even then "better audio quality" was predicted for telephony. It's part of a changing paradigm. Sometimes it takes a long time for these things to work their way through.

What can a movie critic, a fat man in a tweed jacket, teach us about telephony? A lot, as you will see. Telephony, because it is so widely used, is about what people want, much the same as making and showing movies.

-------------------

What about telephony? Both IP telephony and voice-over-ATM systems have the prospect of delivering a truly better product, in audio quality, in call information, in lightning-quick connection, in integration with PC and Palm-based information, in the richness and friendliness of voice interface. Why use bells and tones and buzzes when you can explain things to the user and offer alternatives? Still, makers of new-style systems seem to think their work is done when it is "almost as good as" phone calls delivered over the very first, and now decades-old electronic exchanges.

Are the developers of new telephony systems stupid? No, they are merely tired. By the time they have gotten their products to work, with their investors breathing down their necks, they are happy to have something that will satisfy a specification and a business plan, rather than make a customer say "Wow!" But if you really want success, you won't stop until you have something that is really remarkable, not just respectable.
Telirati:

I often believe that nothing is really very new. Jori Liesenborgs submitted his thesis in May 2000. "Voice over IP in networked virtual environments" At the time his perscription was for 3D VoIP in virtual environments. Today it is reaching the marketplace. Recently testers including myself were impressed with the capabilities of Smart Meeting. Those that have read my blog know I believe in the potential for 3D Stereo VoIP. See also Polycom who recently announced their 3D surround sound and video solution. As we know from Skype IM, conferencing and collaboration tools are converging. Add in 3D environments and we may go from calls singular to connection plural. Then in case you missed it.

The Q3D audio positional technology brings a surround-sound experience to the wireless device by controlling the position of virtual sound sources in the space around the listener's head. QUALCOMM See also QSound

Social Identity - Mobility Changing Meaning

Clay Shirky links to a mobility piece by Mimi Ito and reminds me of an article I read and never got around to blogging. 'Exploring the implications for social identity of the new sociology of the mobile phone'.

Mobile phones are transforming the experience of place and co-presence for a wireless generation of Japanese youth. In the past, physical co-presence generally defined who one was socially and interactionally accountable to at any given time, interrupted occasionally by a telephone call or a beeping pager. Now that mobile phones have become a norm for youths in Japan as elsewhere, distant others are always socially co-present, and place – where you locate yourself – has become a hybrid relation between physical and wirelessly co-present context. receiver

Trust in Blogging

"I need a quick fix" kind of bother. This is an addicting medium. Many are thinking and talking about blogging and its psychological impacts. Fresh Perspectives

I'm also addicted to blogging. Blogging is about conversations while organisations are living conversations. Perhaps that is why Microsoft's Channel9 recently caught my attention. "Trust" in blogging comes when organizations start engaging in real voices. Microsoft has more to gain than most. From "evil empire" to "blogging empire" would be quite a transformation. It's hard not to like or respect bloggers you read frequently. Similarly each time you leave something behind whether a comment or trackback the bond strengthens. We know this. When we comment on product quality or read book reviews at Amazon, we are much more bound than to Barnes and Noble. When you build a positive reputation at eBay you don't want to trade someplace else. So companies that enage us in the development community intellectual understanding are likely to profit.

Microsoft is beginning to enage their customers in blogs. By contrast I have no feeling for whether IBM (see this post from Ed Brill) or CapGemini are creating external conversation like this? I don't know if their consulting services can. Thus I wonder if MS is unknowingly disintermediating part of the "consulting" conversation and shifting it to "peers"? Or will these consulting knowledge workers have to become part of their conversations too? Is it just like Linux developers who find value in giving to the broader community?

Mmm... Microsoft appears to be really pushing the envelope with how to build websites that start online conversations with customers. PR Communications

Who blogs anyway? What is the psychographic profile of the blogging population and do these attributes extend to the majority of the market, or just to the nano-pundits? In other words, are most people psychologically predisposed to adopt some form of mass-market blogging or is blogging inherently a niche behavior and application? The Gordon Gould Weblog

..... I include Linux, Apple, Sun, Oracle, Macromedia, and IBM blogs in that. Why? Because it's important that Microsoft employees and executives keep up on what bloggers from across the industry think. I do it out in public to help everyone and to make sure I'm an authority on the tech industry, not just on Microsoft. Credibility. You get it by not just helping yourself. Scobleizer

Again and again in answers to my survey I am told the big advantage of blogging comes from the speed of communication with an audience. However, what I find interesting is that the people who are saying this are the people who build the products. Now, no longer is there a barrier between the customer and the architects of software and products. seattlepi.com

I think the answer is yes!

Can Blogs (as a form of mass media communication) communicate facts?

How could a blog foster innovation in software development?

Can a community really be built through a blog based on a single personality?

Can a collection of blogs (based on a single personality) build a community?

How do the technological limitations of a blog help or hinder (given the goals)?
S&TS; 349 Final Project: Proposal

Over the weekend, I got an outbreak of self-referential blogs. Robert Scoble (the self proclaimed "Microsoft Geek Blogger") wrote that Mike Padula is doing a study as a student at Cornell about why people blog. Marc Nozell referenced Fresh Air's interview with Bill Moyers about blogging (among other things).
Feld Thoughts

Then the same level of "trust" doesn't seem to exist in the academic world. Anonymous blogs? Where would the academic discussion leave anonymous corporate bloggers?

Steve comments about a conversation over at Graham Leuschke's site about anonymous academic blogs
Lori announces some changes to her own blog (now Stepford-ized for your approval), in light of her recent job search Collin vs. Blog

In that last-mentioned post, profgrrrrl points to a couple of articles in the Chronicle, Say anything

You've answered most questions in your About and FAQish areas, except the most important, if you expect humans to trust you.
Who are you?
Who are the principals, who are the backers? What is the intent? What is the "birth story"?
Without these, I see no reason to join.
Respectfully,
Jerry Michalski
Sociate

Everything Cell Phones

To me via Smart Mobs.

The handset is rapidly consuming every other aspect of mobile consumer electronics: PDAs, cameras, GPS receivers, MP3 players, DVD players and game consoles. In the process, the SoC companies and intellectual-property (IP) providers that had planned to make a living in each of those areas will be drawn in — for the most part, to their doom.

Convergence is being driven by a simple consumer want: "Don't make me carry a bagful of toys when one will do." Two electronic gizmos in a package are better than one, as long as the form factor doesn't get out of control or the user interface become inscrutable. This is what's happening with second- or third-generation PDA/cell phone combinations, which are rapidly spreading through the ranks of professional users.

At the same time, the very cellular handsets that are bringing them nothing are destroying the SoC vendors' original markets. Free handsets with 2- to 3-megapixel cameras, good MP3 players, decent organizers and good videogames will decimate each of those standalone markets. The only survivors among mobile consumer devices will be high-end niches temporarily beyond the reach of the handset's electronics — professional digital cameras, for example.
EE Timesl

Interconnect Billing Changes

Via Martin Geddes upcoming changes to interconnect policies. Restricting the flow to bits is not good for you and me.

an impending change in the US in the way carriers settle for internetworking. The traditional solution has been for payments to be made to the party terminating the call by the party that initiated it (who is collecting the money from you for making the call). The future approach is called "bill and keep", where no such settlements are make......

Not only should the network be dumb as possible, but it should say as little as possible about how to make dollars flow in the opposite direction to the bits. In that way capitalistic evolution ensures only feasible and sustainable interconnect settlement models emerge, at both the connectivity and application layers.
Telepocalypse

Skype Free Weekend

Just earlier today we are talking about statistics. Now we have a confirmation that SkypeOut is overwhelmed. In the meantime Skype Free Calling

As a result of overwhelming demand and unforeseen call traffic to the regular telephone network, we are unfortunately experiencing technical difficulties which impact call completions and quality in the SkypeOut network.

For your troubles and while we resolve these matters, even if you were or are able to successfully complete a SkypeOut call, we will not be charging for any minutes/calls made after today Friday 30 July 2004 10.00 am British summertime [GMT 1h] -- until our quality and reliability has improved and another announcement is posted here. Current estimates indicate this to be on Monday 02 August 2004. So while call durations will still show up on your call list and Account Overview pages, we commit to go back and credit all calls made during this time period retroactively once we've addressed the telephone network issues.

In the meantime, we sincerely appreciate your patience and support, and will be doing everything we can to ensure the superior level of call quality to which you've become accustomed. In addition, Skype to Skype calls will be unaffected during this time.
forum.skype.com

Skype Millions n Millions Served

One thing I've always wondered is why Skype doesn't embrace better statistics. Many years ago McDonalds actually counted the number of people served. Then one day it became billions and billions and all of a sudden that statistic no longer was relevant. Yet in the early days it provided a nice measure of success. By contrast Skype's number of downloads, registered users and number online is not enough to fuel a community and give it perspective. Communities play an important role in both generating and providing statistics.

The statistic that Skype and users don't have is "total minutes" we spend Skyping. With the advent of SkypeOut Skype can clearly monitor the number of PSTN interconnect minutes and controls the account billing function as well. However nothing tells me whether I Skyped PC to PC for 20, 200 or 2000 Skype minutes last month. It's in the call list but unlike my cell phone there is no total minutes. At a minimum the start tab should have a "minutes" this month number.

Two days ago I blogged about the SkypeOut rates backlash. In the forums many were just taken aback. Since then Skype has provided beta testers with a 5.00 Euro bonus. Something they didn't have to do, and unfortunately it still backfired or didn't completely quell the raging in the forums. I think what many wanted was a trust statement Skype and simple apology. "We screwed up." How can we fix it? Then gather the feedback. Then test solutions in a this is what we are thinking. The result would probably have been the same althought the community would have participated.

Not having statistics is an opportunity lost. The reason rates are not as low is likely to relate to both Skype's commitments (how many millions of minutes, their interconnect approach ( SIP? or are H.323 minutes cheaper?) and what their data and best guesses were. What Skype had was some guesses at minutes but little factual data. Then they had to take some risk and sign a contract.

If Skype had been more upfront in the forums about negotiating the best rate on behalf of the community they could create two value equations areound statistics in one shot. One, I know how many minutes Skype saves me a month. Then some paid minutes vs free minutes also provides additional information. SkypeOut is unlikely to be too important to me in the short-term. However the number of minutes I make PC to PC simply dwarfs my interconnect minutes. At the risk of someone saying you spend all your time on Skype I'm pretty sure that Skype now has the majority of my telephone minutes. Many of those of minutes I would never have had at one time. In that sense Skype has really grown my minutes and thus the market for minutes. These statistics would also confirm the "value" that Skype creates for me.

Skype could consider incorporating a minutes update report --- "number of minutes connected" each time clients re-log on. Given Skype's founders background and the animosity to spyware this could be a real PR nightmare. It could also be a PR win. Skype should consider exploring in the forums under what conditions they could collect additional user data. For example in the next software update install a minute counter and number of calls counter and enable users to turn it off if they want. The case is simple Skype needs this data if it is to grow. Like the "users online data" it will be available to all. A radical step would be to take this one further with "paid minutes to lower rates". This would be like public television in the US. You might show it at certain times every month urging people to call to get to a new lower threshold. May also encourage some to use it more.... rather than wishing they had when only on vacation or business overseas. Similarly, even if a percent turn off the statistics counter you can then measure and provide a number on the percent of people participating. You actually only need a very small portion of the community to participate to get reasonably accurate numbers.

I'm not focussing on the rates anymore. I know they are still fair although not as disruptive. The whole discussion has become too focused on the "penny" and not enough on the value added for using the services. PSTN interconnects make it too easy to forget the audio quality, conference calling, and presence. Plus there are many additional value added services that could be worked in. I'm sure the new "account" page provides even more opportunities to stimulate growth from gift cards to multi-party accounts etc.

iTunes Phone

It was inevitable that iTunes would converge with mobile phones. It also completely true to form that Apple would come out fighting about Real Networks Harmony move. Both these players work in walled garden worlds.

Taking that old alliance into the digital media era, now the iTunes capability will be included in all of Motorola's mass market music phones, the two companies said,
......
- what operator in its right mind will allow music on and off a phone that it controls, to a PC? So far, music offerings from carriers, such as MMO2’s dedicated music player, have been focused on keeping users within the walled garden. In the PC environment, the operator has no chance of making a margin on the music or on the download data communication time.

The It was inevitable that iTunes would converge with mobile phones. It also completely true to form that Apple would come out fighting about Real Networks Harmony move. Both these players work in walled garden worlds.

Taking that old alliance into the digital media era, now the iTunes capability will be included in all of Motorola's mass market music phones, the two companies said,
......
- what operator in its right mind will allow music on and off a phone that it controls, to a PC? So far, music offerings from carriers, such as MMO2’s dedicated music player, have been focused on keeping users within the walled garden. In the PC environment, the operator has no chance of making a margin on the music or on the download data communication time. The Register

Consumers, and not Apple, should be the ones choosing what music goes on their iPod," executives of Real Networks said in a statement. "Harmony follows in a well-established tradition of fully legal, independently developed paths to achieve compatibility."
The New York Times

Operators are too concerned about users circumventing networks rather than fostering connectivity. From the RIAA to Apple and the carriers all are trying to create walled gardens. A much broader look is required at the opportunities and the convergence now being enabled. Consumer rights are increasingly being threatened by these moves. The technology must flow with peoples lives and needs while making it happen seemlessly.

Broadband Parasites

Jeff Pulver's blog posts come without any fulll feed subscription so I scan the titles from time to time and then visit (I can provide the full feed template!). Today this took me to a post of Broadband Parasites, however what I found most interesting was this quote on his original paper from one year ago. Jeff is not alone in thinking that mobility is the real VoIP play.

To keep things even more interesting, think about using the internet to peer between broadband based voice over broadband service providers and wireless service providers. If/when this is done correctly, it will have an impact on the importance and strength of what is and was the "legacy phone network." The Jeff Pulver Blog: The Rise of the Broadband Parasites

Om Malik's VoIP Daily » IP Mobility unplugged

From Om Malik:
I have long believed that the mobile operators should be the ones to integrate VoIP offerings. Forget Vonage, if Verizon Wireless offered a VoIP service (over my DSL or cable modem) that integrates with my wireless device, enabling me to synchronize my phone book (on my phone and via outlook on my desktop) I would sign up right away. And with the integration with at home VoIP with my mobile phone, I would be less likely to churn from Verizon when Cingular comes up with a better pricing plan. Tim McDonald

It won't be just voice and data specific. It a knowledge society where people collaborate, communications will be the marriage of high quality multimedia, voice and all enabled by broadband. The network today treats me as a fixed part of the network. I think the network in the future would be intelligent enough to see me as a person. Greg Mumford
Om Malik's VoIP Daily » IP Mobility unplugged

Then like HP's latest announcement for IPAQ we know the converged devices are coming.

However, on the flip side, a VoIP implementation in the shape of mobile over WLAN (MoWLAN) may also be a way for mobile operators to eat more of the fixed-line operator's PSTN lunch in both the home and enterprise. Kineto Wireless, a US-based start-up, certainly seems to think so and so it should - the company manufactures the kit that makes MoWLAN possible.

"By offloading [cellular] traffic onto the WLAN network they [mobile operators] can put themselves in a position to offer competitive 'homezone' tariffs and displace more fixed-line traffic."
a title="Telecommunications Online " href="http://www.telecommagazine.com/default.asp?journalid=2&func;=articles&page;=0311i05&year;=2003&month;=11&srchexpr;=sonus">Telecommunications Online
Telecommunications Online

Mobility and Message Control

Russell captures the frustration and the complexity of linking mobility with our texting and presence desires in this post below. I know I use less SMS and I certainly use my Agile Messenger but so far the synching he wants eludes us all. For those with data connections this could be made a whole lot easier if my laptop was the equivalent of a traditional bedroom extension for my mobile phone. Now all these things could be synched plus I could get better sound quality when at my desk. I'm not sure the answer is SMS to the co-workers phone, rather the point is to deliver a short text message. Having presence available would provide additional confirmation of "appropriateness". Mobile Carriers hold the keys to this converging future. In a VoIP world they can go direct to the users with the offer.

I want my phone to work with every single messaging app we use here. I want to be able to send an SMS and have it alert people via IM, get copied to people's phones, send off emails and get logged to a central blog available via RSS. I want people to respond and have those messages go back to the original user wherever they are. I don't want to think about it either, I want it to "just work".

SMS messages are so great because they're 1) Reliable 2) Available to everyone and 3) easy to use. No setup, two fields to fill out (or just one if you're replying) and off the message goes. It's no wonder people are sending billions of the things - they're just damn nifty. But I spend all day online at work, so I want SMS to cross that border into my PC-based world. I want it to skip the gap from my pocket into my office.

When I get a message, I don't want to have to stop, look around for my mobile, click a few buttons and get some info that I can't immediately copy into a window on my PC. I mean, I'm sitting in front of a full keyboard and can type 60+ words a minute... why am I click on on this damn keypad again?

I wonder if what I'm looking for is integration or remote control? I think integration. I want to step out of the office for a sec and ping the IM client of a coworker without making an effort. Yes, I have Agile Messenger and yes I have their phone numbers. But I want to use SMS as what I'm doing is definitely under the definition of "short message" and maybe that coworker isn't particularly down with SMS just yet and isn't sure why his phone beeps randomly at him every once in a while.

[Russell Beattie]

Where is Blog Innovation Today?

Since returning to my blog and comtemplating where to next I've been asking myself a set of questions. These include: What's happened to Blog Innovation? Are blogs and their formats "mature"? If so why, or if not why not? I'm sure that blog innovation is not moribund and hasn't stopped. Still I started thinking about this as I considered revising my format today. Last time I just generally experimented however the standardised formats now appear fairly static. For example with all the Typepad blogs are we just seeing the standardization of blogging online like Amazon standarized online retail? Is it fair to accuse Typepad of killing innovation in a category that still needs it? Or should we complement them for enabling the case for standarization in a way that makes it easy and idiot proof for newbies?

What do others think? What are the most innovative new functionalities appearing in blogs today? Then really do the majority of blogger really care? Would changing the blog format too much upset them?

What new blog genre is required if we are to reinvigorate the category? Is it something with additional photo or audio input? Something else? Each of us probably have a few regulars that visit the page (What do they really want?) and those that arrive as a result of Google searches are looking for context may also get some delight from discovering more. For the rest this may be a mute point as an RSS feed is an RSS feed which limits blog art in that format. Concurrently comment spam is killing comments while trackback is still misunderstood.

As I finished this post I was pointed Jeanne Sessum post. I also noticed a new Flickr feature. The Flickr Daily Zeitgeist. Looks interesting and Flickr is still making progress.

SkypeOut Rates Blow-Up

SkypeOut launches with rates way up versus the "beta" version. Some of the early adopters are hopping mad with more than one thread in the forum. Here is a comparison of the rate changes. This PR mistake are very similar to MT's announcement of new license terms. The community was outraged there too. For my two cents:

The change in rates is just poor communication. The rate card was easy to find and well known for weeks. It's not surprising that "we" thought these were real rates. For that matter I blogged the link here and promoted Skype based on the impact at at less than US 2 cents per minute. The only PR answer is for Skype to immediately credit all "early" users with outstanding credits with 50% more value. In good faith that is what people paid for. And just like the MT case you better listen.

The new cost strategy should still be put in context. The rates internationally are good however locally they are much less attractive now. I have a Vonage line with a 500 minute plan for $15 / month. That's three cents a minute. Now they charge me extra for Overseas. So a call to New Zealand is effectively 9 cents per minute compared to Skype's new rate of 3 cents. However Vonage does provide me with an inbound line. Skype minutes are also roll-over minutes with a 180 day limitation. My mobile minutes (four lines) effectively average out at 10 cents a minute.

I'd expect that SkypeIn's DID direct inbound call system will now present some pricing challenges. The biggest single problem is getting people to either change their old numbers or close an old service and open a new one. It's a hassle. For similar reasons to not changing bank accounts frequently we are are careful about our phone numbers. Skype may now be in very messy territory. We have our IM handles, we have our phone numbers, while Skype connected them conceptually first, the question is now can Skype retain that advantage and get there at the lowest cost?

The noisemakers above will not give up Skype for their PC to PC call quality is still unmatched by the old telephone system. It's time that Skype said a little more about their audio quality. It's more than a few tricks with good echo cancellation. Possible learning is that Skype still doesn't have the leverage and the numbers to get the "rates" low enough. In users and potential paid users it is still smaller than Telecom New Zealand or some other small countries. Frankly I'd run some conjoint research on price points at this stage. Skype also needs some other reseach done quickly. Listening to the forums and bloggers won't provide a balanced view. Todays pricing model is not "disruptive" enough at this point in time. That will take an edge of Skyper's fanaticism.

Concurrently the thrust for PSTN interconnect has apparently impacted on innovation. Conference calls were an innovation, lots more could be done in that area. Similarly, audio quality still presents opportunities. The expansion to other operating systems is admirable but must be consuming enormous resources. It's nice to finally have file transfer but we still don't have a conference text channel (like IRC). I could go on. Concurrently enterprise plans remain very "secretive". If Skype can really still move so fast then it is time to open up more dialogues. There are enough SME's using Skype now to capture some interesting research.

I remain bullish on Skype, however some of their strategies must change. In particularl rethink interconnect strategies, viral marketing approachs and "broader" PR communication methods. Through all this I'm sure they had a tough day today. We should really be congratulating them on 1.0 instead a combination of Slashdot and 1.0 events clearly brought down servers today adding to confusion. These quotes came from the forums.

You should know that I was completely shocked when I found out about the rate change. Why shocked you ask? After all you have argued that it's right there in the license agreement, indeed it did say Skype was in beta and that the service was subject to changes. The answer is quite simple but also quite powerful, at least in my humble opinion: I like many other longtime users trusted you. By "trusted" I mean that I, not even for a moment, thought that you would even consider raising the prices on average over 30%, especially without any explicit warning whatsoever. In fact I trusted your service so much that I recommended it to friends, family, girlfriend, various online forums, even my grandmother who lives across the ocean. Of course it is well know that forum.skype.com :: View topic - A sad day for Skype fans

The majority don't buy the "subsidizing" line below. More likely one ITSP provided really aggressive rates and through testing they found that they couldn't cover the world. Putting together the latest four party deal... meant higher rates although a better chance for connect quality.

For example, they are about 90% lower than the price I would pay with fixed line telephony to call my brother in Singapore. We were quite explicit during the beta period in notifying that it's a beta product and subject to change. In reality, we were subsidizing the cost for these early users == paying you to use SkypeOut, until we could work out the kinks. If you look on the bright side, our early beta users were rewarded by being there early. You can still decide if you think our rates are attractive. We don't expect to get many new customers if you don't believe that they still are. forum.skype.com :: View topic - SkypeOut: How can I get my money back?

Posted at 04:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1)
more like this: Skype Journal

Skype 1.0 Released

Skype releases Version 1.0 including SkypeOut which enables PSTN calls. I hear there is a revision coming in the rates although they are not currently available on the site. Maybe something to do with Slashdot. Some recent new features.

File Transfer	File transfer is an expected addition. The question is whether the file transfer is slowed down or managed so as not to affect audio packets and sound quality. File size is limited to <2mb, thus music sharing is out. ( I got this wrong. 2GB and sending a large file is no problem.)
SkypeMe Status	I'd like the opportunity to personalize my own away message. Similarly, an SMS inhancement like Yahoo's could add a further additional revenue stream
Splash Screen Placement	Finally you can locate Skype where you want on a second monitor
New Emoticons	Think they still need a new artist. There should be a row option so all are visible without a click option first
PSTN Error Messages	I'll have to do some more experimentation to understand the changes

Skype - Release Notes

Skype and SIP?

Skype announced additional deals last week with ITSP's (Internet Telephony Service Providers). Now it looks like Skype may have uses SIP (Session Initiation Prototcol) to provide the interconnect. If so this is both a big deal and a stark contrast to comments made at the time of VON Canada. I've never heard anyone at Skype say good things about SIP, although on that score they are not alone. Now there are also good reasons why Skype may be using SIP and this post (with comments by Skype PR) alludes to the possiblity.

A Skype spokeswoman says Skype was approached by a number of network operators with a view to terminating its commercial traffic, "but only a few could meet our interoperability requirements. We chose those that could provide SIP interoperability and a decent price."
Boardwatch

Strategically Skype isn't large enough to press large ITSP's into a proprietary interconnect protocol. Concurrently many ITSP's spooked by Carriers entering the VoIP space have embraced SIP as their new interconnect protocol. An open market is their incentive. Skype too needs an open market. Example

Moves like BT's Communicator may use a SIP interconnect still look pretty proprietary. The question is will consumers get to use the SIP soft client device of choice. MSN and AOL have made some SIP related annouchments recently for corportate rather than consumer applications.

SIP is a must do for Skype to work in any future enterprise environment. Interoperability between desktop clients, Sip phone devices, portable PDAs and other mobile handsets will be required. Access to "numbers" remains a must. Few ITSP's can yet provide broad area code number coverage.

There is a numbers game involved. We don't know how long the contracts are for or whether they are exclusive. SIP would enable more rapid interconnects with other ITSP's as prices fall.

The companies working with Skype include Teleglobe, iBasis, Colt, and Level3. as an observation these carriers appear to be more global than US centric in their connenctions.

"These companies are visionary in recognising that terminations to the legacy public telephone network can be expanded with the advent of Internet telephony and the global proliferation of broadband," he said. "We will now move quickly and offer SkypeOut calls to landline and mobile phone numbers around the world." ElectricNews

Can anyone shed some more light on this?

Posted at 02:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
more like this: Skype Journal

Skype Chimera

Last week I pondered a Register article by Andrew Orlowski on Symbian Founder Insights who commented that Skype was a Chimera. I'm still trying to figure out what he meant.

It's like a magic trick. Skype is not offering a whole product in a mass market. It's in a small market and it's a chimera. Skype couldn't roll out their service to compete with anything, globally. OK, they might be able to, but it would be an awful and probably still couldn't get it to work everywhere you go. That's even true for 3G, now!
Symbian founder on mobile past, present and future | The Register

Now I thought I understood the definition but I still went to look it up. This was just one of the definitions.
"A terrible monster, thought to have been wiped out shortly after the Mage Wars. Chimeras are horrible monsters that attack and kill anything that moves, and have the ability to neutralize all elemental magic. Chimeras are the mortal enemy of dragons." This may be a more correct definition. An organism combining tissues derived from two or more genotypes. .

So after 9 plus months after the beta surfaced is Skype still a Dragon slayer?

BlogOn Morning

BlogOn is a conference established to further the ideas behind "Social Media". Blogs, wikis, and social networking focussing on the relationships and the power of individuals to form groups. I gave up on the Wi-Fi although it is clear from a few other blogs that others were online. This was another of those everyone with laptop open types of conferences. They are becoming so "normal" (at least where I hang out :-)) that conferences need to start changing the way people engage. Some of the smartest people I keep finding are in the audience.

For example what's the electronic equivalent of a flipchart session? Eg break people into mini-groups electronically and let them have a quick debrief. A singular or central IRC channel may not be effective.

Some research tools. Each session could finish with a brief online questionnaire. Some stats and open ended questions would add additional value and discussion.

Where are the social networking opportunities? I'm still surprised that none of these conferences seem to associate with Ryze or LinkedIn. LinkedIn even had a booth there but did nothing to accelerate networking as far as I could see.

At the end of the morning these items that kept me thinking:

Microsoft & Channel9
One of the things I like to get out of a conference is case studies. One I've not paid enough attention to over the last few months is the action at Channel9. MS appears to be doing an exemplary job at engaging customers in new conversations. The result is Microsoft is learning faster as an organization. It may seem obvious, but companies get trapped. It becomes difficult to scale a message to the all the groups that depend on your platform.

Currently Channel 9 has 700000 unique users per month of which 8000 are participating in the registration required forums. I think there are great lessons here for how the organization can balance an open approach, with listening for honest feedback. Video interviews are a key component that is making this successful. Take a look. Note they said it only took 2-3 weeks to get this up and running.

Social Media and Mobility:
Mobility wasn't a big topic and yet I believe it is a key driver for the future of Social Media. While there were a few comments on camera phones little was said about moblogging. I have a strong feeling that many of the tools we talked about this morning will only really come into being when they are integrated with mobility. While discussion centered around social media, the media was for the most part print / text centric. There should be more digging into what social mobility means to media and how that changes the conversation..

I liked this little anecdote -- recently at a meeting invited at the last minute and showed up. Wished I was on a teleconference with these people couldn't use my tools to see more about them.... I realize that I feel like I was in the stoneage... When you become reliant on these new capabilities you feel you have lost something
.

Companies PR and Social Media
In a world of social media the corporation loses control of the timing of when items are released. In a social media context the news about decisions winds up in blogs before it ever reaches corporate headquarters. This is something that bloggers know but many companies are just starting to come to grips with.

I heard that the average journalist writes 10 stories a month and the number of media jobs is in sharp decline. When confronted with a chart showing Google and Yahoo News with traditional news services it provides an interesting contrast. Neither Google or Yahoo have news editors. This suggest a basic fundamental shift in journalism as it is being replaced by algorithms.

Posted at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
more like this: Blogging

BlogOn

I'll be at BlogOn tomorrow. Looking forward to a great discussion on Social Media.

VoIP Extension Strategies - Closed Gardens

Verizon announced a move today into the VoIP market. Accelerating towards VoIP by major carriers is now inevitable, however this move lacks the innovative edge of British Telecom's move with Yahoo last week. That move is easy to communicate. Remember you had your first phone, then you got a bedroom extension! Now you can take it with you on your laptop on vacation etc.

When I first saw the BT announcement my response was not the one reflected in this article which suggests it is wrong to charge consumers landline prices for VoIP connections. Actually this is a perfect transition strategy and I expect many more to follow it. The key reason it will work is consumers don't want to change their telephone numbers. If you don't believe how difficult it is read Rich Tehrani's tirade on Vonage in this months Internet Telephony Magazine. His experience is not his alone. While AT&T; have plenty of numbers the majority of the ITSP's (Internet Telephony Service Providers) can only provide limited area codes. This will be a topic for another day.

A partnership with Yahoo will let BT users make phone calls from their PC, but with no price advantage over existing UK tariffs

The service, called BT Communicator with Yahoo Messenger, combines voice over IP (VoIP) technology with Yahoo's instant messenger service. BT says it will let users handle various communication methods, such as phone calls, Webcams, text messaging and IM, from their PCs through a single application. BT also said that it expects to add the ability to make multi-way video calls next year.
BT launches consumer VoIP with landline pricing - ZDNet UK News

The point missing in the BT announcement is the "closed garden" reality of the Yahoo/Communicator offering to consumers. While I've heard complaints about Skype's lack of SIP interconnectivity here we have a brazen large carrier consumer play applying the same tricks. We'll need a more open interconnect strategy if VoIP is to reach it full potential.