More Reasons for Cordless VoIP Phones
Source: smithonvoip.com
Russell Shaw’s interesting take on how the increasing size of homes is playing a huge part in the increase in cordless VoIP phones on the market re-kindled previous ideas that I had about cordless VoIP phones when I lead this retail VoIP kiosk project between Vonage and VoIP Supply.
During the project, I spent many hours at the kiosk observing customer interactions, selling, and educating consumers on VoIP. Among other things, the one thing that surprised me the most was the percentage of customers who chose a cordless VoIP phone over the low cost or even free telephone adaptor and their reasoning behind buying the cordless VoIP phone.
In general, most consumers found the entire process surrounding the use of a telephone adaptor difficult to fully wrap their head around. What if I have five phones in my home (a typical telephone adaptor only allows for two phone lines)? Does this mean only two of them can use VoIP? What if I want all five phones to utilize VoIP (you need to use multiple adaptors)? Going into how all of this worked and what the consumer would have to do to make it work properly, for many was too much of a hassle (especially in a retail setting). I can only imagine this scenario is magnified online with no one there to answer questions.
Above and beyond the whole installation process, most consumers who were pained by the notion that their phone would have to be located near their modem or router unless they invested time and money in re-wiring their home. In most cases a modem or router is not in a central location of any size home. It is typically in an office or a basement. One does not want to have to be confined to a home office or basement to use their phone. One wants their phone to be conveniently located on their lap or next to them on the couch or coffee table.
Consumers not only want convenience, but they also want to feel comfortable. People are comfortable with the use of a cordless phone. People are comfortable with the idea of a cordless VoIP phone because it offers the familiarity and convenience of a cordless analog phone.
It is because of these reasons above we found that offering the cordless VoIP phone solution to almost every customer. Even though these devices were more then $100 more expensive then the telephone adaptor, what we found was that an unusually high percentage of the customers who purchased service also purchased a cordless VoIP phone. Going into the project we thought that price would be a deterrent to consumers purchasing the solution. Once again, consumers proved that they will pay more for convenience and ease of use.
So as the size of the average American home is increasing and consumers are paying more for convenience and ease of use then they ever have before, I believe you will start to see more VoIP service providers carrying cordless VoIP phones especially as the price to the consumer lowers and that you will see more large manufacturers release cordless VoIP phones as consumer demand for cordless VoIP phones increases. I would expect over the next three to six months to see an influx in cordless VoIP phones.
Side Note:
Why are more VoIP service providers not offering a cordless VoIP phone with their VoIP service? Off the top of my head the only service providers that I know of offering a cordless VoIP phone are Vonage, Packet8, and SunRocket. I believe small and medium providers, who typically believe the only way they can compete with the big guys is on price, are missing a huge opportunity by not offering a cordless VoIP phone. Not only could they capitalize on what appears to be an underserved emerging market, but they also could increase revenues and profits through the sale of higher priced equipment.
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