Around the Blogosphere… the Hump Day Edition
Source: www.voip-news.com
Russell Shaw from the IP Telephony blog has is musing about a recent Skype executive’s fate. “That’s not only what I am starting to think, but that’s what Forrester analyst Sally Cohen seems to believe as well. In tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal, the noted analyst is described as saying that because of the two-day outage, and its slow explanation, Skype seemed to nail down the impression that “such a service can be ancillary,” rather than a replacement service for a standard phone line. Skype says that in some of their “don’t use us for 911″ documentation as well. There’s a difference, though. For consumers, fine print docvumentation is one thing- a kind of understandable CYA. But two days of down time really makes an impression. When incidents such as these take place in a backdrop of continually slashing prices, it gets to be kind of a negative perfect storm. So maybe although IDC numbers dictate a spike in U.S. in Internet phone users from 4.2 million users in 2005 to 16.3 million this year, trend lines from Forrester that note average revenue per Internet phone subscriber has dropped to $29 a month from $42 two years ago is more telling. “The growth in the market doesn’t match the hype,” Cohen is quoted as saying. On the whole, “consumers have been very slow to catch on.”
Manju from the VoIP Blog goes back to basics with a good argument on the advantages of using VoIP services.
• It saves money and energy by blending all data, video and audio applications into one larger application. From caller ID to voice mail all features are provided.
• It enables the user to select their regional codes. This way, the calls that have to be made at a specific location, no matter the distance, will be charged similar to a local call only. Some of the VOIP service providers widen their range of regional codes to a few other nations as well.
• Whether used for local calls or International calls, for business or residential purposes, VOIP is any day cheaper than the traditional calls that are made.
• It is flexible as its adapter can be carried anywhere and helps an individual to stay connected no matter where he is.
• Call waiting, call block, call forwarding, voice mail and caller ID, all functions are included without any extra charge.
Andy Abramson over at the VoIP Watch details the recent management shake-up going on at Skype. “A big management change at Skype has occurred with Niklas Zennstrom resigning as CEO and Henry Gomez returning to eBay. This tells me a few things. First that the eBay leadership is not happy with the direction Skype has been going and is looking for a leader who can really run the company globally as a telco 2.0 oriented business. This person needs a background with both big online company experience (Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, IBM) and an ability to work with technology types on a global basis as if they are peers, not subjects. Second it also signals that despite improving numbers based solely on user growth, that earnout isn’t going to happen. Third, this likely means something is up with Joost and Nikki Z didn’t need to stick around to be a straw boss. For Gomez, who is not a tech guy, this puts him back where he was most effective at eBay and where he can do only more great things to keep the company’s reputation on the high side.”
