VoIP Blog - Tehrani.com

« January 2, 2005 | Main | January 4, 2005 »

Tom Keating writes about the humble beginnings of VoIP

Tom Keating writes about the humble beginnings of VoIP and is absolutely correct in saying that it was first written about in TMC's CTI Magazine in 1996. What surprises me is how much coverage we gave this nascent field. I did some searches on back issues and it is interesting that the term Internet telephony was very popular in those days and VoIP was hardly ever used. I thought it would be beneficial to post one of these old issues (Jan-Feb 1997) of CTI Magazine online for all to see. Kind of nostalgic. There are hardly any companies from this issue left standing. Truth be told many have been acquired and others just vanished. Many of the companies in this issue were the true pioneers of VoIP.

| This entry was posted at 4:33 PM. | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: Tom Keating writes about the humble beginnings of VoIP
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

VoIP Blog Legends Plug Internet Telephony Conference & Expo

There is so much blogging about Internet Telephony Conference & Expo going on these days it is tough to keep track of it all. Tom Keating's top rated blog had a recent entry, VoIP Event where he talks about the virtues of our show. Andy Abramson, the other VoIP blog legend also mentioned Internet Telephony and how the hotel is going to sell out soon. What isnt mentioned about this event is what it is not. So many people tell me they come to Internet Telephony to escape the egos they have to deal with at other industry events. One exhibitor told me "If I wanted to blow company money to see a concert, I can pop a 10x10 exhibit at Madison Square Garden when Bruce Springsteen comes to town." Everyone is telling me that when it comes to doing business, the serious, non-party business is at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo.

| This entry was posted at 11:11 AM. | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: VoIP Blog Legends Plug Internet Telephony Conference & Expo
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

California PUC and VoIP Regulation

In my mind we need a great deal less government intervention in our daily lives and this is especially true when the government serves as a direct road block to progress in an industry that has so much potential like VoIP. A recent article on TMCnet, California to Appeal FCCs Decision on VoIP Regulation shows how some states are not happy with the FCC eliminating their ability to regulate VoIP. Minnesota and California are just two of the states that are using our tax dollars to make it more difficult for VoIP to proliferate. VoIP serves the public good and we are in a very sensitive time in the industry. There are some low cost carriers giving a great deal of choice to consumers and at the low end of the scale a company like Skype is able to do much of what the paid service providers can but at no cost. If the states keep pushing to drive costs up among VoIP providers, they will make the price rift between a company like Vonage and Skype larger and more and more people will just turn to Skype.I am a huge Skype fan and advocate and have nothing against them. I just think the law of unintended consequences will push exponentially more consumers to Skype as the government decides to play around with regulating our industry to death. Couple this with the fact that more VCs will avoid VoIP investments if the revenue model isnt there and every state hangs its own regulatory cloud over the industry.This is a problem because unlike a Vonage who centrally manages telephone calls and is a US based company that collects revenue from calls, Skype is a European company that collects no revenue from the bulk of its calls and is software based meaning calls don't even have to go through Skype (unless they travel over the PSTN to a non-Skype client).I truly fear every state cutting off their noses to spite their faces and then wondering why there is no company left to regulate.So to make the record clear, I am in favor o making sure that VoIP is regulated in a manner that ensures safety as well as local number portability. I am not in favor of every state doing whatever it feels is best and damaging the entire industry along the way. If the concept of California doing its best to hurt the VoIP market upsets you, please let the California Public Utilities Commission know about it.

| This entry was posted at 9:47 AM. | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: California PUC and VoIP Regulation
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

DSP Group's WiFi Telephony Chip: Wireless Voice Over IP

It is no secret that WiFi telephony is the future of VoIP. Just as consumer adoption launched VoIP into the mainstream, it is possible that these same consumers will do the same for WiFi telephony. Frankly it should be business users that accelerate the adoption but consumers have done an amazing job of harnessing leading edge technologies. Businesses are a bit gun-shy after the dotcom era it seems.So we will likely see the consumer and business space work together on building this new category of product. Pretty soon we will see all cell phones and PDAs enabled to take advantage of WiFi telephony. That is just a logical conclusion about where we are headed. the question is when will we get there? I would say in about 24 months most every new cell phone will have VoIP built in via WiFi. The carriers will resist this so if there is a slowdown we can count on the carriers threatening the cell phone makers as the reason DSP Group is one of the companies enabling the new WiFi telephony world with their new cordless VoIP chip. By integrating VOIP, traditional telephony and digital cordless functionality on a single silicon die, they are able to reduce cost and increase the penetration of WiFi telephony.

| This entry was posted at 9:15 AM. | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: DSP Group's WiFi Telephony Chip: Wireless Voice Over IP
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl