February 2005 Archives

Industry pundits say no one is making money in VoIP. People who make predictions like this are so out of touch with reality they are probably on their way to Neverland with the kids for vacation. I keynoted at an ABP user conference and had a "distinguished" speaker from MCI say in front of an audience of resellers that no one is making money in VoIP except for conference organizers! (Here is a hint, his initials are Dr. H.S.) While I can tell you first-hand that the VoIP conference business is doing great, I wasn't prepared for the number of resellers who came up to me at lunch to say they are making a killing selling VoIP products and services. Yes the opportunity is very real and we were on-track to attract over 1,000 resellers to this ITEXPO! This is a record not seen since the 2000 time-frame.

Why are resellers coming in droves? Because people are buying VoIP products in record numbers.

Recently we decided to survey some of our web visitors, including the Internet Telephony Magazine online readers and it is amazing to see how much purchasing is going on among the TMC community. Here are the stats:

87% of the visitors are personally involved in the purchase of VoIP products
83% plan on purchasing products and services in the next 12 months.

These are the actual products and services that will be purchased:

So there you have it. People are buying VoIP products like never before. Logic tells us that resellers are needed for many of these installs. With growth numbers like this, who isn't making money in VoIP and more importantly who has their head in the sand (and that's putting it nicely)?

BTW, Wednesday, February 23 is VoIP Reseller day at the show and we are offering this session free to all resellers. Why are we doing this? One simple reason, without a very healthy reseller market, the VoIP industry cannot flourish. To be honest, many engineers who develop today's VoIP products have the marketing skills of a corpse and distribution skills worse than their marketing skills.

Over the years I have seen countless VoIP companies with amazing products fail miserable because they have no marketing or distribution strategy. Trillions of dollars of investment (in technology in general going back a few decades) have been blown by technical and financial people who head up companies and think customers will find them without sales and distribution!

In every case, they are 100% wrong and will stay wrong forever. Even Apple with the lion's share of the portable music player business market like they are laggards in the industry. As a distribution strategy, they opened their own stores! In addition, every company is dying to resell a product with such a huge marketing budget.

The most successful companies have people at the top that understand sales or marketing. If they understand both then that company has an even better chance of succeeding.

Enough ranting. My goal is simple. Educate resellers. Make them rich. Have them grow and take on more and more VoIP products to resell. As this happens, customers get better pricing and more choice and the VoIP market flourishes. VoIP resellers... Welcome to the TMC family.

If you are a reseller that wants free press please send me the details of your successful deployments. I will make sure we highlight your achievements for the world to see.

Are there really VoIP killer apps out there? While there are heated debates about this issue in Internet Telephony Magazine, I believe there are killer apps and that the killer app of VoIP will be a laundry-list of features as opposed to a single application. Time will tell whether I am correct but in the mean-time I will continue to present you year after year with some of the industry's best and brightest applications for you to evaluate Come see the show and you can judge for your self if killer-apps in VoIP are hype or reality.

Join us in Orchid C at 1:00 PM on Thursday, February 24, 2005 to see it in action.

Here is the schedule:

VoIP 2.0 may be the theme of this event and I sincerely believe this is the future of communications. Don't take my word for the future of your communications. Sure I work with all the industry leaders and visionaries in VoIP all day long but to really get a feel for what's next I urge you to come the Future of IP telephony panel at 5:15 PM in the Flagler/Monroe Ballroom. These are the companies represented on stage with me:

At last year's Miami IEXPO I toured Terremark's NAP and was blown away at how high-tech this facility was. If you want to see a true state-of-the-art carrier neutral facility, you won't want to miss the tour that takes place Tuesday at 6:15 PM, February 22^nd 2005. You need to preregister for the event and please do so quickly as I am afraid the tour will be filled to capacity soon. Please e-mail voip@terremark.com or call 305-860-7830 for details and to register.

Everyone is eligible to be part of the tour. Terremark will make the final decision on admittance to their facility.

Please check my blog often this week as I will detail the "Can't Miss" sessions from the show. In addition I will be detailing what you need to know at the show and how to best benefit from the intense and in-depth educational experience. What amazes me about Internet Telephony Conference & Expo is how the conference and general sessions at this event truly capture the essence of what is important in our industry. We really haven't missed any important trend. I think we really pegged the future of this industry with this event.

For example, the VoIP Peering Summit gives service providers and enterprises a unique perspective on how peering voice over IP calls will help us establish tomorrow's "Voice Internet." We have as much in-depth and focused content on peering as you will find anywhere and in my opinion our presenters are second to none... Two of the world's top VoIP peering evangelists, Hunter Newby from Telx and Shrihari Pandit of Stealth Communications.

A look at the list of speakers in fact shows we have every other VoIP peering visionary presenting at this event as well while other crucial players will be in attendance according to a scan of the registration database.

One other presenter worth mentioning is Mark Spencer of Digium/Asterisk/Dundi fame who will be discussing enterprise peering. This is in addition to our open source telephony debate which should be great fun. I just hope I don't get beat up too badly. Mark has been on numerous panels at TMC events and has proven himself to be a great presenter/debater.

You must be a paid conferee to participate in this summit.

Fellow TMC blogger Al Bredenberg blogged about links you should have to keep track of ITEXPO happenings this week. I lifted this:

Get All the Buzz on Next Week's INTERNET TELEPHONY Event

Want to keep up with news and happenings at next week's INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and Expo? Here are some ways to keep in the loop:
Visit the IT Conference and Expo News page at the conference Web site.

Visit the "Internet Telephony VoIP Conference and Expo -- What's the Buzz?" page on TMCnet for news, articles, links and more.

Visit TMCnet's eNews subscription page to sign up to receive Internet Telephony eNews and News and Events updates.

Here is the show directory.(Right-click to save this PDF file)

As another cold front hits the New England I am on my way to Miami where the weather is projected to be nice and sunny. I checked the attendee database and registrations are still pouring in for our Internet Telephony conference next week.

Planning a show is a great deal like planning a wedding but 10-20 times larger and you don't have a clear idea of how many people are coming until they show up. Sure you have a registration database but that could literally double the week of the show as people often wait to the last minute to make plans.
I am putting the final touches on my VoIP 2.0 presentation today and can't wait to share it with the audience. I have had a great deal of positive feedback on the concept of VoIP 2.0 and I am looking forward to taking this discussion to the next level.

I wish you all a safe trip down to Miami and look forward to greeting you in person at the event. If you can't make the show for some reason make sure to stay tuned to our ITEXPO Buzz page for up-to -the-minute happenings.

70 was the final number of countries counted in the database on Friday. This is the largest number of countries we have ever attracted at ITEXPO meaning VoIP is truly going international. If there is one thing that excites me after putting on a dozen ITEXPOs is that we have gone from educating a domestic audience to an international one. We are looking forward to educating this worldwide audience on VoIP this week in South Florida. The exhibit hall is sold out and we have record registration levels. See you all soon.

Without question, Apple is an amazing company. They started their wildest ride decades ago by popularizing desktop publishing. I was the person who brought desktop publishing to TMC around 1986-1987 and at the time it was sacrilegious to even think about using a PC for his task.

I saw no future in MACs (at least in the long-term) so I didn’t bother purchasing any of these cute little computers. Over the decades, countless artists and editors who love Macs would implore us to get them a Mac. I always said no. They just didn’t work with PCs, needed different software, etc. They were different and more expensive and not really user-configurable.

It may come a surprise to hear that I have also recommended the Mac to countless people I know who were looking for home computers as I believe in a home setting you should have a computer that is easier to use. Generally I would suggest a Mac to someone that was retired. You see I am not prejudiced here I just don’t think Macs belong in most corporate settings.

Over the last 5 years or so I have noticed when walking into computer stores that Apple computer designs leave PC makers in the dust and I can't seem to understand why IBM, Dell and Sony need to make machines that look like ugly metal shoeboxes that Bigfoot might keep his work shoes in.

Sure, The PC makers are doing a better job lately but what is the delay in making computers that look good? Are they afraid we might buy more PCs than we need if they are designed with aesthetics in mind?

Apple also emulated this design-centric model with the iPod. How embarrassed must Creative and Sony be? They had a 10 and 20 year lead respectively in the portable music player business and Apple came out with a device that was white with a nice user interface and stole their market. Can you imagine getting destroyed in a market you created because you chose colorblind and design-blind people to make your consumer electronic products?

I am certainly not breaking new intellectual ground here. Even a stinking-drunk, comatose person walking into a CompUSA or Frye's Electronics store can see what I am talking about. Don't Intel-based PC executives ever wander into the Apple store when their spouses are shopping in the Mall? I know I do. Are these manufacturers too fat and happy or too bureaucratic to take notice? Apple should be commended for designing products that people not only want but feel they need. Now that Apple's designs have revitalized the company, I hope they keep winning market share in consumer electronics and the PC market. As far as I am concerned PC makers are too used to peddling ugly designs and instead of focusing on design, tout faster processors or free DVD upgrades. How blind can an entire industry be? Take a look at Apple designs. Lets have a computer industry where people not only need your products but want them as well.

I am keeping a close eye on Apple. If they keep gaining share in the computer market, we may just purchase a couple at TMC. The only question that remains now is can I expense a new iPod?

The more I think about the Verizon and MCI deal the more I realize this acquisition is not in the best interest of consumers. Verizon is a very strong company and controls the best national wireless network as well as being a very strong ILEC. Getting a hold of MCI's network and customers will make them much stronger and a very powerful force in the market. They will be tough to compete with and as such will have no incentive to lower prices which is always good for consumers.

When regulators look at Wal-Mart they see a company that is becoming more of a monopoly everyday but is lowering prices so dramatically that they can only be seen as good for consumers. Verizon Wireless does the opposite. Their prices are high and they don’t offer compelling devices on their network. Finally they coerce you into signing long-term contracts. They are taking advantage of a very strong market position IMO.

I don't blame them... They are a for-profit company and I recently switched to Verizon Wireless because it is the best. If MCI is set on merging then from a "Good for consumer," standpoint, they should be allowed to merge with Qwest and not Verizon. If the deal does go through I would suggest purchasing some Verizon stock.

My wife is from Argentina and her family went to Punta Del Este every summer. Kind of like us east-coasters going to the Hamptons. I have been there; it is beautiful. It is part of Uruguay actually, the next county over from Argentina. My wife and I have had a discussion or two about going to "Punta" again but since it is a 10 hour trip I have been a bit hesitant.

Interestingly Uruguay has been a joke around the office because it is the only country in Latin America that didn't register for our show. Common jokes in the office are I'll give a hundred San Joses (registrations) for a Uruguay.

I just checked the registration database and there was the magical record at 4:52 PM EST on Friday before the show. The person's title is Systems Architect & Developer and I think he represents a service provider. My Spanish isn't too good so I am not able to understand the site too well.

We are officially at 70 countries as we got a few registrations from some new countries in Africa this week. Pretty exciting. When I picked Miami as a home for this show I did it because it was much warmer than Connecticut in the winter. Now Internet Telephony Conference & Expo has become a location for a thriving worldwide VoIP event. I can't wait to greet the world next week in Miami.

Until then:

auf Wiedersehen
tot ziens
farvel
hejda
au revoir
adios
arrivederci
lehitraot
slan
kwa heri
agur
sayonara
gis la revido
näkemiin
selamat tinggal
gut bai
adeus

I recently met with Steve Hawkins, the Vice Consul of UK Trade & Investment. I had a chance to chat with him about how the UK is an attractive venue for companies looking to move or expand. The UK is a natural entry-point into Europe for American companies according to Hawkins. I hear there are many success stories of call centers and telecom companies relocating to the land of Fish & Chips. I hope to detail some success stories in the future. If you are interested in learning more please visit www.uktradeinvestusa.com.

VoIP 2.0 happens next week!

We've been getting slammed by requests for overflow hotels as our show hotel has been sold out for many many weeks. Here are some alternate hotels to try. Don't give up. The show will be well worth the trip and I hope to see you there.

Courtyard by Marriott (1 block away)
1 305 374 3000

Sheraton Biscayne Bay (2 blocks away, less than 5 minute walk)
(305) 373-6000

J.W. Marriott (3/4 miles away, 20 minute walk)
1-800-228-9290

There is a market research report coming out in the next few months on VoIP quality. I can't tell you the details of the report but I can tell you that Packet8 seems like they may be in the lead... At least for now. I'll keep you posted on this developing story.

As many of us waited with baited breath for months... Seems more like years, Gmail is now available to the common Joe and Jolene. The salutation "Hi there," reminds me of what you'd received from a spammer trying to play on the desperate housewives concept but overall, the letter is to the point and should help the company achieve another billion eyeballs a month or so. Just an estimate mind you.

---

Hi there,

Thanks for signing up to be updated on the latest Gmail happenings. We hope it's been worth the wait, because we're excited to finally offer you an invitation to open a free Gmail account! Just click on this link to create your new account:
 
http://gmail.google.com/gmail/d-2-rtehrani%40tmcnet.com-e5dbfefdb07223bb4176919cd13be1a7f76fc758

Since last April, we've been working hard to create the best email service possible. It already comes with 1,000 megabytes of free storage, powerful Google search technology to find any message you want instantly, and a new way of organizing email that saves you time and helps you make sense of all the information in your inbox.
 
And here are just some of the things that we've added in the last few months:

- Free POP access: Take your messages with you. Download them, read them offline, access them using Outlook, your Blackberry or any other device that supports POP

- Gmail Notifier: Get new mail notifications and see the messages and their senders without having to open a browser

- Better contacts management: Import your contacts from Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Outlook, and others to Gmail in just a few clicks. Add phone numbers, notes and more. Even use search to keep better track of it all.

We also wanted to thank you. For showing us your support and for being so patient. And to those who have already signed up for Gmail, thank you for giving it a try and for helping us make it better. Our users are what have made this product great. So whether you're just signing up for your account or you've been with us since the beginning, keep letting us know how we can build you the best email service around.

That's it for now. We hope you like Gmail and will share it with your friends. We've got lots of cool new stuff planned and we can't wait for you to see our work in your Gmail accounts! Stay tuned...

Thanks,
The Gmail Team

Nuvio's FCC Filing Leads Charge Against Discriminatory Broadband Practices

-- Company Urges Use of Title I Authority to Preserve VoIP Competition --

KANSAS CITY, MO, Sept. 14, 2004 -- Nuvio Corporation, a leading provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), today announced that the company has filed an ex-parte letter with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to address and combat potential discriminatory practices by broadband Internet access providers and preserve competition in the VoIP market.

In the comments, Nuvio asserts that broadband Internet access providers, who also offer VoIP services, have economic incentives to discriminate against unaffiliated VoIP providers in favor of affiliated providers." If left unregulated, this discrimination will endanger the vibrant competition that currently exists in the VoIP market and ultimately harm consumers." In particular, Nuvio is concerned that rural ILECs will use discriminatory practices to artificially keep VoIP competition from reaching rural customers.

Broadband Internet access and the VoIP market are vertically related industries. VoIP services depend critically on the quality of the underlying broadband connection linking the customer to the Internet. "Broadband providers have the ability to control the quality of service that a VoIP customer experiences. This may lead to discrimination against unaffiliated VoIP providers in order to increase overall profits and retain market share. Therefore, Nuvio urges the Commission to exercise its Title I jurisdiction to preserve competition by prohibiting discriminatory practices of vertically integrated broadband/VoIP providers."

"Broadband providers have nothing to lose and everything to gain from degrading the connection quality of their customers who are using unaffiliated VoIP providers," said Jason Talley, president and CEO of Nuvio Corporation. "The few customers they lose from discrimination is drastically offset by the substantial increase in its VoIP subscribers, market share and revenues from the practice."

"There is ample FCC and court precedent for the proposition that the Commission has Title I authority to regulate information services and is fully justified in exercising its authority to prohibit anti-competitive practices. Such action is both timely and necessary to guarantee a competitive market for VoIP services and keep choice in the hands of the consumer."