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From Tupperware to VoIP
Forget Tupperware parties baby, the future is VoIP parties. Remember the good old days where women (now I don’t mean to be sexist but it really was almost all women, right?) would come together and buy Tupperware? Well now that Tupperware is commoditized – you can buy it cheap in any grocery store. Well not Tupperware perhaps but something similar. You get the idea.
I was reminded about Tupperware, Amway and a host of other network marketing business models when I saw that Packet8 is working with a company called 5LINX to sell its services through 11,000 independent representatives around the country. Will it work? Probably. These referral oriented businesses do work. Not all the people in the world, read blogs and fantasize about winning the lottery so they can blow it all on A/V equipment and ever-more powerful computers. Some people actually rely on these sorts of parties to buy things.
Here is a salient excerpt discussing how the service will be branded from a recent release:
The Globalinx (www.myglobalinx.com) branded offering encompasses voice and video broadband phone services powered by Packet8. The Packet8 VoIP solution allows Internet users to enhance the functionality of their high speed connection with a telephone service that is affordable, as easy to use as a regular telephone, and bundled with many advanced features (e.g., voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, call waiting caller ID, call forwarding, hold, line-alternate, 3-way conferencing, web access to account controls, etc.) not included with traditional circuit-switched telephone services. The standalone Packet8 VideoPhone is the industry's first exceptional quality, consumer priced videophone that uses a standard broadband internet connection to transmit high quality audio and crisp instant-on video communications
VoIP in theory should be sold like any other telecom service and like any other product for that matter. What I mean is use every channel you can find to distribute your product. This is a great move on Packet8’s part. Will it work? That is to be decided but the bottom line is the deal probably cost little to no money to put together and there is likely only upside potential.
How does Vonage one-up this announcement? Simple. Girl-Scout branded VoIP service. You think I kid. Well maybe I do but why not? Imagine how popular the idea could become in an Atkins inspired age. Here is a nice marketing slogan for them to try. Watch your weight fall while you make that call!
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Technology Projections
Here is an e-mail I received today. My comments are in red.
Please find below The Radicati Group, Inc.'s bi-monthly "Radicati Market Stats & Industry Commentary". Here you will find some fast facts from our various reports and analyst quotes on recent industry news which you may feel free to use for citing in upcoming articles.
EMAIL
We estimate that there are 815 million corporate email clients in use, including both desktop and Web-based clients. MS Outlook makes up approximately 60% of those (489 million).
60% Seems very low.
IDENTITY MANAGEMENT
We estimate that for every $1 spent on the acquisition cost of enterprise directories, an additional $3 is spent on professional services.
Spearheading the further development of the Identity Management market, some directory vendors are starting to offer not only better integrated suites, but also more simplified suites, combining many solutions into 2-3 major offerings, with much richer capabilities.
The total identity management market is expected to reach almost $10.2 billion by 2008, up from $738 million in 2004.
Seems like massive growth but with all the issues of identity theft, Phishing, etc there needs to be serious resources devoted to identity management.
HOSTED EMAIL
By 2008, we expect the worldwide market for hosted business email to reach $788 million, up from $501 today.
Seems reasonable.
SECURITY
The email encryption market will grow at an average rate of 71% per year from $34 million in 2004 to $287 million in 2008.
The total market for e-mail anti-phishing and anti-fraud solutions (including both e-mail anti-phishing and anti-fraud vendors) is expected grow from $202 million to over $880 million by 2008.
How will governments keep up with ever-changing and evolving encryption technologies? There are serious homeland security implications here. Of course I know there will always be ways to unencrypt data if a corporation wants to do so but how will law enforcement agencies monitor packets on the Net if needed? I assume there are times they would want to read e-mail without alerting the people with the keys.
UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS
By 2008, we expect that the worldwide UC installed base will surpass 95 million, and worldwide UC revenue will total nearly $10.5 billion.
Is this unified messaging? Not sure what is meant here.
VoIP
We expect corporate IP telephony revenue to reach $5.5 billion by 2008, an increase from $1.0 billion worldwide in 2004.
This is in line with what I am currently seeing in the market. Assuming no geopolitical problems, etc this growth rate seems sustainable.
WEB SERVICES
We expect the North American market to grow to $2.7 billion by 2008, from $494 million in 2004.
Also in line with what I am seeing. My experience comes mostly from the communications side of things though.
These are some of the most optimistic forecasts I have seen since 2000 but they all seem reasonable and in line with current trends. Is technology back for good? It is too soon to tell but there are certainly sectors of technology that are exploding with growth. Although I haven’t read the report, I wonder if it takes into account VoIP peering and p2p VoIP. These two technologies will have a drastic effect on how companies in the VoIP market generate revenue.
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DSP-Less ATA
Reducing chips from designs lowers cost, reduces failure rates, reduces electricity usage and heat dissipation. Most importantly it reduces cost. This is especially true when you are eliminating a DSP.
D2 TECHNOLOGIES AND ALPHA NETWORKS LAUNCH FIRST DSP-LESS ATA
The production version of a VoIP Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) module
is the first without a DSP chip.
Traditional ATAs incorporate a DSP chip/core or special ASIC for voice processing functions like echo cancellation, voice compression, tone detection/ generation, etc. However, D2's vPort software implements the voice functions as a "softDSP" on the MIPS processor. vPort is a complete VoIP software solution, which integrates the soft-DSP with voice signaling, packetizing, jitter smoothing, networking and telephony drivers needed in the ATA applicatio n.
The Ideal VoIP ATA for the Residential Market
"This ATA is targeted at the residential market where telcos and service providers are aggressively deploying voice services over broadband," says David Wong, president of D2. "In addition to unlimited toll-free calls, VoIP will enable a cornucopia of new and exciting services, such as follow-me, international roaming, call management, data integration, multi-party conferencing etc. to be easily available to the subscriber. I think we are, finally, seeing the final days of the plain old telephone service, and the dawn of a new generation of IP communications services."
VoIP functionality includes: G.711, G.726, G.729AB voice compression, voice activity detection, packet loss compensation, silence compression (SID), G.168-2000 line echo cancellation, DTMF detection/generation/relay, call progress tone generation, fax/modem tone detection for fax pass-through or T.38 fax relay, three-way calling, dynamic/adaptive jitter buffer manager, RTP/UDP/IP and an embedded SIP call control stack.
"The combination of D2's voice technology and field-proven software, and Alpha's networking capability," notes Thomas Huang, vp Broadband of Alpha Networks, "has resulted in the development of a product that meets the demanding real-time requirements necessary for voice processing in packet network environments. This partnership has made it possible produce a low-cost VoIP ATA in a very small package because of Alpha's design and manufacturing expertise."
The Alpha device (ATA1001) is only 7.5 cm x 8 cm (approximately 3 inches x 3.2 inches). It has one RJ-11 port for the attachment of a standard telephone, and one RJ-45 port for connecting to a broadband/WAN device.
The ATA1001 is available beginning in March 2005.
About Alpha Networks
Alpha Networks, Inc. is a distinctive leader in the Networking OEM/ODM industry, offering innovative and professional engineering, manufacturing, and service to worldwide brand-name networking customers. For many years, Alpha Networks' design and manufacturing engineers have exclusively been focused on developing high-quality, cost-effective networking products that fully reflect the needs of the customer at the present and in the future. Alpha's strength is in combining the potential of Ethernet LAN/WAN, Wireless, and Broadband networking technologies to produce the ideal product strategy and solution that brand-name customers are looking for.
The company is located at No.8 Li-shing 7th Rd., Science-based Industrial Park, Hsinchu 300,
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