Greg Galitzine, Editor of Internet Telephony Magazine takes on John Dvorak's recent (1/24/05) negative comments on VoIP ("The Problem with VoIP Phones"). Once again Dvorak takes a pessimistic view on the state of VoIP. In his November 2004 "What's Holding Back VoIP?" he also attacks VoIP and makes a ridiculous claim:

If you wonder why DSL services have often deteriorated, it is because good DSL invites VoIP. Bad DSL, on the contrary, keeps it at bay. This, to me, explains the fact that cable modems have continued to hold and even gain in market share.

Uhhh, so the DSL providers are intentionally degrading their data DSL connections because they are afraid of cannibalizing their voice revenue? That's ridiculous. Not to mention most DSL providers are INCREASING their DSL speeds lately to keep up with cable providers increasing their bandwidth.

The funny thing is that two years ago Dvorak posted a POSITIVE article on VoIP in 2003 titled "Free Phone Calls". In this article he mentions that he used a Cisco ATA-186 in a hotel on the road using Vonage and how he could make and receive phone calls anywhere in the world for free. Let me pull a few interesting quotes:

1) "I made a few calls. Perfect. In fact, the line was cleaner than the one I have at home. I could make unlimited calls from the hotel room. And I could receive calls as though I were at home."

Ok, Dvorak two years ago the VoIP calls were perfect and now in 2005 they suck? What gives?

2) "The Vonage IP phone is just the beginning of a revolution in what the telcos call bypass."

Calling VoIP a revolution, ok John, you're getting closer to the truth..

3) "But if I were to forward the call to my Vonage number (which is local), then forward the Vonage number to the Washington number, I'd pay no long-distance charges. The routing possibilities are endless."

Now you're getting it Johnny! The advantages of VoIP go beyond simple voice or cheap voice minutes.

4) "This is the future of telephony, although the telcos would prefer that nothing change."

Glad to see you acknowledge VoIP, but as the expression goes, "The Future is NOW!" VoIP isn't here tomorrow or in the future, it's here now.

Anyway, Dvorak's attacks on VoIP are really getting tiresome in my opinion. As a strong proponent of VoIP I am obviously biased, but c'mon this is just plain common sense. Contact Gartner, Yankee Group or any other credible research firm and they'll tell you the truth - VoIP was here long before the mainstream media finally caught wind of it and it's not a technology to be looked at "down the road" or in the "future".

I have the utmost respect for Dvorak, but either his old age (in technology terms) is making him senile and really crotchety or Dvorak just enjoys sparking controvery where there is none.

Sorry Dvorak, VoIP isn't ready for "primetime" tomorrow, it's been ready for over a year and in some areas of the VoIP industry much much longer than that, i.e. VoIP gateways for inter-office communication, intra-country termination.

Billions of VoIP minutes have been served. Nuf' said.

Check out Greg's analysis here:
Greg Galitzine - VoIP Blog: Dear John,