Posted on 06/16/2006 7:29:01 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Voice over IP wielding the knife, says analyst
VoIP technology spells the end of traditional home telephone numbers, according to an industry analyst.
A study by JupiterResearch claims that the rise in fixed/mobile telephone services appeals strongly to Europeans, and that location will cease to be important for either making or receiving calls.
The report said that 27 per cent of consumers are already interested in regularly using their mobile phone in place of their home telephone.
"VoIP will convert the home telephone from analogue to digital and, once digital, the home telephone number will become unfixed," said Ian Fogg, lead author of the reports and senior analyst at JupiterResearch.
"It will no longer be available just at home, but in the office, in internet cafes and even on mobile phones."
Fogg explained that VoIP telephony is attractive to consumers because services are cheap and flexible.
The study found that PC-based VoIP telephony already appeals to 17 per cent of consumers in Europe, with 21 per cent interested in diverting their home telephone to a mobile phone showing their desire to use their home telephone number wherever they are.
However, Fogg warned that services must be allowed to operate across other providers' systems if uptake is to be successful.
"Mobile operators and internet VoIP competitors must lobby to ensure that their VoIP services operate unimpeded across other ISPs' connections, or they must be prepared to invest in fixed broadband to ensure the security of network supply for their VoIP services," he said.
Happy with Verizon, are ya? How long you been working there?
This is Europe.
Telephone service and quality are notoriously bad there.
Cell phones were a big hit along time ago there because it worked much better than land lines and wasn't nearly as regulated.
So I can believe VoIP is an improvement there.
How is the quality of the sound? Is it ever dalayed, garbled, or drop out completely?
I had listed my numbers on the National "Do Not Call Registry" but I was ALWAYS getting junk calls. This ended them. Once in a while, some sneaky telemarketer will use 000-000-0000 but I even block those now. A few local numbers (Newspaper, etc.) are now blocked. Credit card companies who continue to call (they are allowed, if they do business with you) are now also blocked. Crank calls are entered manually, then they disappear as well. It's a great feature for privacy, especially during the dinner hour!
Once in a while there is a delay, but no different than on a cell phone. The 3-way calling is crystal clear, with excellent volume on all sides. I cannot complain.
Hey, folks, could I interest you in a re-reading of my post?
I said cell phones are doing more to erode home landlines than VoIP. I didn't say VoIP is pointless or will somehow fail. I didn't say typical landlines are destined to live forever. This is just common sense: cell phones have been around longer than VoIP. Everyone has a cell phone. Not everyone has VoIP.
Reading comprehension. It is a wonderful thing.
VOIP is the way to go. The whole telecommunications landscape is changing for the better. What I'd really like to see is dual use numbers where your cell number also doubles as a VOIP number. It makes a lot of sense. I can't wait till high speed nationwide wireless broadband is everywhere. Then I can toss my standard cell and use VOIP everywhere.
I was talking to a friend from India and he said VOIP is really popular overseas where there is broadband available. It is easy for a person in the states to activate a Vonage VOIP adapter and then send it to their relatives overseas with a local number in the states attached to it and then they can make calls from India anywhere in the US as if they are stateside.
I love the virtual world. The idea that one could be in a mudhut in the middle of Africa and have a US telephone number is just beautiful. lol
I'm a happy VoIP user with DSL Internet service. My VoIP service wasn't good or solid until I upgraded my Linksys firewall/router firmware to include Quality of Service functionality. Now that I've set the Linksys to give priority to the VoIP adapter it's great. No more echoes or lost dial tones.
(course, we have to figure out how to filter Arab DNA..)
Yes I've become one of them. I love my bluetooth adapter. I wish it was smaller and black but I'll remedy that soon enough. It works well with my SLVR so I can not complain. What we need is an small adapter that can also accept mental cues so that you can carry on duel conversations one with your friend on the phone and one with your boss. It will happen eventually.
You useda pay $10-$15 a month for a land line that served the entire family. Now you're paying $150+ for cell phone toys for all members of the family. That's progress. For the cell phone companies, which succeeeded in creating an artificial need that didn't exist, and still doesn't as far this cat's concerned. The money's rolling in. Note the spacious, bright sales offices of cell phone companies in high rent districts. Note the full page ads in daily newspapers. Congratulations, you're paying for it, paying for the privilege of being able to report to your dear family members that you're in isle 5A of your local supermarket. I ain't!
You have to make sure that you have a really good connection. If your broadband is sketchy so will your phone connection. You can control the amount of bandwidth Vonage uses by adjusting the quality settings on your account. We had a few problems on and off in the beginning but most of them were related to the cable broadband provider not Vonage.
We dumped our landline for ViaTalk. We had some echoing at first but when they helped me get my router tuned in it has worked great ever since. I use it for faxes, which is the only thing lacking...it usually takes several tries to get the fax through, but I've always been able to get them through. I'm sure if I called customer service it could be fixed...I just don't fax that often.
You were talking about wanting to be able to use your cell as your VOIP. ViaTalk has the option called simultaneous ring configuration...when anybody calls the house it also rings on my wife's and my cell phone. I really love that feature.
For 3.95 a month I also have an area code in North Carolina and a friend who lives there calls me on that number and it is a local call for him.
I'll never go back to landlines.
Call me an old fart, but no thanks.
Ditched my landline for cells about three years ago. Recently got a Skype number for $38 for the year. That's the number I'll give out to people I don't like.
Heck, at that price a few more numbers would be good for that too.
I had Vonage with a lot of breakups and poor customer service. Changed to Packet8 and have had no problems. $20 per month unlimited over a wireless ISP broadband with a rolled in price of $30. Saving about $50-$75 per month.
Haha, don't work there, but we have no complaints. I know what my bill will be every month (it's a set fee) and I've never had an interruption in service.
We don't use Verizon for our internet service. I've not heard favorable things about their DSL service.
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