Will VOIP survive in 2012?

Without trying to state the obvious, VOIP has undergone a lot of changes and threats in the last 18months. However, will it survice beyond 2012?

>My answer is "yes" but not in the shape we are familiar with.

>Mobile VOIP, the new kid on the block, has chewed into a lot of market space where "traditional" VOIP used to enjoy its market share. Now "fixed" VOIP services seem to be feeling the same pain that fixed network providers felt when Smart Devices showed up out of nowhere. Quickly reducing costs/minute on calls equating to very little margins that soon may shrink to zero and large looming threat of web-based offerings (the likes of Facebook, Google, etc) that now are playing in a space that was once a service provider domain.

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It all adds up to the fact that VOIP companies (if not already) need to start looking forward and adapting their business models accordingly.

Mobile VOIP is a shining example of this.

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VOIP and providing rich media communications on Smart Devices (I dont call them mobile phones anymore, sorry!) is the now of the future. Unless your business is thinking about how to take its share of this market then your company is going to be faced with an ever-shrinking bottom line until eventually VOIP is offered as a FREE add-on, value-added service bundled into other services. That leaves your VOIP-based business where exactly? You guessed it, out in the cold.

>VOIP as such will be amalgamated into the 100,000's of Apps that can be downloaded onto your Smart Device. Love it or hate it, thats the future for VOIP.

So will VOIP survive in 2012 and beyond? Definitely yes Jim but not as we used to know it. What are your thoughts?

A Look at Internet Voice Technology (VoIP) for Residential

Today's Technology

Over the years, the technology has made remarkable progress. Telephony's improved data compression rate, better sound quality, and the availability of residential broadband has given consumers more affordable solutions with even more features than you might have currently. Today, there are a number of available service providers with most offering the equipment for free along with pricing packages that can reduce your phone bills by up to 50% or more.

How It Works

Internet Voice, commonly known as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), uses your broadband Internet connection to make and receive phone calls instead of your regular phone line. It works by converting your phone calls to data packets and sends the information over your Internet connection, like email, and is received on the other end just like a regular phone call.

Source: Vonage.com

What's the advantage? Using your Internet connection instead of your phone line is less expensive. You can call anywhere, anytime for less and still get features like Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, Caller ID, 3-way Calling, and so much more.

One common misconception about VoIP is that it's a bandwidth hog, when, in fact, voice is a very efficient type of traffic. As a rule of thumb, 14 Kbps of bandwidth per call is ideal. This includes the compressed voice packet and the IP overhead. While your broadband connection will range from 768 Kbps - 1.5 Mbps, this is negligible and not worth concerning yourself over.

The Disadvantages

If you're considering replacing your traditional telephone service with Internet Voice, there are some things you should consider when looking at the various providers.

Some Internet Voice services don't work during power outages and the service provider may not offer backup power; Additional steps may be required for setting up 911 calls where you will need to register an address for location identification; or

DSL users cannot completely eliminate their land line because the broadband runs through this connection; or They may or may not offer white page listings.

Let's Talk Features

VoIP service providers offer different packages to fit your specific needs. Actual usage, desired features, and potential expansion capabilities will be the determining factors when selecting a package. The basic plans most VoIP providers offer include:

Low-cost Basic with Limited Usage
Unlimited US and Canada calls
Unlimited Business with Fax

You're almost certain to save money switching to VoIP. Not only is the monthly service itself generally less expensive than your current phone company's monthly service, the features you get with VoIP are much more extensive and are, most of the time, offered for free. Features like:

Web Based Administration - Allows you to configure your phone settings and log all your calls in real time.

Caller ID - Standard with all VoIP service providers.

Voice Mail - Replaces your answering machine and lets you listen to voice messages on-line.

Call forwarding - Forward calls to your cell, office, or any other number after a predetermined number of rings.

Portability - Take your phone adapter anywhere around the world, use your same phone number, and call anytime, anywhere in the US for free, and vice-versa

Software Phone - this application can be installed on any PC and will function exactly the same way as any VoIP phone

Call Transfer
3-way conferencing v Call return
What You Need

An Internet connection - While VoIP works with a regular 56kbps dial-up connection, it is highly recommended you use a Cable or DSL broadband connection.

A Computer - The only reason you will need a computer (PC or Mac) is to configure the phone adaptor to work with your broadband service provider. Once this is done, you will not need to do this again.

A Digital Phone Adapter - DPA's, also referred to as phone adapters, are provided mostly free of charge. This is similar to your Cable/DSL router that converts the signal to use a regular phone or fax unit.

A Telephone - There are also options for plugging in multiple phones to a single DPA unit.

A VoIP Service provider - There are several available. Here are a few you might want to check out:

Take Advantage of Internet Phone Calls (VOIP)

Voice over IP (VOIP) is a relatively new technology. Voice Over IP allows people to leave behind the old and very traditional analogue phone networks and now adapt in favor of the very new and very progressive Internet-based calling system infrastructure. Using this technology for your communications actually works out cheaper for you in the long run as it means you won't need to pay for calls if the people you are calling and speaking to are also using the same VOIP system.

Voice Over IP runs on several different types of infrastructure. This is the main reason why you should take the time to do your homework and find out how it works and what is involved, before you even consider setting up a Voice Over IP network at your home or place of business. When you do your homework you will see that invariably VOIP offers lots of advantages over and above the standard traditional telephone based analogue service that most people are currently using. Let's take a moment to examine some of the advantages of using Voice Over IP.

The main advantage of Voice Over IP is to be honest - the cost - the cost benefit goes directly back into your pocket. And because Voice Over IP uses the infrastructure of the Internet to make outgoing calls, you will never need to pay your traditional phone provider to maintain a telephone line or for phone and line rental. In addition, many Voice Over IP service providers allow customers to make long distance calls that attract minimal or no long distance charges at all. Many service providers even offer customer VOIP packages that allow you to opt for discounted internet call rates so you can save even more.

But what about this for a benefit? If you have Voice Over IP software installed on your PC and you want to speak to someone who is also uses Voice Over IP, then you are able to talk for as long as you want without having to pay a single cent. This is because your voice is actually transformed into digital data packets rather than audio, and the data is transferred in a similar fashion to that of email. Voice Over IP also makes it very easy and cheap to conduct conference calls and video calls.

3CX and Grandstream Announce Strategic Partnership

3CX, the international developer of the award-winning 3CX Phone System for Windows and Grandstream, a leading designer and manufacturer of next generation IP Voice and Video products for broadband networks, announced today a strategic partnership. Under the terms of the agreement, 3CX will become one of the preferred PBX partners of Grandstream, and 3CX will fully certify and integrate Grandstream’s broad portfolio of IP phones, gateways and multimedia phones, allowing for customers to easily provision and manage Grandstream phones from the 3CX Management console. With the integration, initial configuration and setup of a complete phone system will be much easier and ongoing management will be reduced. 3CX and Grandstream will also commit to advanced feature development and providing end-to-end support to customers, giving companies peace of mind that the complete solution is supported by both companies.

“We are pleased to establish a partnership with 3CX to promote the combination of the market leading software-based 3CX Phone System and the award-winning Grandstream IP phones and multimedia phones. This best-in-class product combination creates an excellent value and innovative solution for the SME market,” said David Li, CEO of Grandstream Networks.
“The combined 3CX & Grandstream solution is very easy to install and manage for customers, and is a great replacement for outdated proprietary phone systems. Because both products are standards-based, customers do not get tied in with one particular vendor and companies can buy best of breed, with full confidence in the complete solution,” said Nick Galea, CEO at 3CX.
The partnership has already resulted in benefits for customers and resellers: 3CX has shipped enhanced Grandstream phone support in Service Pack 4 of 3CX Phone System 9. It is now possible to provision and manage Grandstream phones from the 3CX management console, including the ability to upgrade the firmware network wide via the 3CX management console.

Grandstream has also launched a special reseller program which allows resellers and distributors to get rebates for selling Grandstream phones with 3CX solutions. 3CX was hereby one of the first suppliers to sign on with Grandstream’s reseller program as a result of the completion of extensive testing and 3CX getting full certification to Grandstream’s entire endpoints product line.

Secure Your Mobile Devices with 3CX Mobile Device Manager

As mobile phones are here to stay, it's important to protect your privacy when using them just as you should with your desktop computer.

Unfortunately, many people overlook mobile phone security but this can be dangerous. Thanks to this lack of security awareness, many hackers can take advantage, making many people victims of. It can take countless hours to undo the harm that can be done to your reputation and finances, and sometimes a full recovery is impossible. It's crucial, then, to have security policies in place such as a strong password, in order to protect your company's sensitive data.

You don’t just have to worry about the threat from hackers and malware on your mobile devices. It's also possible that an employee may lose a phone, or have it stolen. 3CX Mobile Device Manager offers real time mobile tracking in order to find a lost mobile as well as to see what routes it has taken.

You can remote lock your device in order to protect the data on it, and as a last resort you can even remotely wipe all data from a mobile device and any attached storage cards. This feature means that you can rest assured that no identity theft can occur and no sensitive corporate data gets exposed.