http://gigaom.com/2005/02/07/just-another-voip-day/ Trusted Insights and Conversations on the Next Wave of Technology Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:47:41 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 http://gigaom.com/2005/02/07/just-another-voip-day/#comment-5758 David Churbuck Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2005/02/07/just-another-voip-day/#comment-5758 <p>Consumer reluctance on VoIP is, I think, due to a few things.<br /> 1. Early VoIP solutions from the 90s were horrible, proprietary, and about as rewarding as PC-based videoteleconferencing.<br /> 2. Switching costs. Inertia is difficult thing to break. Some segment of the population will switch broadband providers or long-distance carriers are the mere whiff of a savings or some frequent flier mileage. Not for most.<br /> 3. Features. Your average Joe needs to see a compelling feature set, other than cost, to drive the cross-over. VoIP has lots of compelling office applications, but no one is marketing any “must-have” residential features.<br /> 4. Perceived horsepower. VoIP is considered processor intensive. If the perception — valid or not — persists that one must have a beefy box to drive VoIP, the way Videotel solutions needed lots of horsepower ten years ago, then people won’t switch. (That said, I watched my son upgrade a PC just to be able to play Half-Life2). People can tolerate jerky video, but their ears won’t tolerate crummy audio and bad audio goes back to point 1. </p> Consumer reluctance on VoIP is, I think, due to a few things.
1. Early VoIP solutions from the 90s were horrible, proprietary, and about as rewarding as PC-based videoteleconferencing.
2. Switching costs. Inertia is difficult thing to break. Some segment of the population will switch broadband providers or long-distance carriers are the mere whiff of a savings or some frequent flier mileage. Not for most.
3. Features. Your average Joe needs to see a compelling feature set, other than cost, to drive the cross-over. VoIP has lots of compelling office applications, but no one is marketing any “must-have” residential features.
4. Perceived horsepower. VoIP is considered processor intensive. If the perception — valid or not — persists that one must have a beefy box to drive VoIP, the way Videotel solutions needed lots of horsepower ten years ago, then people won’t switch. (That said, I watched my son upgrade a PC just to be able to play Half-Life2). People can tolerate jerky video, but their ears won’t tolerate crummy audio and bad audio goes back to point 1.

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