Comments on: Enough Of These Damn VoIP Silos

By: Greg File

Greg File — Thu, 03 May 2007 05:37:01 +0000

I have recently joined 5linx telecomunication,and I was searching for other VOIP phones that offer a video phone that has live stream.Meaning simply you can see the person you are talking to,even overseas,or any where in the world that has a internet hookup in Broadband.So far I have not found any.So in short,I was trying to make sure I made the right choice in commiting to this company.I think I have.

By: www.longdistance-t1.com

www.longdistance-t1.com — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 22:57:56 +0000

Why can’t any device work with any VoIP provider?
I think more planning needs to be done in concerning VOIP technology.

By: ellie drey

ellie drey — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 22:55:24 +0000

What exactly is a “voip silos”?

By: Om Malik on Broadband : » Silos Are For Grain, Not VoIP

Om Malik on Broadband : » Silos Are For Grain, Not VoIP — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 17:16:34 +0000

[...] Wall Street Journal has a long piece about new VoIP phones, but misses the point about lack of interoperability between various issues. I wrote about this last week, here and also for CNN Money. Its appropriate that we address the issue one more time, though instead of me writing, I invited Erik Lagerway to share his thoughts in this guest post. Erik was the COO and Founder of VoIP software maker XTen (now called Counterpath) and currently is living the consultant life. You can read his blog at SIPthat. [...]

By: Erik Lagerway

Erik Lagerway — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:05:31 +0000

Nice one Om, keep it up!

By: Tim A

Tim A — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 17:37:37 +0000

I complained about this last July when trying to find a device that would work with any VoIP provider. See http://tim.blog.kosmo.com/blog/_archives/2005/7/17/1042307.html

By: Lub

Lub — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 14:20:42 +0000

35 lands callin for free http://www.voipstunt.com any comment?

By: VoIP Silo’s Suck -- Alec Saunders .LOG

VoIP Silo’s Suck -- Alec Saunders .LOG — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 01:32:41 +0000

[...] During CES, Om Malik hammered out a fabulous rant on VoIP silos. He talked about how the choices VoIP providers are making which tie specific pieces of hardware to their services only are limiting choices for consumers. Pulver followed this up with a specific dissection of how Skype is limiting choice by not investing enough in their ecosystem. And, while I chaired the VoIP and IM panel at CES, I heard repeatedly from Microsoft, and Yahoo that while they were "committed" to more open interop between networks and applications it would have to be done cautiously in order to be done "safely". The spectre of SPIM/SPIT (spam on IM / ip telephony) was given as the reason. [...]

By: Frank Bulk

Frank Bulk — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 16:38:06 +0000

Perhaps we need to ask: where's the equivalent of a SIM card for the ATA?

In spite of all the IP, the PSTN remains the common point of intersection, perhaps to the delight of the RBOCs and IXCs?

In any case, the legislated interconnections that were forced over a century ago with the PSTN will hopefully happen on a voluntary basis between every VoIP operator. It was good to see VoIP peering take off last year.

Frank

By: Michigan Telephone, VoIP and Broadband blog

Michigan Telephone, VoIP and Broadband blog — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 23:44:46 +0000

Om Malik on VoIP walls

[...] Om Malik had an interesting article published today on CNNMoney.com, entitled “Breaking down VOIP’s walls.” This is actually an expansion on his blog entry yesterday, “Enough Of These Damn VoIP Silos.” [...]

By: Om Malik on Broadband : » Breaking Down The VoIP Walls

Om Malik on Broadband : » Breaking Down The VoIP Walls — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 19:02:13 +0000

[...] I have made my debut on CNNMoney website, with my first story, Breaking down VoIP’s Walls. You might have read my rant from yesterday, and this one adds more details. Interesting aspect while reporting it out yesterday, most equipment makers say, the VoIP carriers are making them do it. “We make it very clear to the consumer (on the boxes) that the phone works with a specific service,” says Brett Morrison, manager for VOIP and business communications group at Uniden. “Service providers are not giving us the option to interoperate.” [...]

By: utopiaoverip.com | Welcome

utopiaoverip.com | Welcome — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 04:28:54 +0000

[...] The posts keep coming in about the VoIP technologies coming out of CES this week. Russell Shaw’s latest post is one example. Even some have seen banners hanging over the heads walking into the complex. Om Malik’s post on VoIP Silo’s even got us thinking, “If you are a consumer going shopping for VoIP-related product/service, welcome to land of confusion. And if you are looking at CES for help, well you are out-of-luck pardner!” We agree Om. Even Pulver had some quality comments on the topic, “Om’s latest rant on “VoIP Silos” resonated with me and took me down a different path than I expected. Om, thanks for bringing back some “spreadsheet memories.”” [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 00:25:10 +0000

The subsidising of hardware is also occuring in Australia where Engin, http://www.engin.com.au, is offering a $100AUD rebate on the ATA when you sign up for 3 months. This is cheaper that buying the box outright and going on a pay as you go plan with other Aussie voip providers. After the 3 months you can use the box with whatever provider you want as long as you can program the box.

By: Wes Felter

Wes Felter — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 21:49:36 +0000

There are two different kinds of silos being talked about here: hardware and service.

Most of the “Skype hardware” will actually work with any softphone, but the marketing people are deliberately under-selling the hardware to simplify (oversimplify?) the message. Likewise, virtually all ATAs are SIP, so if you unlocked your ATA you could use it with any “bring your own device” plan. But just like in the cellular world, why should you bother reusing an old ATA when every provider will give you a “free” one? Bad business models drive out good ones.

The service silos are just an extension of the IM silos; I don’t see this problem ever being fixed short of government regulation. As someone mentioned, any “POTS replacement” system is not a silo.

By: The World on a stick » Blog Archive » VoIP Silos

The World on a stick » Blog Archive » VoIP Silos — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 21:48:01 +0000

[...] Om Malik at the CES 2006 has valid points on the lack of interoperability of VoIP handsets between different VoIP services. Standardisation enables a unit to be mass produced more easily as it can be used in more situations. Mass production means lower production costs which means cheaper units. Having these VoIP silos will inevitably mean that handsets will be more expensive for a service who’s chief selling point (at the moment) is the cheap cost of calls. How long would it take for the cheaper calls to pay for the handset? [...]

By: Jesse Kopelman

Jesse Kopelman — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 21:04:16 +0000

I don’t know. You guys are looking at voice as the primary service. I think for a lot of these companies voice is the enticement to get the primary service. They don’t expect to actually make money off of voice, they want to use it to lock you in to their “network.” This concept was executed very well by AOL with AIM. Should you like it as a consumer — of course not. So, avoid it if you can without inconviencing yourself too much. Hell, I’d like to not have to deal with the crap the cable and phone give me and as soon as I can break with them I will. In the meantime though, going SIP is only an option if you can convince all your friends and associates who are already using something proprietary to change. I use Skype because that is what the people I want to talk to use, just like back in the day I used AIM.