More interesting to me is that the notion of a voice platform is firmly alive and well. For 2-3 years now we’ve called them hosted services and wondered how they would make money. Now, they’re platforms (notwithstanding the fact that most if not all are in some way interconnected to a network). And while for some we are still wondering how they will monetize, this is a process. Three short years ago, even the term hosted was difficult for people to grasp. Now, we don’t go to market in any other way.

Since the announcement, other leading ‘platform’ providers have been busy – coincidentally or not. Jon Arnold – an ‘A’ student in this market – recently wrote about Jajah and IfByPhone in the context of the Ribbit deal. Worth a read at http://voipservices.tmcnet.com/feature/articles/37107-platform-play-updates-solid-proof-points-service-providers.htm

In my opinion, IfByPhone deserves a closer look for those taken by the Ribbit transaction. The two companies have very different histories; and their packaging and go-to-markets differ in many ways. For the moment, Ribbit depended more on developers to commercialize. IfByPhone – whose platform was built entirely with web developers in mind – is widely available to the developer community yet at the same time they choose to package services that small business can afford, can use and can quickly see benefit from. By doing so, they create market validation, they monetize and they show the development community what can be done. What is perhaps most impressive – and indicative of the depth of the platform – is how quickly they can enter market segments. They see a market requirement through their commercial efforts, they package the application and bang the SMB community can jump on.

So while we ponder if BT can take what is truly a platform and monetize it inside their own ecosystem, should we not wonder what it would take for one of our stateside players (ie. Comcast) to make a similar decision? In my opinion, it will take proof of concept and it will take a pure SMB offer. IfByPhone should be watched.