What Direction Will VoIP Take Going Forward?
It seems that nothing can stop the rise and rise of Internet telephony. Driven by ever cheaper and faster broadband VoIP has become one of the fastest-growing applications on the web. But apart from cheap calls in the UK, there are other factors which have contributed to this success story. There is clearly a trend toward more innovative and more mobile services and this looks likely to ensure that demand for Internet telephony continues to expand. It is estimated that there are already around four million VoIP UK users in the UK, excluding business subscriptions.
Key figures in the industry point to the proliferation of ADSL broadband connections that do not require line rental for a conventional phone line (naked ADSL), and number portability between conventional and IP phone services as the two key factors that will bring increase the profile of VoIP to new heights.
In fact the effect VoIP has had has been so profound that some have suggested that it may not be long before users can dispense with their traditional landline telephones completely in favour of a internet phone.
Taking a more practical view, there are issues that will need to be addressed before that can happen. In the UK Voice over IP providers like Vonage or VoIPTalk will have to review both security and ease of use, as well as continue to deliver a convenient and financially viable service. They certainly offer cheap calls already but, what else do they need to do to ensure a bright future for VoIP?
As the Internet is a network open to everyone the VoIP traffic is no more immune from attack than any other data. Security is a worry for many users, particularly in the business community and the means to develop security for users would be a welcome step in securing the long-term future of VoIP.
The ease of use issue may not remain a hindrance to progress now that handsets that work on mobile networks and, via WiFi or Bluetooth links, over VoIP are now taking their place in the shops. This raises the prospect of using low-cost VoIP services at home, in the office or at a WiFi hotspot, but still retaining the flexibility of mobile coverage when out and about.
Some VoIP companies are now selling these handsets, and have set up joint arrangements with wireless hotspots so that their subscribers can make and receive calls on the go without the need for a computer.
Expect to see some of the restrictions of such handsets i.e. difficulties in hotspots that use web pages for authentication to be addressed in the near future.
The advance of newer networking technologies will further decrease the gap between fixed, mobile and VoIP services. Wireless broadband services, in particular WiMax, could create city-wide wireless hotspots, making it possible to make mobile VoIP calls in much wider areas.
