For a long time, the conventional wisdom in the industry has been that one of the new services that VoIP can introduce is Unified Messaging. That is, voice mail and faxes can be delivered along with email. Indeed, only today some Congressmen sent a letter to FCC Chairman suggesting that VoIP should be considered interstate service. There they make the point that “IP technology also allows VoIP providers to … forward voice messages to electronic mail addresses…” But a couple of weeks back Verizon announced a new service to PSTN subscribers that included delivering voicemail to an email account. Today SBC announced a similar service for their PSTN subscribers. Looks like PSTN is not that limiting after all.
But the announcement from SBC points out the problem with service providers, especially the incumbents. Their service could cost as high as $10/month (if you are already forking over a lot, then you need to pay only $1 extra; additional 50 MB storage will cost $5 more). But what is needed is a simple internet device that is an answering machine for both PSTN and VoIP, and can send individual messages as an email attachment to a designated email account. Many free email accounts these days offer a large disk space (100-250 MB) and allow a message with a big attachment (10 MB, equivalent to 20 min of PCM voice). That means once the end user has this device there is no need for a service provider and pay monthly toll.
It is not enough to proclaim the rise of stupid networks; we need to develop required intelligent end-points and resist the temptations of APRU. It is time to build the “spinning wheel”.
Posted by aswath at October 6, 2004 01:19 AM