This morning Andy linked to a USA Today story. According to that story, “consumers finally get a grip on VoIP”. Of course the story doesn’t produce much convincing evidence. But in the process it gives us some choice quotations. The first one is the claim by the reporter: “VoIP and traditional phone service both offer voice calls, but that's where the similarity stops: Owing to its Internet-based format, VoIP allows a circus of other features, including Internet access and e-mail.” (By the way, I am not petty to take issue with an obvious editorial error – VoIP does not “allow” internet access and e-mail.) So I was eager to see some of these features. After all “If VoIP is just a replacement item (for traditional phone service) that sits on your counter, it's not that compelling." This is not according to me but Phil Asmundson, vice chairman and a U.S. managing partner, technology for Deloitte & Touche. So the story quotes Tom Rutledge, chief operating officer of Cablevision, “One of cable's biggest VoIP success stories”. According to him, ability to check voice mail on the Web, program home phones with different rings for different callers and monitor call histories are some the prominent features. So who is going to point out that these are not unique to VoIP and that PSTN can do these just as well. Not Verizon. According to the Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe these features are common with voice over IP services, including "Voice Wing," which is Verizon's VoIP product. On second thought, he adds that “Verizon can provide many of the same services on the traditional phone.” He is so modest, he refuses to name that service. One wonders.
The fact is that we don’t need VoIP service providers and for that matter Verizon’s special PSTN service. If you need these features on PSTN, get PhoneGnome box (look for "Plug and Play box", for $60), hook it up (a very simple process) and get all these services for free. Yes, they offer VoIP service; but you can totally ignore that and still can get all these features. All for free, with no recurring charges. It really roils me whenever I read that VoIP can do something that PSTN can not. Here is a provocative thought – PSTN is also IP. Since IP allows for any technology on the “sub-network”, why can’t PSTN be considered a “sub-network”?
Posted by aswath at February 13, 2007 08:17 PM