VoIP is not dead, it's just not sexy anymore

VoIP is merely being rebranded as part of unified communications for the enterprise

VoIP, unified messaging, products and services

We've noticed lately that some in the industry are suggesting that VoIP is dead or in serious decline and we couldn't disagree more. We offer three proof points: in the case of the enterprise VoIP is being rebranded as part of unified communications; in the consumer market cable operators are enjoying very successful VoIP growth; and in the service provider market companies like Clearwire and Verizon have disclosed plans to offer VoIP over broadband as integral parts to their ongoing voice strategy.

We have noticed that while pretty much every infrastructure supplier has touted their “unified communications” strategy and downplayed their “VoIP” strategy, all still depend on voice as a critical element. We suppose this marketing focus is as much a commentary on what is new and exciting (unified communications) as it is about what is boring (VoIP). In other words, talking about VoIP is now about as exciting as talking about dial tone. We contend that this is really a reflection on the maturity of VoIP capability and features, reflecting the fact that past issues like reliability and security have largely been solved. (Note: when we say “solved” we do not discount the need for addressing these issues in advanced planning and ongoing management.)

We also point out that cable operators in the United States have continued to win over traditional voice subscribers with their VoIP offerings. Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable gained nearly three million voice subscribers collectively in the first nine months of 2008 while the AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest lost nearly six million residential voice customers. We also note that the missing difference in lines lost by telcos and lines gained by cable operators is largely attributed to wireless substitution, but we’ll leave that topic to Joanie Wexler, author of Network World's Wireless newsletter.

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We've noticed lately that some in the industry are suggesting that VoIP is dead or in serious decline and we couldn't disagree more. We offer three proof points: in the case of the enterprise VoIP is being rebranded as part of unified communications; in the consumer market cable operators are enjoying very successful VoIP growth; and in the service provider market companies like Clearwire and Verizon have disclosed plans to offer VoIP over broadband as integral parts to their ongoing voice strategy.

We have noticed that while pretty much every infrastructure supplier has touted their “unified communications” strategy and downplayed their “VoIP” strategy, all still depend on voice as a critical element. We suppose this marketing focus is as much a commentary on what is new and exciting (unified communications) as it is about what is boring (VoIP). In other words, talking about VoIP is now about as exciting as talking about dial tone. We contend that this is really a reflection on the maturity of VoIP capability and features, reflecting the fact that past issues like reliability and security have largely been solved. (Note: when we say “solved” we do not discount the need for addressing these issues in advanced planning and ongoing management.)

We also point out that cable operators in the United States have continued to win over traditional voice subscribers with their VoIP offerings. Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable gained nearly three million voice subscribers collectively in the first nine months of 2008 while the AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest lost nearly six million residential voice customers. We also note that the missing difference in lines lost by telcos and lines gained by cable operators is largely attributed to wireless substitution, but we’ll leave that topic to Joanie Wexler, author of Network World's Wireless newsletter.

Finally, we note that service providers plan to increase their reliance on a VoIP portfolio. In the consumer VoIP market AT&T introduced U-verse voice a year ago. Clearwire plans to include VoIP with their WiMAX-based broadband service in the coming months and Verizon is expected to introduce VoIP over its FiOS fiber-to-the-home optical network in a similar timeframe.

In short, while VoIP may have been folded into the unified communications product portfolio for the enterprise and is more frequently bundled with consumer broadband services, VoIP continues to thrive.

Read more about voip & convergence in Network World's VoIP & Convergence section.

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. Larry Hettick is a principal analyst at Current Analysis.