Why VoIP Hardware Is Boring
I know I said this before: VoIP Hardward Is Boring. I gave some perfunctory reasons before. All of those things are overshadowed by the sheer fact that there hasn’t been any serious innovation in VoIP hardware for quite some time. These devices have become a commodity. I know from working with Voxilla for the past couple of years that there is basically little margin on these devices. The manufacturers, on the whole, have shown little ability to innovate, or perhaps a lack of desire.
To me, the last seriously game-changing piece of VoIP hardware was the SPA-3000. Originally designed by Sipura, they are now part of Linksys, which of course is owned by Cisco. I spent a long time with this device, helping to run the beta and assist numerous people on the Voxilla Forums with issues related to these devices.
What made the SPA-3000 so cool? It basically gives you the ability to graft-on Voice over IP functionality onto a traditional PSTN line. It gives you the ability to route calls through either VoIP or PSTN as you see fit as well as “gateway” calls between VoIP and PSTN in a user-defined way. You could use the device to add an FXO port to an Asterisk server. You can use it to extend a PSTN line over an IP link, including a PBX extension. It is a rather complex building block, particularly for the uninitiated, but extremely useful once you understand how it works and, furthermore, how to configure it.
Given that higher-end mobile phones are starting to have WiFi, it seems logical to me that the next game-changing VoIP device involve mobile voice. Certainly the WiFi/SIP-enabled phones that my employer Nokia makes are a step in the right direction, but I don’t believe they are game-changing devices. There are a couple of reasons:
- Battery Life. A problem with all smaller devices, not just WiFi phones.
- There isn’t much of an infrastructure for these VoIP/WiFi devices to participate in.
Meanwhile, Garrett Smith over at Smith on VoIP finds something that could kill those mobile VoIP ambitions: a personal cellular base station. Unfortunately, there isn’t much information on this device. The press release from Ericsson suggests this is quite like an Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) router. We’ll have to see when the details emerge.
Will the ultimate merger of mobile and VoIP be a game-changing thing? You betcha. The real question is: who will be the first to do it right and will that company survive the onslaught of imitators? And what will happen to all those companies that just produce VoIP-only gear?
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VoIP Hardware Need Note Be Boring…
A couple of days back Phoneboy bemoaned the fact that he does not excited with VoIP hardware because there has not been much innovation taking place. He also told us that the last cool thing he saw was SPA-3000. Apparently……
Comment by David Fish
There is one VoIP HW company who manufactures innovative VoIP equipment – Camrivox. As a representative of this Cambridge (UK) based company I have obvious bias, however, our ATA and IP Phone is proof that there is at least one Manufacturer who strives to deliver innovation and I think we are succeeding.
Camrivox overcomes your assertion that “They all suck to configure on some level, both as an end user and as a service provider trying to remotely provision.” We spent a long time overcoming that problem and Service Providers around the world who use our equipment are slowly coming to realize that remote provisioning need not be a major headache.
Another innovation is the way Camrivox devices incorporate Computer Telephony Integration as a central theme. Our ATA and Phone simply integrate with Outlook and Salesforce.com (call pop ups, call logging, Address book, click to dial etc). We are also the first and only Manufacturer to support Google Talk. Furthermore, these products are all low priced single user and SME devices, not part of some expensive premised based pbx solution.
Are these things sexy or boring? That is for the purchaser to ultimately decide, but what is for sure is we enjoy overcoming obstacles and thrive on developing innovative product to make things easier and adds value. You won’t find any suppressed yawning going on at the Camrivox Labs, that’s for sure!
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[...] why am I writing this now? Phoneboy’s post on why VoIP harware was boring and Aswath’s response on the same stimulated me to write this. [...]
Comment by H. Weaver
You should check out the ZiPhone II from Simple Simon, there has been a lot of buzz about it lately, and I personally own one of these USB Telephones. It does voip and land lines, and also works with about every voice and video application out there. Their OneManBand software and ZiPhone II bundle has native SIP, Asterisk, and Skype connectivity built in, with special functions for Asterisk and Skype.
Comment by H. Weaver
Woops Url is http://www.simplesimon.com
AND, I forgot to mention, whats really cool about this phone, is the programmer’s SDK, that give you more control over than phone, in any way you like. I can see a “Hacking The ZiPhone” happening in the near future…
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[...] is an idea that’s been percolating for a while, but Dameon’s recent rant about how VoIP hardware is boring has triggered two [...]
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[...] A while ago now, Andy reminded me of what one of the problems with VoIP hardware is. I wrote about several of the reasons [...]
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Comment by Vic
you’re right to a point. VoIP technology hasn’t had any new advances, but with all the corporate partnerships starting up with the network and phone manufacturing companies, i’m sure there will be an infrastructure soon, along with longer battery life on products. At least you’d think those issues would be solved with billions of dollars involved. But i guess that would make sense, right?
http://nationwideLD.com
Comment by PhoneBoy
For all the things that have improved, battery life has not grown at nearly the same rate as everything else has. Believe me, every gadget maker would love to see substantially more battery life in their gadgets. First company to make a quantum leap in this area will make a mint.
Comment by john
say whatever you’d like about VOIP. All i know is that it helps any business gain revenue! In the long run making profit and making it easier for everyone should be all that matters. High speed internet is in full competition and it is going well for http://t1-connection.com to succeed.