Don’t you love sensational headlines? I recently ran across two that were intriguing: “VoIP Is Dead” and “Who Killed the VoIP Revolution?”

These headlines demonstrate two popular tricks of the trade among story spinners. The first is to cut to the front of the line for the reader’s attention by saying something creative, profound and controversial. The second is to twist data to say anything they want.

Yes, the two “VoIP death” headlines got my attention, but my observations come to another conclusion: VoIP is a “rolling ball of butcher knives.” I need to credit where credit is due, as this phrase came from a former CEO colleague of mine. He was referring to a previous VoIP company’s momentum, but I think it’s fitting for the entire industry today.

“VoIP Is Dead” was the quote at a conference recently. I didn’t hear the speech, but it would be hard work for someone to twist facts to suggest that it may be true. VoIP is definitely not dead within the competitive or incumbent carrier network. In fact, it’s just coming alive. The technology adoption is in full swing and VoIP is starting provide real benefits for both the service provider and end users.

I certainly don’t think anyone “Killed the VoIP Revolution,” which was the headline of an article commenting on the “VoIP Is Dead” speech. This article’s premise was that it had been claimed that the dawn of the SIP era was the beginning of the end for the monopoly on communications. Since that failed, the revolution is dead. I’m not so sure. Back in the day, I have no doubt there were some people proclaiming the end of the monopoly to get attention, but I think the vast majority of the industry was focused on creating value for ILEC and CLECs alike by using MGCP, SIP or VoATM to bridge the legacy and next-gen networks.

I agree with the article that the last 10 years have been a very long for those competing in this sector, although probably not much more difficult than any developing technology sector that started in the late 1990s. Getting a new technology or company off the ground is hard enough when the economic winds are blowing in your favor. This industry hasn’t exactly had perfect sailing weather over the last decade. The dot com and general tech market implosion in 2000 was followed by a recession that was compounded by the 9/11 tragedy. All of those factors did “clip the wings of some VoIP hopefuls” as stated in the article, but it clipped the wings of many other new technologies and startups across the electronics industry as well.

Despite these macro economic challenges, innovation and progress have been steady. But to give credit for this progress to the larger equipment companies instead of the start-ups would be funny if it weren’t so wrong. VoIP innovation, at least in the U.S., has been driven by many start-ups established around 1999. It has been these smaller, innovative companies supplying the key equipment and software to enable VoIP in the service provider segment. Specifically:

• Two out of three large ILECs deploy a 1999-founded startup’s system to provide VoIP across their new PON networks. This, in essence, is the core of the large ILEC’s VoIP solution.
• Three different equipment start-ups (all founded around 1999) have enabled VoIP and next-gen voice for the vast majority of the IOC, CableCo, and other small and medium sized CLECs in the U.S. Softswitches from these three companies have represented approximately 75 percent of the market since 2000.
• Two different startups (again 1999ish) have dominated the markets for SBCs or Internet offload/next-gen Class 4s.
• There is one unmistakable leader in the enhanced IP applications market, having won eight of the top 10 global service providers.

What’s a revolution without some dead revolutionaries? The VoIP industry isn’t dead, but as with any industry in the making, there are a few carcasses on the side of the road — both large and small companies. With or without the economic backdrop, VoIP will continue to be an important part of the telecom sector. It will be exciting to see how VoIP services continue to grow. The key word here is “grow,” as in alive and kicking today. In fact, this baby is still an infant or perhaps a toddler that will continue to grow and mature, and is a long way from dead! Let me speak on behalf of the industry and steal/ paraphrase a quote from Mark Twain, “The reports of VoIP’s death are greatly exaggerated.” Maybe Monte Python would be better, “I’m not dead yet.” In fact, I’m getting better.

Frederick Reynolds is vice president of marketing for Taqua. Founded in 1998 to develop a next-generation switching platform that would economically deliver advanced communications capabilities, Taqua offers a platform that serves as the center piece within a graceful transition into a converged network infrastructure (IP/TDM). Today, hundreds of carriers of all types and sizes utilize the Taqua central office switch, intelligent gateway, and enhanced applications to deliver innovative services to both legacy TDM and VoIP subscribers.

In June 2003, I moved across state and landed in another major ILEC territory. Since I was “in the biz,” I decided to side-step my natural order of turning on services in my new home and subscribe to the leading VoIP services company instead of my “tried and true” $100+/month TDM service. Five+ years later and I don’t have too much to complain about, except for the fact that not much has changed in five years.

Actually, in the first 18 months the service wasn’t great and I endured the wrath of my wife threatening to divorce me if I didn’t get a better phone system so she could talk to her friends and family without having to speak over the crackling on the line. I survived those early years by dazzling her with the newfangled “Web portal” that came with my cool VoIP service. By year two, the VoIP quality was the same as any TDM phone service we ever had and all phone-provoked lashings ended. I guess you could say it’s been pretty much normal for a few years, which is the root of my issue.

My newfangled portal needs a facelift and Sim Ring is the only new feature I have used in five years. Five years ago the portal was very cool, but today it looks very old-school. That may have something to do with the fact that I very rarely use it anymore. I guess you could say my home VoIP service has become very TDM-like, for better or worse.

The truth of the matter is that the enterprise has received most of the attention and innovation in recent years and for good business reasons. This is true even for me at work ─ where the portal is kind of old-school now, as all of my telephony needs are handled directly from a toolbar – either on my IE or Microsoft Office. So where is that residential telephony innovation?

Thankfully, the focus is starting to turn on the home. Recently, a couple of larger ILECs have made some announcements about their new and improved home telephony offerings with new devices, new portals, and some new features. You can also find some real innovation within the North American IOCs where residential telephony is the crux of their business and embracing IP happened a few years ago.

Many of these small local exchange carriers are now deploying my communications nirvana – the communications command and control that enable: 1) personalization for every family member; 2) multi-communications with voice, SMS, e-mail, etc.; 3) seamless FMC; and 4) increased security features. Since I have a 12 year old who thinks he is 17, security – specifically restricting incoming and outgoing calls and usage patterns ─ is currently a capability that I would love to have.

So, now that I have been teased by seeing others deploying this cool home telephony innovation, when does it become more readily available? Or more importantly, when do I get to have it in my home? Don’t get me wrong. The Web portal is a necessary requirement that should be a part of base-line, single-user telephony offering, but now the number of telephony users in my family requires something more. I am ready for something more advanced to play with that will fit those needs. As a brand guy, I am very willing to throw some brand loyalty behind this kind of innovation. In the age of wireline exhaust and the constant fear of churn, providing home telephony innovation could actually lead to new revenue and increased line counts. Provide me the right package for the family and you may even see $100/month from me again.

Frederick Reynolds is vice president of marketing for Taqua. Founded in 1998 to develop a next-generation switching platform that would economically deliver advanced communications capabilities, Taqua offers a platform that serves as the center piece within a graceful transition into a converged network infrastructure (IP/TDM). Today, hundreds of carriers of all types and sizes utilize the Taqua central office switch, intelligent gateway, and enhanced applications to deliver innovative services to both legacy TDM and VoIP subscribers.