VoIP 'needs to be more consumer friendly'

More work needs to be done to make voice over internet protocol (VoIP) services more user friendly for mainstream consumers, a new Forrester Research report claims.

The company says that Skype, Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft and ICQ haven't yet developed a user-friendly, easy-to-use VoIP service.

"Consumers choose voice over IP because it offers select zero or low-cost alternatives to expensive phone calls that telcos cannot beat," said Forrester analyst Zayera Khan.

"The current web-based VoIP offers are attracting tech-savvy consumers, but mainstream consumers are still struggling with complicated and confusing menus and control functions, which need to be radically improved before navigation becomes more user-friendly. Here telecom and cable operators have an edge in the market segment."

Forester claims more than half of European internet users have heard of VoIP but only eight per cent have actually tried it.