VoIP News: Telephony technology

Writing on his personal blog, Hydrapinion, technology journalist Ian Grayson has stressed the benefits of transmitting VoIP traffic over 3G.

The advent of 3G has, accorded to Mr Grayson, increased the quality and reliability of mobile VoIP, with 3G now serving as a legitimate method of transmission for large VoIP networks.

And the plummeting cost of data is contributing to the benefit of a VoIP service, with the cost in of VoIP data rates in Australia having fallen from $100 (£58.50) a gigabyte to around $15 (£8.70) today.

And Mr Grayson writes that, according to one of his sources, you can "squeeze around 500 minutes of voice calls out of [a] one gigabyte data allowance".

And with Virgin Media now offering 100Mbps (Megabits per second) broadband to some locations in the UK at an affordable price, the savings made possible by VoIP look set to increase.

A further benefit is that, as broadband availability and economy increases, the amount of VoIP traffic that can be affordably supported increases.

Posted on: 2010-03-01, in: Telephony technology

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The likes of Wi-Max and LTE could eventually see high-definition mobileVoIP phones supersede traditional mobile voice services, PCWorld has said.

These 4G wireless technologies would allow mobile phone users to access high-quality VoIP solutions, removing the limitations of minute-based call services, according to the technology news and reviews website.

If such solutions were made widely available, consumers would pay a flat-rate for a monthly data plan that would allow them access to voice and internet services.

The traditional mobile network subscription service would become redundant, as any operators that persisted with them would find themselves bypassed, with their users switching to 4G third-party VoIP apps.

"Wireless carriers are eventually switching to all-VoIP services whether they like it or not," according to Brad Reed of network professionals magazine Network World

However, traditional mobile subscription plans are likely to remain in place for the time bring as 4G connectivity is not expected to be widespread, even in major urban hubs, for at least the next three years.

The roll-out of 4G could be the "revolutionary" catalyst for the transition of IP telephony solutions and broadband speeds to mobile devices, BroadbandIgnite said recently.

Posted on: 2010-02-26, in: Telephony technology

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The launch of 4G could be the "revolutionary" catalyst for the transition of IP telephony solutions and broadband speeds to mobile devices, BroadbandIgnite has said.

Such mobile communications innovations have been held back by 3G being hampered by issues with the outmoded telephone lines used to take traffic to and from cell towers.

But the longed-for deployment of 4G networks via LTE will eventually see every mobile call made via VoIP solutions, according to the Broadband Communications Forum.

The transition of voice calls to 4G will be aided by the One Voice initiative - a technical outline for LTE and SMS services collaboratively developed by the telecommunications industry's leaders.

Leslie Ferry of BroadbandIgnite outlined "several market trends driving this move" away from traditional mobile networks and towards web-based phone services.

Ms Ferry said that more and more mobile workers, widespread adoption of video calling and high-definition transmission becoming the norm for voice calls would fuel the migration.

Mobile applications based on VoIP phones will be improved by the anticipated introduction of 4G mobile telecommunications networks, ChannelVission recently told technology news website IT Business Edge.

Posted on: 2010-02-12, in: Hardware, Telephony technology

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The presence of smartphones in the global mobile phones market continued to grow in 2009, GfK has said.

Smartphones mow make up 11 per cent of the market, a two per cent increase over the last year, according to the market research company.

GfK described the growth, propelled by the consumers wanting more high-tech handsets, as "a phenomenal achievement".

The increasing prominence of smartphones has seen a movement towards 3G technology, which potentially augurs well for the VoIP carrier market.

The growing demand for more advanced mobile phones could increase the popularity of IP telephony solutions, with smartphones being equipped to run VoIP apps.

Smartphone market growth is being fuelled by the volume of new phones that have become available, with almost a quarter of European sales coming from handsets introduced in 2009.

The touchscreen share of the European market grew from five to 14 per cent in 2009. In the UK, touchscreen phones now account for 18 per cent of all phones sold.

The transition to 3G technology will see the mobile infrastructure market grow significantly through to 2014, Dell'Oro Group recently reported.

The switch to 3G mobile telecommunications could potentially see the use of mobile VoIP solutions increase.

Posted on: 2010-02-12, in: Telephony technology

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Big businesses worldwide are wasting £12 billion a year by failing to deploy their telecom services efficiently, Hudson & Yorke has said.

Firms should engage with specialists, which could include VoIP providers, in order to lower their costs and improve their service, according to the telecommunications and network consultancy.

Eight out of ten telecoms sourcing projects, possibly including those for VoIP solutions, are not as cost effective as they could be, a Hudson & Yorke study found.

Companies could save up to 20 per cent on each contract spend by committing more time to acquiring such services, the research, conducted by business strategy specialists Forrester Consulting, found.

CIOs are paying out up to 20 per cent of IT budgets on telecom services like IP telephony solutions, but assigning under a fifth of team time to managing them.

Large organisations can also reduce the cost and enhance the service of their telecoms by planning ahead of implementation, committing more time to the project, and multisourcing.

Big businesses are increasing the speed at which they adopt unified communications, despite the economic downturn, technology industry analyst Ovum said recently.

Posted on: 2010-01-28, in: Telephony technology

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