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VoIP Watch

All about Voice Over IP and Internet Based Telephony.

What Happened To Skype Lite on Cnet?Yesterday

There it was and there it wasn't. It seems a story about Skype Lite on CNet was there. Now it's gone.

Fortunately the folks at TechChuk found it.

From the way it looks, it would seem Skype is going head to head with their "partner" in the UK, iSkoot.

Since Truphone is my agency's client, I've waited while many of the other bloggers weighed in with their opinions regarding the recent Skype and IM integration, like this one by Jon Arnold. Most have been dead on with their analysis of what it means, and in turn the interest at the booth at MacWorld has been overwhelming. A Google search will find the many posts.

But the bigger story in my mind was at MacWorld and how people reacted to Truphone. Almost the entire day there were two or three people who were either Truphone users with a great story to tell or someone who had heard from a friend about Truphone. What I was really taken aback by though was how many of the people didn't have an iPhone yet, but had a Touch or were using other devices and said "for this app I'll get an iPhone." It was really something special.

Truphone President Tom Carter coined the phrase "Tru Believers" as the verbal and visual testimonials we heard about Truphone helping people on trips, being used on Cruise ships, in China during the Olympics and more were simply heartwarming. Tom, a veteran of many years of telco and technology trade shows remarked last night over dinner that he's "never had someone come up and say 'I just want to shake your hand and say thank you for such a great service.' "

When one thinks of Apple, one gets that impression. When one thinks of phon

Word On the Street-Geddes to BTYesterday

A source close to the action tells me that my recent suggested top pick in the VoIP/Telco 2.0 Scouting Report has been picked by BT.

I'm referring to Martin Geddes. The report I heard has Martin taking a lead Strategy position at BT Design.

This is super news as Martin has always been one of the bright lights in the business and it means likely that we see more of him in London even though they also have an office in Glasgow, not far from Martin's locale.

As the driving force behind Telco 2.0 what this means for the next conference is anyone's guess, but the team at STL is still very strong and likely will find a way to rope Martin in from time to time, but only this time he'll be on the telco company side of the event.

What Are The VoIP Trends in 2009January 6

Robert Poe has another of his well thought out "lists" over at VoIP-News where he identifies some of the trends in VoIP for the new year.

I think there will be a few more trends.

1) Consolidation of companies-instead of features being companies, smart money will "roll up" the VoIP features and put them into one business and offer them as service.

2) Voice SaaS-more and more of the VoIP plays will become Software as a Service, with a greater emphasis of real time communication built into web sites. Think about companies like Jaduka and ifByPhone.

3) More micropayments for voice calls via web, mobile that go over WiFi-I see more companies adopting a "voice" channel vs. email or chat via web sites. As customers demand more "live" interaction, simplifying the process to "talk" and "engage" becomes paramount.

4) More APIs creating more new services.

Scouting Report: The Players to Pick To Build & Grow A 2.0 Telco/Carrier/Service ProviderJanuary 3

If you're a company like AT&T or BT, Telstra or DT you start to look around and say, "in times like these...... what can we do to be better tomorrow."

That means you look inside, assess who's on First, and What's on Second, then look outside and say, who should I hire to make my company better and stronger and ready for 2.0. Given my history in pro sports, and having actually run a draft in my early days and staged some draft day events, I figured it would be fun to look at the players and figure out what's ahead. Some are sleepers, meaning you would expect others to be listed ahead of them. Others are known quantities who have the chops to stand out in a crowd, but as a GM trained team builder one has to look past the usual suspects and find the gems in the draft. That's what makes teams champions, not only winners.

Here's my hit list if I was the head of VoIPScout of people to take off the playing field in the first round of the draft:

1. Martin Geddes-Without question, Martin is the player to pick. His insight, foresight and ability to assess, target and pinpoint what's next are the skills the super carrier need to have or even for them to be really 2.0. Martin will be the ideal dealmaker, playmaker and most of all, the ideal out-thinker of the competition at every match. Now that BT has Ribbit, Geddes is either the Messiah for another company or the Moses to bring the promis