Mobile VoIP Finally Comes of Age - The Pocket Internet Phone | Articles

Mobile VoIP Finally Comes of Age - The Pocket Internet Phone

VoIP is proven technology but its greatest challenge is to make the leap from a "technophiles" gadget to a truly consumer orientated "mass" market service.

The advantages are clear - low cost or free telephone calls. But the downsides are just as obvious. Poor quality of earlier technologies such as Skype is well known. But usability issues are the key.

Take a typical scenario - calling for a Pizza delivery. How many consumers users are going to;

1. Go to the PC (often in another part of the home) 2. Turn it on 3. Wait for Windows to load 4. Watch as the latest anti-versus toolkit is downloaded 5. Find the headset 6. Look up the number ...... five minutes have passed and you've forgotten why you want to make the call anyway!!

PC based VoIP is good; but not good enough. Users want instant connectability; a single address book and a service that is mobile. Oh and they want broadband download speeds as well.

So convenience and mobility are critical to the success of VoIP. Don't get me wrong. PC based VoIP will be here for sometime - but the true mass market is going to require a much improved user experience.

WiFi is likely to be the answer. Over 10% of US and UK homes are already WiFi enabled. Almost all broadband packages now come with bundled WiFi routers. A further 15 million homes will be WiFi'd this year. A similar picture is developing across the corporate world. But surprisingly penetration of WiFi is lower than in homes - but rapidly catching up.

WiFi hotspot coverage is also growing with most major cities planning large scale roll-out of free access WiFi.

But WiFi in the home is where the battle will be won or lost. There is a good range of WiFi VoIP handsets coming on to the market. These are the handset that are going to transform the user experience - providing always on internet phone capability in "the pocket". These phones have all the functionality of VoIP plus the all convenience of a mobile – cheap, mobile and always available.

The pocket internet phone concept is being developed by companies such as Mobiboo (http://www.mobiboo.com/ or http://www.tovo.co.uk/.). Cleverly Mobiboo have launched a branded WiFi service through Tesco in the UK. It comes in two “flavours” – WiFi only and dual mode. WiFi only is good basic handset that offers service whenever logged into WiFi. Dual mode is even better – this works as a WiFi phone in WiFi areas and a standard (GSM) mobile when not. Both phones have good battery life; large phonebooks and amazing download speeds – up to 5Mbit/s.

So the scenario above has a very different outcome

1. Take the phone out of your pocket
2. Dial the number.

Now isn't that a so much better way to do it! And the call can be made from anywhere in the home or office. And the local cafe, restaurant, shop or airport! All the convenience of mobile; at the price of VoIP.

Martin Heath has been actrive in the Telcoms and Media industries since the mid 1980's. He has worked with organisations such as BBC, Vodafone, BT, AT&T, Motorola, IBM and Lockheed Martin. Until recently he lead KPMG's Information and Communications Consulting Practice in London and was a member of KPMG's Global Telecoms Management Team. After 20 years of helping clients turn ideas into cash Martin left KPMG early last year to enter the world of technology start-ups. Mobiboo is one of these.

www.mobiboo.com