David Beckemeyer's post on Fring is worth a read, for a couple of reasons:
- He illustrates the VoIP pricing conundrum. By now it's apparent to everyone that the differences in price points that VoIP providers have chosen, and the price points the incumbents have chosen are not a function of technology, but rather marketing.
- He asks the core question: do features matter? If price is the only reason for consumers to migrate to VoIP, then there will be a lot more financial problems like Vonage in our future. If customers will buy features then there's a different dynamic at work.
Our bet is that business customers will pay for features that make economic sense. Consumers, we're not so sure about.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
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At first VoIP was a race to the bottom of the pricing scale, but I see the VoIP companies needing to offer more services as they way to maintain their customers as well as bring in more.
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