Gary Kim writes that some people view the introduction of voice as an attribute of every application as the death of traditional voice services. Perhaps the correct articulation is "the death of the business models associated with traditional voice services". After all, no matter how much integration of voice with other applications occurs, people still "like to talk" as Niklas Zennstrom so simply put it. The challenge for the voice service provider is in delivering value that can be monetized for more than a few tenths of a cent per minute. The service provider must become a pipe for delivering huge volumes of communications, and/or an applications provider that leverages that volume.
That's the essence of the Voice 2.0 argument.
iotum's mashup with Facebook combines a traditional voice service — Conference Calling — with a hot social networking platform. It's a leaping off point for business models built around premium services, advertising, and traditional voice minutes.
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.
