| What is the Impending US Recession Doing to the | | | | On the negative side of the spectrum, companies that |
| Voice Over Internet Protocol VoIP Industry? | | | | employ VoIP may cut back on it. VoIP service |
| It's well known that the current situation in the United | | | | providers need to be able to cater to small amounts of |
| States has lead to a major slow down in the | | | | traffic, or they may get no business at all. VoIP |
| economy. This ominous event is being observed with: | | | | software vendors and Equipment makers will be |
| sky rocketing gas prices, rising prices in precious | | | | seeing lesser sales due to the scaling back of |
| metals like Gold, the falling US dollar, high | | | | businesses. They will need to find creative new ways |
| unemployment rates, and plummeting home values. | | | | to gain more business with less demand. |
| This all leads to less business to business spending | | | | Service Delivery Platforms provide VoIP service |
| (B2B) and consumer to business spending (C2B). | | | | providers with hosted PBX solutions, callback, SIP |
| These elements have stoked the media fire storm and | | | | blocking solutions, policy control, soft phones, and other |
| panicked many Americans. | | | | features. Providing open source technology that |
| On a positive note, VoIP is very inexpensive compared | | | | makes many of their services free and available to |
| to traditional PSTN phone services, so it is in a good | | | | everyone is one way that hosted platforms for |
| position to weather a cyclone such as a likely imminent | | | | network and application providers are beating the |
| US recession. More businesses could switch over to | | | | woes that the impending recession is causing. Open |
| VoIP in order to save money. This is especially true | | | | source initiatives are growing internationally faster than |
| because of high travel costs due to the rising price of | | | | on US soil because of more aggressive proprietary |
| fuel. VoIP enables employees to telecommute at low | | | | attitudes in the US, and a laze faire attitude abroad. |
| prices. Webex and 1videoconerence aka vmukti are | | | | We will have to wait and see how this all pans out, |
| examples of low cost video conferencing providers. | | | | and to see how far the trough of this near recession |
| Conferencing is a green solution because it allows | | | | will go. Despite, the VoIP industry seems to be in good |
| people to get into planes and cars less often, thus | | | | shape. Maybe VoIP industry analysts are right |
| saving in ones personal carbon foot print. If some small | | | | because VoIP's already low costs won't hurt the VoIP |
| VoIP termination providers shut down because of this | | | | industry as much as it would a manufacturer of luxury |
| virtual recession, other companies will be able to | | | | items that are highly vulnerable to a faltering economy |
| increase their piece of the Voice over IP market pie, | | | | like Apple who makes Ipod mp3 players, IPhones, |
| enhancing their bottom line. Customers of VoIP will | | | | Apple TV, accessories and more. Maybe industry |
| benefit from VoIP provider's reducing prices due to | | | | experts are being too confident about how VoIP will |
| excess network capacity. It may be brutal, but the | | | | hold out in the likely recession. I think in this case the |
| VoIP industry is better established than it was in 2001, | | | | former is correct. |
| and won't be stomped out indefinitely. | | | | |