Voice over IP: What's Next

1
Voice over IP What's Next?

• An Application Developer's Perspective
• Mass Software Council
• Technology Trends Forum
• Oct 5, 2004
• Stephen Smiths.smith_at_ampersand.com

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VoIP in the News
17 of large enterprises in Canada were using IP
telephony during the first three months of 2003.
23 had plans to adopt it within 12 months. --
IDC Canada
and many more
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Why the Momentum to VoIP?

• Key Technology Enablers
• Moore's law
• Broadband penetration to the residence / business
• Glut of worldwide fiber data connectivity
• Matur(ing) approach to QoS
• Lower Costs
• More efficient use of network resources
• Use of general purpose computer technology makes
  it inexpensive to build and to scale
• Flexibility
• The end user devices and internal networking
  nodes are just computers
• Change the software to add new capabilities

4
VoIP Spectrum
Carrier

• Traditional Telecomm Segments in transition to
  VoIP
• International Low cost calling
• Internal networks of large carriers
• Numerous equipment makers, software providers
• Residential VoIP phone service
• This area is exploding Vonage, Packet8,
  Broadvoice
• Office PBX systems
• Using VoIP inside a company location, and between
  corporate branches
• Call Center
• Instant Messaging
• Not only the traditional big 3, but newcomers
  like Skype
• Consumer and Business Application Areas
• Voice applications
• Internet applications
• Executable End user applications (.exes )

App
An Application Developers Perspective
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Some Comments about Voice ...

• People love to talk
• The POTS telephone handset constrains the
  experience of talking remotely
• Cumbersome to establish communication
• No guarantee or even probability of reaching who
  you want
• Interaction limited solely to voice
• With VoIP, its not only Voice
• The Question Becomes
• What can you do with Voice connected with Data
  connected with Video connected with Computing
  Platforms?

• Huge potential for end user applications!

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Voice Application Example
www.talkingstreet.com
Typical inbound IVR application
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Voice Application Example
www.talkingstreet.com
Challenge Geographic expansion
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Voice Application Example

• VoIP Inbound
• One centralized IVR platform, based upon
  commodity hardware
• Low cost call delivery
• Access to any US Market, and adjacent global
  markets
• Common platforms with web site, mobile SMS / MMS
  platform
• Data arrives on same platform as voice (e.g. GPS)
• Fewer technologies / skill sets

• Traditional Voice Model
• 1-800 ?
• At 5 10 cents a minute, economics dont work
  for something that is a 5.95 sales item
• Local Platform and Telco
• High Capex per city
• Overprovisioning of Telco
• Long lead times, inflexible
• International?
• Need specialized PSTN hardware

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Web Application (hypothetical) Example

• Context sensitive click-to-call
• Combination of data plus voice provides
  capability for a rich interaction
• Ideal for a smart e-Commerce application
• Requires a VoIP User Agent residing on the
  customers platform
• This is not ubiquitous today
• No Web plugins today
• Coming
• For now, well suited to community sites where the
  provider has enough of a relationship to ask the
  users to download an executable

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Executable Applications

• The dream of convergence is happening, it's
  just taking longer. The Voice (and Video) piece
  is dropping into place for ...
• Video Phones
• Conferencing
• Collaboration Tools
• Distance Learning / Training
• Tele-medicine, tele-repair, tele-
• On-line gaming
• Dating Applications
• VoIP carriers such as Vonage and Skype are
  rolling out developer kits and programs to
  encourage innovation, similar to the wireless
  industry promoting application development on
  their platforms

• Look to the East
• Korea 80 Broadband
• Japan 20 Voice over Broadband
• Result is many video applications
• Video ring tones
• IM Video
• Push-to-Video
• Adult

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How to integrate Voice into an Application

• Need to deliver a call to or from your customer
• Need to select a carrier
• Connectivity to the PSTN?
• Or over the public internet?
• Inbound? Outbound? Both?
• Need to determine protocols and interfaces
• Controlled environment or open to the world
• QoS and latency

• Need to process a call at your application
• Key questions
• Volume of calls?
• At your site, or on a customers PC?
• Inbound? Outbound?
• Software stacks / SDK
• Commercial
• Open Source
• Or, Hardware solution
• Security and network infrastructure

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Problems and Pitfalls

• Numerous protocols SIP, RTP (2833, H.323, MGCP,
  SCCP, MSCP, )
• Lots of options too many! for commercial and
  open source stacks
• Significant work just to understand offerings,
  not apples-to-apples
• Many are immature
• Carrier Offerings
• Not apples-to-apples
• Some technical problems
• Firewalls and NAT
• Security
• Regulatory, Taxation

The Industry is Rapidly Evolving!

• You need strong tech people, you need to allocate
  ongoing time to tracking the industry!

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QA

• Stephen Smith
• s.smith_at_ampersand.com

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End User Application Example Building a better
phone

• Cell Phones are ahead in many ways
• Address Book Integration
• Device personalization
• Ringtone, Wallpaper, Ringback
• Sophisticated Alerts
• Call Logs

• Improving Call Establishment
• Built-in Address Book
• Personalization
• Find Me / Follow Me services
• Presence
• Easy establishment of conferences
• Improving Message Management
• Internet GUI for managing VoiceMail
• Unified Messaging
• Saving Conversations not just messages
• This might be a hardware device, or it might be a
  soft phone, or it might be a hybrid software
  application with a USB phone.

Consumer andOffice PBX Applications!
Customers will expect these features as standard
in the next 5 years!