May 26th, 2005
Why cable companies call Internet telephony "digital phone" instead of VoIP
I’ve read the synopsis of a new study that says that bundled phone, television and Internet service would get wider acceptance if it were marketed in conjunction with wireless cellular minutes.
Yet there is something in the Ipsos-Insight study that has seemed to elude many of my colleagues.
That’s the assertion on the part of analyst Lynne Bartos that from a VoIP marketing standpoint, some cable companies have found it easier to sell VoIP services as "digital phone" or "digital voice."
Bartos doesn’t come out and say it, but I think what we are seeing here is a fear on the part of some VoIP marketers that the concept of VoIP is still a bit too alphabet soup-y for the great unwashed.
Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
