First, what does VoIP have to do with the Internet? Everything. VoIP (or Internet telephony as some call it) is sending voice over the Internet and avoiding traditional local and long-distance telephone charges. According to the VoIP Service Providers website, “Residential VoIP subscribers are expected to jump from 3 million today to 27 million by 2009. Residential VoIP spending is forecast to increase 64-percent per year over the next 5 years.”
Over the past 5 years, local telephone companies have been losing landlines to cell phone services in an unprecedented pace. Once VoIP hits the consumer market hard, this landline loss will start to spiral even faster. Businesses already know the value of VoIP with many replacing their old PBX systems and teleconference systems with VoIP systems.
Why VoIP? VoIP is cheaper. Businesses and consumers can save over 50-percent off their traditional phone bills by going to VoIP. Most VoIP service providers in the U. S. offer VoIP for a low monthly fee that includes free calls to the U. S. and Canada and cut-rate prices to the rest of the world.
Why should SEO’s and the Internet marketing communities care about VoIP? SEO’s will see an increasing number of VoIP clients as the market continues to heat up. New Internet marketing opportunities also can also be realized through VoIP.
VoIP still has some drawbacks, though, which are keeping its growth rate from expanding too rapidly. The FCC has mandated that emergency 911 service be mandatory with all residential VoIP phone services by September 2005. Currently, the market is fragmented in this regard. Also, like all Internet connections, VoIP is subject to power outages, so power back ups by manufacturers will also need to be in place for home use.
By like all emerging technologies, it is good to start thinking about the Internet marketing possibilities for VoIP. In a couple of years, you’ll start to hear, “Can you VoIP me, now?”
