NEWS
Voice over IP is proving popular with internet users, though the sound quality of calls remains the predominant complaint.
Over the past year 1.8 million internet users have used VoIP. Of those who haven't, 16 per cent say they're likely to try it within the next year, according to a report released today by Continental Research.
VoIP users appear happy with the service. Most expect to increase or maintain usage over the next year and only 1 per cent said they will reduce usage.
They're largely satisfied with ease-of-use in placing calls and in value for money. The area in need of the greatest improvement is sound quality - 29 per cent say they're dissatisfied with what they hear today.
However, not everyone's keen to place phone calls over the internet. More than half - 55 per cent - of respondents who hadn't tried VoIP said they're not at all likely to give it a go within the next 12 months.
Skype remains the leading VoIP application, with a 48 per cent share but rivals are beginning to present a threat. MSN Messenger made a solid showing as the software of choice for 20 per cent of respondents and Vonage accounted for 6 per cent of users.
The research consisted of interviews with 3,000 adults around the world who use the internet.
Comments
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1. Paul Taylor, VoiceFlex
Quality of service (QOS) is something people should be aware of but it shouldn’t make or break the decision to switch to VoIP. What many people seem to have forgotten is that when telephone communications were first developed, the same concerns about quality and reliability existed.
Take mobile phones as an example. When they first came onto the market, handsets were cumbersome and no one had even heard of texting. But in today’s society they are now common place for both personal and business use, but bad reception and unreliable connections which still exist haven’t put people off relying on them for day-to-day communications.
In this case, occasional issues with QOS have become widely accepted. There is no reason why the same won’t happen with VoIP – after all, the potential cost savings to be had make it a far more attractive proposition when compared with the fact that if QOS is bad on your mobile you still pay the monthly fees and call charges. In fact, when ISDN services where first launched we had to go through exactly the same learning curve that we are experiencing now with internet telephony.
The quality of voice across a broadband connection can be guaranteed but currently at a cost. Like mobile phone service providers, broadband providers will bring out more feature rich offerings to combat the problem, driving down the cost for the end user. With the number of broadband connections in the UK set to reach 20 million over the next five years, increased competition between providers will only be good news, resulting in decreased costs and improved functionality.
2. Philip Vanhoutte, Plantronics
The user experience you referenced in your article VoIP usage growing despite quality complaints, can be somewhat influenced at the consumer end. Despite varying grades of quality depending on the broadband connection, users can make the most of what they’ve got by using a headset that has been developed specifically for VoIP use.
A quality headset is a necessity (rather than an optional accessory) to an optimized VOIP experience for business life or home life; and until VoIP and broadband providers ensure a guaranteed service, users can choose to make the best of what they’ve got.