Om: VoIP's Not Ready for Prime Time

Technology columnist and blogger Om Malik is a commentator I deeply respect.

If Om ever posted that 2+2=5, I'd have to rethink old assumptions learned way back when.

Over the weekend, Om posted that VoIP is not yet ready for prime time.

He quotes Charles Meyers, group marketing veep for "bandwidth wholesaler" Level 3 as noting that "less than 3% of U.S. households have switched to VoIP," and "the next 97 (percent) will be a lot harder than the first 3 (percent)."

"People view VoIP as a cheap alternative, and that's not how we get to the early majority and the mainstream," Om quotes Meyers as saying. "This industry has to substantially increase its marketing sophistication, beyond focusing myopically on price."

Om agrees, and I do as well. We both believe you get there by stressing reliability - not only in your marketing, but in your performance.

Too many VoIP providers - and you know their names - are doing neither.

I know too many people who believe the pitch that yes, you do save money with VoIP- but then encounter too many pieces in the mainstream media and on tv about lack of reliability.  What's needed is a counter communications strategy, backed by reliable, credible performance.