Over-the-top (OTT) services such as Skype (News - Alert) and WhatsApp have changed the telecom industry, and the effects of the technology are still being discovered as an increasing number of users embrace mobile VoIP solutions that run on smartphones.
For users, both consumers and business customers alike, OTT delivers a cheap way to call by using the Internet instead of their cell phone minutes. This is especially true for international calls, which can be quite expensive in the case of mobile international calling but only a fraction of the cost when using an OTT service to make the calls.
There’s also the added mobility of OTT, which enables users to make calls even in situations where there is no cell reception.
Customers are embracing the technology, and this represents a sizable threat to service providers as they watch OTT services cannibalize their voice revenue.
In response, many operators have taken to offering their own OTT alternatives. This not only puts them in control instead of handing calling to their OTT competitors, but it can also be a viable revenue source since OTT users are increasingly paying for the ability to call landlines with their OTT services. While this revenue source may not make up for what’s lost from an incumbent’s traditional voice business, it is better than nothing.
One company that is making it relatively easy for operators to offer their own OTT services is VoIPSwitch.
VoIPSwitch offers a white-label OTT app, Vippie, that enables operators to quickly roll out their own, branded OTT solution without having to start from scratch on the infrastructure.
“This has proven to be a very popular product,” Alexander Ellinson told TMCnet during ITEXPO (News - Alert) Miami this past January, president of VoIPSwitch. “We believe that with the popularity of 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi, this is the way forward for communications. It also is very convenient for doing video conferencing, it is the way forward for combating all the roaming charges, and it is proving very, very positive.”
Vippie allows free calls to other Vippie users, and integrates with the address book on a caller’s phone so no new contact info needs to be entered. Callers who want to call non-Vippie numbers can use a pay-as-you-go model very similar to what Skype offers.
Vippie also offers free video calls and messaging.
OTT isn’t going away. But operators can get a piece of the action, too, instead of just watching OTT erode its revenue.
Edited by Cassandra Tucker
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