Great Point! On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 3:42 PM, David Gibbons <[email protected]>wrote:
> I think we're overcomplicating things here. > > All they have to do is use their voice recognition software (you know, the > one that we all train for free when we call 800-goog-411) to do basic > transcription, and low and behold they have marketable data. Just like > advertisers want to know what we do online, they will want to know what we > walk about on the phone once that data is available. > > Advertisers would pay an arm and a leg to know every time someone mentioned > their product on the phone and in what context they mentioned it... > > --Dave > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Garrett Smith > Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 4:19 PM > To: Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion > Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] Google's voice product [OT] > > Google voice is not a business. It's a feature of a greater offering that > may or may not come. > > You have to look at Google voice in the context of what Google is - an > advertising company that wants to be a commerce company. To think that > Google has ambitions past bolstering and or protecting their main income > streams (ads) is far fetched at best. > > In order for Google to continue to drive ad revenues they need more > advertisers. To do this they need to make it easier to create something that > requires advertising (I.E. an online business). > > Slowly but surely Google is piecing together all of the components an > entrepreneur or existing offline business needs to do business online. Sort > of what eBay tried to do (but is failing at with) PayPal and Skype. > > Google offers a way to make a site (Sites), optimize it for search (Site > optimizer, webmaster tools), advertise it (Adwords, Ad manager), track > performance (Analytics) and take payments (Google checkout). Now sprinkle in > hosted productivity and collaboration products like Google docs, and way to > communicate (Google Voice, Google talk) you've got all of need to launch a > basic business online. > > Today these all look like disparate offerings, but when put together they > actually fit together well. > > Can Google execute on this? Don't know. That's their problem. > > But don't expect them to be a VoIP/voice provider in any traditional sense. > > Worse case they'll use Google voice as a way to cover the black hole > created by online leads that are converted offline. Like what Ifbyphone is > doing with their call tracking services ( > http://public.ifbyphone.com/services/call-tracking). > > It's a big problem for many marketers. Many of which would spend more if > they new where all of their revenues were coming from. > > Garrett Smith > > 716-250-3408 OFFICE > 716-685-2012 FAX > 716-903-9495 MOBILE > [email protected] > > Meet me on Facebook or LinkedIn > > Have I exceeded your expectations? Please share your experience with my > boss, Benjamin Sayers, CEO > > NOTICE: The information contained in this email and any document attached > hereto is intended only for the named recipient(s). It is the property of > the VoIP Supply, LLC and shall not be used, disclosed or reproduced without > the express written consent of VoIP Supply, LLC. If you are not the intended > recipient, nor the employee or agent responsible for delivering this message > in confidence to the intended recipient(s), you are hereby notified that you > have received this transmittal in error, and any review, dissemination, > distribution or copying of this transmittal or its attachments is strictly > prohibited. If you have received this transmittal and/or attachments in > error, please notify me immediately by reply e-mail or telephone and then > delete this message, including any attachments. Our mailing address is 454 > Sonwil Drive, Buffalo, NY 14225 USA. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Peter Beckman > Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 1:46 PM > To: Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion > Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] Google's voice product [OT] > > On Tue, 17 Mar 2009, SIP wrote: > > > The Pogue article is, as to be expected, gushingly lavish with Google > > praise. > > > > Which leads me to a question: how is this envisioned in the world of > > consumer VoIP (is anyone even still IN that business) ? The article > > mentions that the entire service, single number, VoIP calling, > > transcription services, etc. will be completely free and ad-free. Where, > > then, is the business plan? > > I'm sure there will be "Pro" features for a monthly fee, or they will make > enough money on International Minutes. They might eventually include > advertising. > > There are many things Google offers that don't cost you cash, but they > monetize it. VoIP is making the telephony world a commodity, and it > continues to get cheaper. > > Some of the things Google is doing will flow down to us, hopefully that > includes SMS abilities on SIP-delivered originated DIDs. Since Google has > done it, they've set a precedent. > > > With its constant marketing steamroller, and its massive brand > > recognition, I don't see, honestly, how 95% of the non-facilities-based > > consumer voice products out there will stand up to it. > > Google Voice fits a niche -- people who are willing to give up what has > been their primary number for years and get a new number, and then give > that out to everyone, and hope that in a year or two Google doesn't shut > down this little venture that nobody paid for and nobody seems to be able > to match. > > It's not home phone service. It's not a business IVR. It is for the > individual to manage their calls. They don't know it's VoIP, or if they > do, they don't care or don't know what that means. It works for them, and > that's great. > > Remember -- there's a company down the street quietly doing $20M annual > revenue for some obscure, I-never-thought-of-that business. We small fry > do NOT compete with Google, we can't. We provide unique services and find > the customers that like and need what we provide, and we do a nice > business for ourselves and our employees (and maybe our investors). > > > But how long will it be the way it is now -- free of charge for basic > > services and ad-free? Is this a first salvo to slaughter the competition > > as cleanly as possible before the shift in business models? I don't see > > how even Google could sustain a product of this complexity and sheer > > cost without SOME method of making that cost back, and if common models > > of free to pay business marketing have taught us anything, it's that you > > can't build a sustainable business model around a service which is > > primarily free except for a few bits and pieces that might cost if > > people bother to use them. > > They will monetize it. Maybe it will be advertising, but maybe it's just > to see how many people sign up and actually use it. I've had my account > for a few years now, but I don't use it. I never was ready to give up > control of my telephony to an unpaid service. > > But Google will find a way to monetize Google Voice, directly or > indirectly, or will shutter it like Google Notebook in a few years. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Peter Beckman Internet Guy > [email protected] > http://www.angryox.com/ > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com-- > > asterisk-biz mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com-- > > asterisk-biz mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com-- > > asterisk-biz mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz >
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