{"id":200,"date":"2020-09-24T04:21:22","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T04:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/2020\/09\/24\/index-26\/"},"modified":"2023-08-13T18:27:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-13T18:27:19","slug":"index-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/2020\/09\/24\/index-26\/","title":{"rendered":"August 4th, 2004 – Viodi View"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Quick Jump Menu to this Issue’s ArticlesAugust 4th, 2004 OverviewPacket 8’s VoIP Service Review:Exclusive Interview with 8×8’s Bryan Martin:An Event to Hope For: <\/p>\n

THE VIODI VIEW<\/b><\/p>\n

by Ken Pyle (ken.pyle@viodi.com),<\/strong> Viodi, LLC<\/a><\/p>\n

In this Issue: VoIP Review, Hope, Quintuple Play, New Network?….<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n

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August 4th, 2004 Issue<\/strong><\/p>\n

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My 5 year old had a revelation the other day when he suggested that it is sometimes difficult for him to tell the difference between the past and a dream. I guess this is something we all experience, as the line between my dreams and reality is sometimes quite blurry. Most of my cogent thoughts occur while I am dreaming. Unfortunately, very few of those thoughts make it out to my everyday consciousness. The other day I had a dream about finding alternative ways of funding universal service<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Packet 8 \u2013 VoIP Service Review:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The impetus for this dream was most likely the amount of time I have been spending lately evaluating the Packet 8 Voice over IP service<\/strong>. After over 75 phone calls and almost 20 hours of talk time, I have to report that the service is definitely acceptable<\/strong> as a second line service. At $19.95 per month<\/strong>, which includes unlimited local and unlimited long distance to anywhere in the United States and Canada, it really is a good value for the average consumer. Regardless, it must be recognized that this is not lifeline service and its performance is still at the mercy of the broadband connection.<\/p>\n

Interview with 8×8’s Bryan Martin:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Packet 8 service is from a company called 8×8, Inc<\/strong>. a technology and, now, service company that has been around a long time by Silicon Valley standards (for more on 8×8, please read the interview<\/a><\/strong> with their CEO and Chairman, Bryan Martin<\/strong>). What makes 8×8 interesting, in this era of almost daily announcements of new VoIP services and providers, is that they are probably the only player that is vertically integrated from the chip to service level. As such they are innovators with regards to adding new applications, such as video telephony, onto an IP infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Comporium’s Quintuple Play:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of applications, the folks at Comporium<\/strong>, the third largest Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier in South Carolina, are good at layering new applications onto their infrastructure. In June, they announced their \u201cquintuple play<\/strong>\u201d, which allows anyone with their local and long distance service to get discounts for taking three or four of the following additional services: wireless, high-speed Internet (either cable modem or Digital Subscriber Line), digital cable TV (which includes HDTV as an option), and security monitoring.<\/p>\n

The discount is a straightforward $180 per year for a customer that takes four services and $240 per year for five services. In addition to bundling, the customer must agree to a consolidated bill, which helps Comporium reduce costs. Comporium is just one example of how the independent telephone companies<\/strong> are on the cutting edge<\/strong> of advanced service<\/strong> delivery.<\/p>\n

An Event to Hope For:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the challenges independent telephone companies face when moving beyond just plain old telephone services is educating<\/strong> their customers<\/strong> of their advanced offerings. All of the usual techniques of advertising are required, but another useful trick is what I call \u201cevent marketing<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n

That is, the telco hosts<\/strong> or sponsors some sort of community event<\/strong> that brings the community together. The first time I heard of something like this was a Superbowl chili party<\/strong> that was hosted by the local telco. It was used as a way to announce their local cable service. By the end of the party, they had signed up approximately 66 customers out of 100 potential customers passed.<\/p>\n

Making an event special, such that people will want to take time out of their schedule, is always a challenge. Mixing a bit of \u201cHollywood<\/strong>\u201d together with the interests of the Heartland<\/strong> is one way to give an event a bit of pizzazz as well as positioning a telco as a provider of entertainment services. The challenge is to host an event like this and still stay within a telco\u2019s limited budget.<\/p>\n

As such, I am pleased to introduce Bob Mills<\/strong>, a recovering attorney and former television comedy writer for such shows as “The Dinah Shore Show,” “The Steve Allen Show” and “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts”. He spent 17 years penning jokes, routines, parody songs, speeches and television scripts for the legendary performer, Bob Hope.<\/p>\n

He now tours the country talking about these experiences and has written a book, “Inside Bob Hope’s Comedy Factory<\/strong>“, which recounts the fun years of traveling with Bob Hope. His lecture series could be an interesting centerpiece for a telco-sponsored event that also would serve to promote the telcos\u2019s services.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/strong> to read an excerpt from Mills’ book.<\/p>\n

An Interactive Opportunity for Telcos<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lastly, a Viodi View<\/strong> reader sent me a link to an article<\/strong><\/a> that does a good job of summarizing the interactive television panel at the IP Video @ Supercomm conference. Allison Dollar<\/strong>, co-President of the Interactive Television Alliance<\/strong><\/a>, moderated that panel.<\/p>\n

Her organization is hosting a networking event on interactive television that is highly recommended for any telco that is trying to maximize their return on their network infrastructure. This event will mix big name advertisers<\/strong>, with academia<\/strong> and leading technology players<\/strong> to discuss all things associated with interactive television.<\/p>\n

I have run out of space in this issue, so my dream about Universal Service will have to wait until the next issue of the Viod View. In the meantime, it is time for\u2026..<\/p>\n

The Korner: A New Meaning for IP?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some may have been critical of the title of an article that I wrote a few issues back, \u201cI hate to IP on Your Parade<\/strong><\/a>.\u201d Back to the wisdom of my 5 year old; I believe that we need to have some sort of test to ensure that the acronyms we use don’t make us sound silly to our kids. If I told my five year old that an integrated IP network<\/strong> provides the opportunity to have an ARPU<\/strong> that is greater than separate networks, he would come away thinking that Dad has a potty mouth (when, in fact, it is Mom who has the potty mouth).<\/p>\n

Well, along these lines, my friend, Bob<\/strong>, tells me of a new optical network that the carrier for whom he works is developing called, Internet Protocol Over Optical Paths<\/strong>. He says it will be facilities-based (thank goodness) and they are expecting this network to flush out the competition. This brief article<\/strong><\/a> is one that I have been sitting on for a few months.<\/p>\n

If you want to read something very silly, a little juvenile and very top secret<\/strong> (I don’t think anyone else in Bob’s company knows about this concept), then please click here <\/a>to see<\/strong> Bob\u2019s description of this proposed network.<\/p>\n

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In this on-line publication, we share our analysis, opinions and direction on the interactive television news and views that we believe will be of interest and use to our friends associated directly or indirectly with independent telephone companies. For more information as to the various ways Viodi works with independent telephone companies, please go to http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/alliance\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"Learn
Learn About Telecom04<\/a><\/p>\n

IP Video Conference Agenda<\/strong><\/p>\n

Economic and Product Feature Considerations for Telecom Network Architectures<\/a><\/p>\n

The Consumer Electronics Interface \u2013 Can You See Me Now?<\/a> <\/p>\n

Regulation 101 \u2013 What a Telco Has to Consider When Deploying Video & Other New Services <\/a><\/p>\n

Equal Access for All<\/a><\/p>\n

Telco Content Options<\/a><\/p>\n

Get in the Game \u2013 How do Games Play in a Service Providers\u2019 Plans?<\/a> <\/p>\n

Advertising and other Alternative Revenue Sources <\/a><\/p>\n

Integrating VoIP Content Into a Telco\u2019s Bundled Service Offering<\/a><\/p>\n

Making Sticky Bundles \u2013 Baking up new ways to gain and retain customers <\/a><\/p>\n

Link to Registration Page<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Speakers Include:<\/strong><\/p>\n