VoIP is experiencing rapid growth in consumer and business markets, although people are adopting VoIP at higher rates. With major tech companies like Apple and Google entering the market with their own offerings, the sector is witnessing interest from both telecom giants and internet startups.
The incredibly competitive terrain of the VoIP industry does not appear to deter startups from competing with established players. It almost feels like a new VoIP app is released every two weeks. Just a few days ago, Wire, a VoIP service that is arriving for the first time on mobile devices, was introduced by Janus Friis, one of the original co-founders of Skype.
Wire is certainly attractive with a dark themed interface and customizable color options. It provides the basic features users look for in a VoIP application, including voice and video calls, beautifully displayed online images, and integration for YouTube videos, as well as SoundCloud audio clips. All the videos that people share with their friends are shown online, although Soundcloud clips currently only show a link that opens in a browser.
However, the launch of another VoIP application highlights the growing problem of data silos within the industry. Many of these startups are backed by venture capital and do not have a viable business model to generate income, much less profit. In addition to privacy and security concerns on the part of users, proprietary applications make it difficult for people to move their contact list or network of friends if they want to switch applications.
There are hundreds of VoIP applications littering the mobile and desktop landscape, only a few of which are international in scope. Many VoIP applications are popular only in a particular geographic region and virtually unknown elsewhere. What they all have in common is that users cannot take their data with them if they want to leave the service. Rather than move towards a future where everyone implements standard protocols like SIP or WebRTC, it seems that companies are determined to lock down users by holding their data hostage.
True data portability means that consumers should have the ability to choose which user experience they prefer without having to switch networks entirely. In fact, in today’s situation, any VoIP application that combines privacy, security, and data portability will have something unique that will help it stand out from its rivals. We can only hope such an app is around the corner, as WebRTC is finally on its way.
