The next generation of Internet telephony devices will not only be simpler to use and work with cordless telephone sets, but they’ll likely be sold in a bundling with services by Internet service providers or telecommunications operators, according to comments from the CeBIT technology exposition here this week.
Siemens, the technology group, is reported to be showing a nondescript white box that lets you place a call with a traditional cordless telephone as well as hitting the Internet wirelessly, both on a single broadband connection.
Inventel, the French wireless technology company, is said to have displayed a comparable unit including a handset that is sold only to operators wanting to offer Voice-over Internet Protocol service. The company’s marketing director, Cedric Hutchings, told reporters the product is aimed at offering traditional cordless phone convenience with services above and beyond wireless Net access and telephony.
"Operators can push content to the phone, for example sell logos or ring tones,” Hutchings was quoted as saying, “or allow users to search for a phone number in the directory. People started to use voice over IP on economic grounds. You subscribe and make calls cheaper or for free, but sometimes at low quality. The next step is to offer the same experience as a high-quality cordless phone."
Other manufacturers are said to be selling or showing VoIP boxes acting as hubs for internal telephone systems, products geared for small businesses especially, like German company snom’s small box, working with special Internet protocol telephones and featuring a miniature computer inside to handle outgoing and incoming calls as well as Internet access.
“Adopting voice over IP makes sense for a small company that builds its infrastructure from nothing,” snom sales manager Oliver Wittig told the gathering, “or for big corporations that want to quickly wire up a new office.”
