Robert Poe has another of his well thought out “lists” over at VoIP-News where he identifies some of the trends in VoIP for the new year.
I think there will be a few more trends.
1) Consolidation of companies-instead of features being companies, smart money will “roll up” the VoIP features and put them into one business and offer them as service.
2) Voice SaaS-more and more of the VoIP plays will become Software as a Service, with a greater emphasis of real time communication built into web sites. Think about companies like Jaduka and ifByPhone.
3) More micropayments for voice calls via web, mobile that go over WiFi-I see more companies adopting a “voice” channel vs. email or chat via web sites. As customers demand more “live” interaction, simplifying the process to “talk” and “engage” becomes paramount.
4) More APIs creating more new services.
SaaS: We can think about services like http://www.doddling.com – free online sip webphone (doddle) where you can use your voip provider to make calls within webpage or even to embed it on your own site