I've been talking about the state and future of voice communication with my Anonymous Friend. Well, not talking. G-Talking. Jabber can be fun.
There are a few points.
It takes roughly .33kb/s to send phone-quality voice. That's within range of data rates for EDGE.
The lowest recommended processor speed for Asterisk, the open source PBX, is 500MHz. The iPhone runs 650MHz and the iPaq nearly that.
Skype gets it's income through Skype-In and Skype-Out, leading to the case where the best condition for the company (many many many users) is also the worst (All Skype-to-Skype, no Skype-In or Skype-Out, so no income).
Technically, I'm thinking, we're about 70% ready for all voice communications to be outside of the traditonal Ma Bell telephone. I think that traditional telephone companies are within their last generation.
But socially, I think we're about 30% ready. But I'm not sure.
So I made a poll. Please take a few moments and fill it out.
And please ignore the glitch. I can't go back and take it back now.
Poll IP Telephony Poll Comments and questions are of course welcome.