IP Telephony

I’ve been exploring the platform play idea for service providers in recent columns, and will continue to do so as there are several angles to consider. I really don’t see a single or definitive example of a platform play, and I’m sure the market will support several variations. There will be pure play offerings where the entire business is built around a services platform, as well as niche or hybrid offerings that cater to specific markets. Some will extend to include network functionality and others will exist purely as services that are run over someone else’s network.

 

To illustrate, I’m going to briefly touch on three offerings, each of which is a variation along the spectrum outlined above. They all have an attractive value proposition, and will find a following with different types of service providers. This is hardly a definitive set of solutions, but provides some good examples of what a platform play could look like.

 

Ifbyphone offers a suite of applications targeted at the enterprise market, and is an example of a limited but highly focused platform play. The company has developed a full range of voice applications built on open APIs that can be offered by any service provider. The key here is to recognize where Ifbyphone (News - Alert) adds value. The company sees voice as a critical business application that can be significantly enhanced in the world of Web services. By building on the flexibility of Web services, Ifbyphone is in essence creating a wide variety of voice mashups that have high utility for businesses. Some examples:

--Order status — this allows customers to check on the status of their order at any time from either their phone or the Web

--Appointment confirmation — an automated message that can be sent to customers, prospects, suppliers, etc., making the business appear more professional and tech savvy

--Customer surveys — compile ongoing customer feedback using voice-based interactive surveys that can be completed either by phone or the Web

--Virtual call center — very cost effective way to provide better customer support and close more sales leads than investing in a dedicated call center

 

Ifbyphone offers many other applications, both off the shelf and custom. These offerings are especially attractive for small businesses, and provide operators with a strong and flexible solution set for these customers. Not only can they offer a stock menu of applications, but also an unlimited variety of custom applications that can be tailored for a vertical market or a subset of a company’s customers.

 

This is where the platform play concept really earns its keep. Most service providers simply cannot develop these types of applications very well, nor do they have the deep understanding that Ifbyphone has of the communications needs that can be addressed by Web services. The small business market is vast, and Ifbyphone is leveraging the power of the Web and mashups to enable them to compete more like large enterprises. That’s a strong value proposition that any service provider would understand.

Ribbit is the second offering to consider, and is a great example of the next level along the value spectrum. While not a full scale service provider platform, it also offers more than an applications play, which is how I would characterize Ifbyphone. Ribbit embodies a Web 2.0 startup in many ways. Like Ifbyphone, it uses open APIs and views the Web as the natural home for voice today. The company also presents itself as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) player and a model for a new type of phone company. I really don’t see the company as a serious rival to an incumbent, but its vision and range of offerings could certainly replace what an existing telco is delivering. Ribbit has some compelling services, and continue to evolve capabilities while seeking to become a viable Web 2.0 voice provider.

 

In terms of being a platform play, Ribbit is an ideal example. The company has developed its own intelligent softswitch platform that utilizes SIP to work with Web services as well as fixed and mobile networks. Building on this switch is a community of Web developers who are creating a myriad of Web 2.0 voice applications that will work across all these networks. To illustrate how Web-focused they are, Ribbit talks about its applications as being voiceware, not telephony.

 

The voiceware applications from Ribbit are quite varied, and easily customized for any need, either business or consumer. Every subscriber can build their own personalized suite of applications by downloading them at the Ribbit Store. This is an entirely different business model, as the subscriber pays for their custom applications a la carte, and the developers have a ready-made direct channel to the end user to generate revenues. This concept is very Web 2.0 and has exciting possibilities so long as Ribbit can attract a following to expose its platform to.

 

Most recently, Ribbit announced an integration with Salesforce.com (News - Alert), validating its model for large scale business applications. Ribbit is now sold as an extension to Salesforce.com through the Appexchange channel. One of the key features is speech to text, which enables sales people to dictate their notes from sales calls on the go. This is much easier than writing out the notes later in the day, and creates workflow efficiencies by virtue of being integrated with CRM tools. Salesforce.com showcases Ribbit more as an application and a channel play, but in the Web 2.0 world, this may well become an important aspect of how a service provider operates as a platform play.

 

Jajah is the third example I’d like to cite, and this would be the most complete scenario for a service provider being a platform player. Ifbyphone may be more of an application play, and Ribbit is a partial platform play, but Jajah has recently evolved into a complete platform play. Beyond Web-based applications, Jajah has invested in developing an infrastructure to provide support for virtually everything that a telco would. Like Ribbit, the company has developed its own SIP-based switching technology, but also all the other elements that go into a complete solution. As such, Jajah can function purely as a platform play as well as being a service provider.

 

For the time being, Jajah is focusing on the former, essentially becoming a turnkey managed services platform play for voice. It can offer a complete solution, which carriers can take as a whole or on a modular basis. The best example of this is the company’s recent win with Yahoo!, where all of its voice applications have been outsourced to Jajah. This allows Yahoo! to focus on its strengths in directories and search, and essentially partner on a best-of-breed basis for voice.

 

In my view, this is the most complete variation on the platform play theme, and I suspect Jajah will emerge as a model for others to follow. On that note, I’m going to focus exclusively on Jajah in my next column to more fully explore the company’s model and the opportunities it creates for service providers.