VOIP and SIP News

Mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) apps have promise in terms of cost savings but will take time to deliver as they need excellent internet performance.

Not only do these Mobile VoIP Apps need constant broadband or wireless access, but they are still associated with some security risks.

Market researchers at GfK Singapore said that while companies such as Viber could offer cheap domestic and international calls, the need for Wi-Fi or 3G meant that traditional VoIP bundles were still a more practical option. 
 
General manager at GfK Singapore, Shirleen Kok, said: "Mobile VoIP apps such as Viber offer free calls for users which is a good cost-cutting option. However their reliance on wireless networks, data and hardware specifications make them less appealing compared with the traditional bundled minutes offered by telcos."

She explained that the three main telecommunications companies in Singapore could offer affordable data plans with bundled VoIP. These are expected to increase along with smartphone subscriptions. 
Another analyst at the IDC Asia-Pacific practice group said that these apps could allow customers to make free calls if they were not overly concerned about the voice quality. That drawback will prevent Mobile VoIP Apps from having significant enterprise growth at this early stage.

Businesses will be more concerned about issues such as security and reliability while requiring extra features
such as voice mail.

Because this is hard for app developers to achieve, carriers with a good knowledge of back-end mangement will be preferred. They can also provide service level agreements (SLAs) on latency and bandwidth which makes them more reliable.