I don't use a phone. I have Skype for that.

The phone call is dead! Again. Well, not really.

Actually, the phone call is very much alive, but the traditional world of phone calls is being disrupted. TechCrunch's Alexia Tsotsis has an interesting piece (Read the post here.) exploring this latest industry gut check to determine if phone calling is dead or not. It looks like the younger generations are communicating almost exclusively via text message or over Facebook and that their cell phones are more and more rarely being used as 'phones.' Tsotsis describes a recent call from her bank that took her off guard because she views phone calls now as emergencies.

When younger users want to make actual voice calls, they hook up with their friends via things like Skype where presence is known and a phone call isn't a surprise event. Compelling features of unified communications (UC) like availability and presence are key to the future of voice calls because they can seamlessly integrate with users' lifestyles that involve social networking and online interactivity. The anonymous landline call is an unwelcome intrusion where as a video call over GChat makes sense when you've been sharing YouTube videos with your friend for the last hour and need to laugh about them in real life.

What's interesting about the trend is that it really underlines the motivations of companies like Skype that are trying to infiltrate places like Facebook to make their service the service of choice when users do decide to make calls. You may at first think, "VoIP calling in Facebook? What's the point?" But the point is, if these users are even going to try to make voice calls, it is going to need to be seamlessly integrated with their preferred modes of communication offering added value and even some novelty. Being raised on laptops and iPads, the last place they might look to make a call is an actual phone. Just look at today's revelations from Facebook--350 million users (almost double the amount of Gmail users) are using messaging on the site--sending 4 billion messages a day! These kids have a different way of communicating and its up to the VoIP community to figure out how to maintain their interest. --Mike