The joys of VoIP for small businesses

I received this great little e-mail from my 12-year-old niece a few days ago:

Hey Auntie Ann...

Do you have Skype? I just got it. It's a neat way of "calling" people through your computer, or just chatting. Anyways, how are you doing? Today is my camp show!

Tell the kitties I say hello,

- Elena

I remember when a Canadian friend of mine from the optical fiber side of the telecom industry asked me the same question in the early 2000's. His question piqued my interest, but I didn't follow through on signing up to talk to him via computer. It did seem like a good idea. He lives in Canada and calls to Canada still cost a bundle per minute at the time.

While I was merely curious back then, I was really gratified by Elena's query last week. I felt happy to tell her the new thing she was so excited about is brought to her by the technology that I write about for a living. Now someone in my immediate family gets it.

Speaking of getting it, Cisco is teaming with VoIP software/application developer IPcelerate to bring the joys of VoIP to small businesses. I think it's a great idea. Going down-market is like going into the mangroves at the edge of the sea. It's where new aquatic life gestates, is born and grows big enough to swim out into the deep water. While it's great to land the big contracts, VoIP's future success depends upon innovation. Applications that will someday be a hit with the world's biggest firms are likely to win the hearts of those served by small deployments first.

Meanwhile, I'm going to see what Elena and I can learn together. The kitties want to give her a big VoIP-transported "Meow," too. - Annie