Technology Review: Rethinking Voice as an App

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Rethinking Voice as an App
VoIP does for voice what cloud computing did for the Web, experts say.
By Erica Naone
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2009
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A new Internet protocol (IP) voice network was launched this week by Bandwidth.com of Cary, NC. The company hopes to attract businesses interested in advanced features, such as the ability to make one phone number ring several phones, but who don't want to pay for all the old phone infrastructure. It already has one very big customer: Google Voice.


Bandwidth.com's chief technology officer, T.R. Missner, says the fundamental advantage of his company's network is that it's not bound by any legacy technologies, such as switches, used by the traditional phone system. Missner says that switches can create idiosyncracies in a network, leading to better or worse service depending on geography. But an all-IP voice network, such as Bandwidth.com's FlexNetwork, should offer consistent services everywhere, he says.

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