A link to an interesting article about VoIP appeared on Slashdot today. According to the article, some analysts predict that the recent VoIP boom will result in customers receiving 150 or more unsolicited telemarketing calls per day, even if they are on the “No Call” list (VoIP allows calls to originate from other countries, outside the jurisdiction of the “No Call” list).
While the statistics in the article are reasonable, I still think the analyst is being overly pessimistic. Sure, people buy things over the phone. But that’s when receiving somewhere between one and ten unsolicited calls per week. Imagine receiving 150 per day. How fast would you hang up if you hear the tell-tale “Good afternoon, sir”? How fast would you get caller ID installed if you don’t have it already (although I am admittedly unsure if there is an analogue to caller ID with VoIP). But I think consumers’ irritation level will absolutely skyrocket if they start receiving that many unsolicited calls. It will become a lot harder to sell things that way. And other companies will create methods to block unwanted calls. I’m not sure how the dust will settle in the end, but it will probably be interesting to watch.
Out of the 10Base-T, through the router, down the T1, over the leased line, off the bridge, past the firewall… nothing but Net.