Have you Heard the One About Google Taking Over Double Click!
Well it has AdLand and the Media industry up in arms, together with a host of other Top-Down-Management Corporate names, like Microsoft; AT&T; AOL & Yahoo about various concerns.
Frankly in the case of Microsoft it surely must be the case of the pot calling the kettle black! Both Microsoft and AT&T have faced anti-trust charges in the past, with Google Co-founder calling Microsoft “A convicted monopolist”.
And in creeps that accountant turned Ad Man, Sir Martin Sorrell, “One of the most powerful voices in advertising”, which, in my opinion, says a lot about the state of advertising to day.
It appears that there is growing concern in AdLand about Google’s online dominance.
This is all so strange, we are talking here about an unproven medium, where any number of well respected people have voiced opinions as to the appropriateness, or otherwise, as to using the Internet as an (traditional) advertising medium.
Jerry Della Femina claims that most online advertising creates resentment, working to shut down attention rather than elicit interest. Zergio Zyman feels that banner ads are a joke, and Della Femina goes on to say “…and figure out different ways to reach people but we’re not going to reach them by advertising on the internet”.
In Marketing Management, Philip Kotler had this to say, “To remain effective and profitable, marketers must strike the delicate balance between the ineffectiveness of trying to be all things to all people through mass marketing, and the cost prohibitive extreme of completely customising a marketing mix to each individual”.
Doesn’t this logic admit that mass marketing is a thing of the past?
And isn’t the Internet a highly sophisticated form of mass marketing? You have to remember that it is all being driven by the mass marketing mentalities of AdLand and associates. All driven by data based technologies which invariably boil down to marketing to a mass of niches, make no mistake about it, the purportedly “Personalised” approaches” to customers remain a form of mass marketing.
What Top-Down-Management hasn’t cottoned on to is the fact that the Internet is a bottoms-up medium (if that is what you would call it!) – and people are connecting with each other and most certainly not with advertising. On TV commercials may create brand awareness, on the web they only create annoyance!
Meanwhile back at the ranch Online advertising remains a relatively small part of the over-all advertising market – £2 billion out of a total of £17 billion in the UK but it is growing rapidly – by as much as 41% last year.
Meanwhile Top-Down-Management is doing its bit to help mediocrity maintain its presence within the Advertising world, already it appears that they are fiddling the books. Clients have already noticed discrepancies between the number of clicks (per online ad) that Google has charged them for and the number they reach by their own assessments!
Nothing has changed in AdLand…nothing at all!
And the sad thing is that all of this need never to have taken place, there is a substantially (and proven) more effective method of communication available, which uses existing media. It is called Interactive Marketing Communication, and it is available to you right now!
Giving up your landline phone – Part 2
The thought of giving up your telephone landline in no way minimizes the importance the telephone has served in modern society. The landline has been an incredibly important means of communication for every one from the business person to those in need of emergency assistance.
However, in the last decade or so, new options have appeared on the scene as affordable alternatives. Namely, the Cell Phone and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), or the Internet Phone. Because these options can sometimes be less expensive than the landline, the question arises; Is it possible to give up your land line phone for one of these alternatives?
My wife and I went through this analytical process ourselves. Some years ago we saw an advertisement for very low cost VIOP service from a company called Lingo, and we decided to try it out. After all, if it proved reliable, we would only be paying $20 compared to $59 for the land line, and long distance would be free within the US.
So we ordered it. It was simple to set up, and the program offered some very good features. It even worked so well that after a week we decided to cancel the landline. Unfortunately, it was only a week or so later that trouble began.
The phone, hooked up to our cable Internet, would go off line sometimes while we were at work, even though the cable Internet was still working. Then, when we came home there were no messages. This was especially troubling for my wife who was selling Avon at the time. She needed for customers and associates to be able to reach her.
We would call the VOIP company and get the issue resolved only to have it happen again in a few days. The final straw came when we were left without VOIP for a week because of technical issues. We canceled. I must say, they were very good about accepting our cancellation before the contract term was up. There was no penalty.
Not all VOIP service is bad though. In fact I would not be surprised if the company above, Lingo, has not resolved it’s difficulties. Also, a business associate of mine has Comcast Internet Phone and is very happy with the service. So it can work well. We had subscribed when the technology was very new, and I guess there were some bugs to work out. I think that a reliable VOIP service could easily serve your needs as well as any landline and, even better, long distance is free.
When we first subscribed to our cell phones we intended it to be used for emergencies. In case we were traveling and broke down
Giving up your landline phone
It was two years ago that I decided to give up a landline telephone. Before the decision was made, there were two items at the top of my list which had to be ironed out, what happens in the case of a power outage and what about emergency calling? Landlines usually continue working during a power outage because power to the phone is provided by the telephone provider over the telephone wires. The main reason a landline continues to work after a power failure. But why are they able to provide power if there is a power failure?
The answer; backup power!
With this revelation, it was obvious that to ensure the usage of a VoIP system during a power outage; it required there be backup power.
OK, one problem down, one more to go. The next problem was even easier to get around then the first; this item had to do with emergency calls. Performing some quick research it was discovered that most VoIP providers have a 911 emergency calling option. This option is free to use and is easily setup. OK, so now both the original issues which provided fuel to an argument have been reduced to nothing more than small nuisances that could be overcome.
In order to provide VoIP service to my home and provide reliable service it required the following setup:
Setup of 911 emergency calling. – Check
Backup power in case of a power outage. – Check
Service to current home phones (all four). – Check
So how was this accomplished, first let’s take a look at the providers available. While there are a few, only two stood out at the time, Vonage and Skype. Out of those two, Vonage was the clear winner. Emergency calling was easy to setup and the VoIP service was handled by an external device from the PC. Why was this important, because to provide backup power reliably and for extended periods, it meant the difference between providing power to a PC as opposed to a small device which requires much less power. Because Vonage uses an external device the power requirements are minimal and the power provided could last much longer than trying to power a PC. Now that the external device was setup and power as well as backup power provided by way of an APC UPS were setup; the next step was to provide service for all four phones in the home. A small five port Telephone jack was installed next to the homes phone interchange box where the traditional landline enters the home, next the Vonage phone line was connected to the main port on the telephone five port jack, and
Is Internet Phone Service (VoIP) Worth the Switch?
You’ve seen the advertisements. You probably know at least one person who has tried it, but is Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), a.k.a. Internet phone or digital phone, for you? Let’s face it. Your traditional phone service works pretty well, so why switch? The answer is savings. s sLet’s start with the basic monthly plan. The average monthly residential Internet phone plan is approximately $25/month. Business plans are roughly double the residential rate. Usually included within this price are loads of free features like voice mail, call waiting, three way calling, caller id, and call forwarding. Traditional phone service ranges from approximately $15/month to $60/month depending upon add-ons, long distance, taxes, and surcharges. Internet phone service may be for you if you are on the higher end of this scale. Moreover, many cable companies offer Internet phone service as part of a bundled package- Internet, television, and home phone service on one bill. This combination may prove to be very cost effective.s sInternational calls are extremely cheap with Internet phone. Rates can start from around $.02/min., depending upon the destination country. Also, some calls may even be free. For example, if you subscribe to XYZ Internet phone service, and you call a friend overseas who also subscribes to XYZ, the call should be free. You can even take your Internet phone service with you when you travel. If you have a wi-fi Internet phone, you should have service wherever there is a wi-fi hotspot worldwide. Or if you take your hardware with you (i.e. telephone adapter, router, IP phone), you should be able to use your service wherever there is a broadband Internet connection available. Thus, frequent travelers or people with overseas relatives and friends would greatly benefit from Internet phone service. s sBusiness owners stand to benefit the most from switching to Internet phone service. High long distance volume, systems integration, phone number mobility, and local market presence are the main reasons why. First, businesses have inherently high call volumes, especially domestic and international long distance. VoIP should lower these expenses, lowering monthly overhead. Second, VoIP is highly flexible and meshes well with other business applications. Third, businesses spend thousands of dollars annually on advertising, and those dollars are wasted if a phone number has to be changed. VoIP allows a business to keep the same number regardless of location. Closely related is the issue of local market presence. With VoIP, businesses can have a local phone number but be located in a different city, state, or country. The cost to you is just a local phone call. Despite the many benefits of VoIP for businesses, there is one major concern – security. Since voice conversations travel via the Internet, VoIP systems are susceptible to the same perils as your computer (i.e. hackers, viruses, etc.). Small to medium sized business are less of a target than larger businesses. However, all businesses utilizing VoIP should have up-to-date security software and contingency plans in place to minimize the threat. s sDespite the many benefits of VoIP, there are a few issues that require consideration. These issues include: voice quality, power outages, emergency services, alarm systems, fax capabilities, digital video recorder (DVR) devices, local number portability (LNP), and broadband Internet requirement. For you, these issues may be just a intermittent irritation, like a dropped phone call or poor signal reception during a cell phone call. For others, these concerns could be insignificant or a deciding factor. s sWith Internet phone service, voice quality depends heavily upon the quality of your high speed Internet connection. So if your connection is not fast enough, voice quality may be inconsistent. It’s always best to test your broadband connection with a VoIP speed test before subscribing. s sPresently, unless an alternate back-up power source is readily available, Internet phone service will not work during a power outage because vital pieces of equipment such as routers, analog telephone adapters, and modems require power. Aware of the problem, some companies supply equipment with built-in battery back-ups. Other companies will route calls to an alternate phone number during an outage. Or, you could purchase an Uninterruptable Power Source (UPS) to provide power during an outage. The amount of power supplied by UPS’s will vary by model and price. Barring the aforementioned, be ready to use a cell phone during a power outage, or consider keeping a bare minimum landline as a back-up. s sIn 2005 VoIP companies that interconnected with the public telephone network were required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide 911 service and disclose service limitations. When you dial 911, calls are routed through a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). E911 (Enhanced 911), which is utilized in many areas, allows the PSAP to automatically discern your location. Due to the dynamic nature of VoIP, your location is more difficult to determine. Many companies have bypassed this obstacle by sending the PSAP the address of the subscriber. However, all PSAP’s are not set-up to receive VoIP data. In which case, you would have to provide your location to the call center. As more and more people use Internet phone service, upgrades are being made to provide E911. s sPresently, most alarm systems use a landline for monitoring purposes. Your alarm system may work with VoIP, although some equipment adjustments and testing may be required. Since VoIP data travels at higher speeds, these adjustments involve the lowering of these speeds. Similarly, faxes may be sent over a standard VoIP line, with equipment adjustments needed in many cases. To mitigate this problem, many companies offer designated fax lines as an add-on or as part of a business service plan. Additionally, many digital video recorder (DVR) devices require landlines to receive updates. However, some subscribers have reported successful DVR operation with VoIP. For a seamless transition, if you already have a DVR, you may want to check to see if it has a broadband port before subscribing to VoIP service.s sWhen subscribing to Internet phone service, many people prefer to keep the same phone number, and in most cases this is possible through local number portability. LNP is the process by which consumers can transfer their phone numbers when changing telecommunications carriers. This process can take from approximately 10 to 20 business days until completion. s sFinally, VoIP requires a high speed broadband Internet connection. For those of you who already use broadband Internet, this is not an issue. However, millions of people still use dial-up or have no Internet access at all. Therefore, this segment of the population must evaluate the cost of upgrading to broadband Internet versus the benefits of Internet phone service.s sIs VoIP worth the switch? Individual answers will vary. Using the aforementioned considerations, a side-by-side comparison between your traditional phone service and your potential VoIP provider should prove to be informative at the very least. Savings is the key. If your potential savings outweigh all other factors, by all means, internet phone service should be worth the switch.sChristopher Spencer is a telecommunications consultant, affiliate marketer, and a freelance writer. Visit www.wirate.com
