Mobile VoIP is Here, Are You Ready?

It is forecasted by Gartner research firm that in around ten years, more than half of mobile voice traffic will be through VoIP. A popular form of VoIP for consumers and businesses alike is Skype, an easy way to have a video chat/conference with anyone else who has Skype or a similar technology. It is currently a free service using Internet connection to give a more interactive form of communication. It is great for those who travel and want to keep in touch with loved ones, as well as businesses having coast-to-coast conference calls. As far as mobile goes, VoIP has yet to get there completely, until now.

Verizon is the first to jump on board with regards to making mobile devices Skype-ready. They have teamed up and will be releasing a Skype application for smartphones as early as this month. Smartphones rumored to have this app are the Blackberry Storm and Storm2, Curve and Tour, as well as their Android OS phones such as the Droid. This is great news for both Skype and Verizon. Now Skype users no longer need to be sitting with their laptop to use the program, and Verizon can finally give a good blow to the iPhone and AT&T.

This is a great opportunity for businesses. It seems in today’s world everyone is on the go and taking calls outside the office is never a rare scene. With Skype and VoIP in general being available on a mobile network, face-to-face meetings will be given a new meaning, phone interviews will be more interactive, and business travel will be easy with regards to staying in touch with your business.

Consumers are definitely looking forward to this new app as well. Picture messaging may become a thing of the past. Instead of sending a snap shot of your current whereabouts, the Skype app will allow the person on the other end of the phone to feel as though they are there with you.

Regardless of if you are ready or not, Skype and VoIP services are going mobile and will be changing the ways in which we communicate in the very near future. With projections saying that around 288 million consumers will be using mobile VoIP by 2013, there is no doubting this is not just a fad.