By now, VoIP is certainly not a new technology. We started seeing VoIP come into the communications space somewhere around the mid-90s, and since its inception, it has managed to help businesses and consumers save some bucks on their phone bills.
On the consumer side of things, there are a few services to choose from when it comes to making free VoIP calls or VoIP calls that are inexpensive. There are the known contenders, like Skype (News - Alert) and apps like Facebook video calling, and then there are some new names in the ring that are certainly making the competition field a little more tense.
Apps like Viber have long touted itself as the inexpensive VoIP option without having to commit to a specific provider. Where Viber differs is price, that’s because there is none. Viber was created for the mobile phone, whereas Skype took some time before it could adapt itself to the mobile platform. However, Viber’s latest PC update means that Viber has done the opposite; it has transcended the mobile threshold and with a PC option, Skype has something to worry about.
Viber has done a good job of climbing the ladder, and The Fuse Joplin recently stacked it up against another free service, YouRoam. YouRoam currently ranks behind Viber and Skype, the latter being at the top spot, and while YouRoam and Viber are two different apps, they actually perform similar functions. Say you want to talk to someone not within either network; both offer the option to buy “credits” so that you can talk without being specific to a service. YouRoam, however, offers data usage with each call, whereas Viber does not.
Should Skype worry about Viber’s stance in the market? Sort of. The quick rise in popularity of Viber can be attributed to the fact that it is available for mobile devices and PCs. This has largely contributed to the many users Viber has amassed in the few years it has been in operation.
The fact that Viber has been able to gain such a large user-base in a very short period makes it probably the biggest threat to Skype and other VoIP service providers. Skype is slowly losing its strong hand in the free calling department.
How the VoIP market is doing has always been dictated by intense competition, as there are numerous apps offering similar services as Skype.
2015 should be an interesting year for these free calling apps, and it’s only a matter of time before Skype falls below its top spot.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson