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February 01, 2011
February 01, 2011

Will 2011 Be the Year of Cloud-Based Phones? ViciDial Group Pres Sounds Off

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Technology trends have a significant impact on the overall global market and to get an idea of the most significant technology trend in 2010, TMCnet’s Rich Tehrani spoke with Matt Florell, president of ViciDial Group. This interview was conducted in anticipation of this week’s ITEXPO East event.




Florell shared that in his opinion, the most significant technology trend last year was the decline of the PC workstation and the continued rise of laptops, smartphones and other network-enabled mobile devices. As for the impact the growth of cloud computing will have on the communications industry in 2011, Florell believes it will lead to rapid scaling of capacity of communications services.

When asked his opinion on mobile winners in 2011, Florell pointed to Android (News - Alert) and Apple. As for the impact mobile technology will have on the tech space in 2011, Florell noted that more applications will support mobile platforms. Asked about the best opportunities in the tech space this year and Florell noted that online services will see the largest growth. He also believes technology can change the world for the better by making existing processes more efficient so people can communication in new ways. When asked about social media, Florell noted that his company started posting news and new feature alerts on Twitter last year, with great response.

ViciDial also leverages social networking and set up a community on LinkedIn (News - Alert) for users and consultants to share information. Asked his opinion on net neutrality and Florell highlighted that there are some companies abusing the openness of the Internet and net neutrality must be enforced in some way. As for the greatest technological development in 2011, Florell pointed to the growth of 4G wireless coverage. At ITEXPO East this week, Florell will be speaking about embedded Web phones, a cloud-based application. In 2011, ViciDial will continue to develop new features for its Open Source Call Center Suite. As for his surprising prediction in 2011, Florell anticipates that Oracle will buy Red Hat, Inc.

Their entire conversation follows:

What was the most significant technology trend in 2010 and what impact will it have in 2011?

The decline of the PC workstation and the continued rise of laptops, smart-phones and other network-enabled mobile devices. This trend will continue and will lead to smaller and smaller network devices and more applications in the cloud.

What impact will the continued growth of cloud computing have on the communications industry in 2011?

Cloud computing's growth will lead to rapid scaling of capacity of communications services, allowing even telecommunications application providers the ability to scale to handle millions of phone calls in a very short amount of time.

Who will be the mobile winners in 2011 out of Google Android, Apple, Microsoft, Nokia and RIM?

Android and Apple will be the winners, with Android gaining more market share and Apple seeing a large spike in sales following the iPhone launch on Verizon (News - Alert) Wireless.

What impact will mobile technology have on the tech space in 2011?

More applications will support mobile platforms, and we will see many more location-based applications and services hit the market in 2011.

Where are the best opportunities in the tech space this year?

Online services will see the largest growth, as more applications move to the cloud and off traditional workstation computers.

How can technology change the world for the better?

Technology can make existing processes more efficient and allow for people to communicate in new and evolving ways in the future.

What impact has social media had on how you interact with your customers?  How do you measure its effectiveness?

We started posting news and new feature alerts on Twitter in the last year. The response has been great, and it helps us to keep in direct contact with our client base without having to use more bulk e-mail.

How have you leveraged social networking as an internal collaboration tool?

We have a ViciDial community set up on LinkedIn for our product that allows users and consultants to share information and make contact with each other.

The FCC has recently voted to support net neutrality.  Is net neutrality necessary, or will it present more challenges than it will solve?

There are already some companies that are abusing the openness of the Internet, and if net neutrality is not enforced in some way we will see that abuse continue or get worse. One big problem that many of our clients have is with local Internet service provider monopolies that filter or throttle specific applications, like VOIP, especially if those companies offer a competing product. In the next year we may also see this kind of issue with video on demand services, like Netflix and Hulu, being filtered or slowed down on networks that provide competing video on demand services.

What will be the greatest technological development in 2011? Why?

The growth of 4G wireless coverage will make it easier to use streaming media services on hand-held devices, and we will even start to see some broadband users cut their wired internet connections and use wireless only, just like we have seen happen with voice service in the last several years.

Why is your session a must-attend at ITEXPO (News - Alert)?

I will be speaking about embedded web-phones, which are essentially a cloud-based application. The great thing about web-embedded VOIP phones is that they require no configuration by the end user, which can be a stumbling block with existing VOIP soft-phones. Anyone currently using soft-phones, or supporting remote users of VOIP phones should attend.

What other topics should be at the top of attendees’ lists?

There are some great presentations about Open Source going on that I will be attending in the Digium Asterisk (News - Alert) World tracks, and of course there are a lot of great companies exhibiting in the expo hall that I look forward to talking with, as well.

What new and exciting products/solutions can we expect to see from your company in 2011?

We will continue developing new features for our ViciDial Open Source Call Center Suite throughout the year, and releasing them as we complete them. Since last year we have added over 100 new features to ViciDial, and I expect more of the same this year as well.

Please make one surprising prediction for 2011.

With Oracle busy gobbling up larger and larger Open-Source companies the last few years, I predict that they will buy Red Hat Inc. in 2011. They already use Redhat Linux as the basis for their own Linux distribution, and a commercial Linux support business would complement their other product offerings.

To find out more about Matt Florell and ViciDial Group, visit the company at ITEXPO East 2011. To be held Feb. 2-4 in Miami, ITEXPO is the world’s premier IP communications event. Florell is speaking during “Browser Embedded Phones for the Call Center” and “Building a Scalable Hosted Contact Center with Asterisk.” Don’t wait. Register now.


Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Tammy Wolf

(source: http://voip-software.tmcnet.com/topics/voip-software/articles/140307-will-2011-be-year-cloud-based-phones-vicidial.htm)








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