Most people would agree that voice-over-IP (VoIP) services are pretty cool. Videophones are one of those future-tech staples used in movies for years and have since become a reality. Even without video, the ability to call someone cheaply or even for free, and likely with greater call clarity from your PC, tablet or smartphone over the internet is compelling. On the face of it, VoIP seems superior to landline or mobile phone services in almost every way, and yet, mysteriously, it has not taken off for the majority of people as their primary point of contact. Why is this the case? Why is it that Skype or Google Talk calls often need to be organized in advance, and via a completely different method of communication?
Is it as simple as people forgetting to leave the software running in order to accept a call? Or, that your PC isn’t always on your person? Does leaving a VoIP app running in the background on your phone draw too much power? These examples are certainly factors, but the primary reason that VoIP hasn’t taken over is a simple lack of ubiquity. It is likely that the majority of the people that you know carry a mobile phone. You know that when you dial their number they will answer the call, or at least be left with a timely notification of your attempt. No matter the handset manufacturer or plan provider, every single person with a phone number is connected to the same network of networks as everybody else. In 2011, The International Telecommunication Union reported almost 6 billion active mobile-cellular subscriptions worldwide. VoIP services on the other hand, while widely used, are only sporadically populated: earlier this month (April 2012) Skype celebrated a new record of 40 million concurrent users. A massive achievement, but one that pales in comparison.
Picture this: you open up your Skype contacts list in order to make a call. You can see that ten of your contacts are online, including the person that you’re hoping to call, but are they actually sitting by their PC? Are they in a space conducive to phone calls? Can they easily move to a quiet room in order to take a call, without having to change PCs or unplug and move a laptop? Sure, you can use the in-built chat system to check whether or not they are available to answer a call, but you can’t confidently cold-call them as you would their mobile phone. Mobile phone use today is commonplace, reflexive, habitual. The infrastructure is essentially everywhere, and the hardware is in most everybody’s pocket.
In order for Skype and services like it to become similarly ingrained in the lives of their users, they need to make some bold changes. Microsoft has recently been advertising positions on a team that will be working toward bringing the “Skype experience on to the Web.” By providing users with access to the service without requiring the installation of third-party software, and through much-increased exposure, Microsoft is almost guaranteeing itself a raft of new users. Plus, making Skype browser-bound will provide the ability to add hooks into many other web services, making it the service of choice through mere access and convenience.
Thinking further, would it be surprising if Microsoft announced full OS-level Skype integration in future versions of Windows? This level of ubiquity is exactly the right move for Microsoft to make. Not just ubiquity in the sense that there will be an app available on every platform, but a ubiquity of experience. For a service like Skype to become ingrained in people’s lives as an essential tool, it needs to be pervasive. In this reality, every major system and piece of software would have Skype hooks where appropriate. For example, when you want want to share a photo or a piece of text, the option to send it as part of a Skype SMS would be available in all of your devices’ “Share” context menus. Should a call to come in, you would be able to choose to take it on your PC, tablet, or smartphone. Mid-call, thanks to deep OS integration, you could quickly, easily, and securely share files with the person you’re talking to. When you need to make a call, contact cards could include links to call via Skype. Scheduled calls could be fully integrated with your calendar, so that when the calendar notification for the call pops up, it could include a “Start Call” button. Imagine how things would change if Microsoft partnered with mobile carriers to sell bundled data-only handsets and plans that made use of the Skype service for calls, and an iMessage-like short messaging system.
With advances like these, Skype could become an integral part of our language of communication. In his October 2011 blog post regarding the Skype acquisition, Tony Bates — president of the Skype division at Microsoft — said “Microsoft is committed to the ubiquity of the Skype experience”. Is this the future he envisions? Whatever your VoIP service of choice, it is difficult to deny that Skype is well placed to make the changes necessary to realise this future.
[Image Credit: Jason Strong]
Up until this point, there were two ways that voice calls were supported on LTE phones: active dual-mode operation and CSFB (circuit-switched fallback). CDMA2000 operators (Verizon, Sprint, MetroPCS, Cricket, and so on) 
