Ultimately, voice traffic is a commodity, and so, frankly, are the devices used to dispense that commodity: QoS switches, VoIP routers, WiFi phones and the like. So the question Om poses is a good one–Who will make money from VoIP, ultimately? Om hypothesizes that, at least for now, it’s the gear makers (Cisco, etc.) and not the service providers (Vonage, etc.) that have the best profit odds.
But Om didn’t mention integrators–these are the guys who make the real profits in VoIP. The knowledge-service provided by consultants who implement VoIP systems of all stripes are the value-add that earn the most profit in VoIP today, and who I expect knowledge consultants will reap the lion’s share of the profit-making in the industry for many years to come.
I agree with you, I just wanted to include the up and coming open source VoiP movement (particularly Asterisk PBX). It’s no longer about the software, it’s about the hardware and the custom setup/consulting.