I’ve got questions; help me with some answers.
Is telecom boring? Is the public excited about anything in telecom besides the iPhone?
Is voice-over-IP no longer progressive? (I think I know the answer to that one.) What would make VoIP phone service interesting again? What features would make you want to use your VoIP phone service instead of your cell phone when the VoIP “phone” (whatever form) and the cell phone are right next to each other?
What should phone service cost? If it cost nothing to dial overseas, would you make more international calls? Is the price already so low that toll charges don’t really matter?
Who’s on first?
What kind of convergence/integration do university people really want? Voicemail by e-mail? E-mail by voice? Softphones on the computer and web browsers on the phone? More video capabilities?
Would most people be happy if we just provided a bunch of ringtones and background pictures?
At last, someone is saying something about that darn policy! This is the only place I’ve *ever* worked that view cell phones that way. At my last place, I had a cell phone and a blackberry (for data). Here, the only way I can have a blackberry (other than by becoming a department chair or vice-dean — both extremely unlikely) is to pay for it myself, which I’m unwilling to do.
Why does PSU have this policy and nobody else does? Are we just really conservative with what may be judged as taxable income? What about the people who surf to Cnn.com during the day? Is that taxable? Or if I take a library book out for personal use?
Well, “trivialize” is a bit strong, and as you point out, it’s a matter of policy, not really my answers that hold most people back. What I’m trying to say is (in my own harsh way, sorry) is that we ought to be looking at what people need to do and making it easier for them to do it. We’re here to support the mission of the University, not sell more of our services. If using our services makes it easier for them to enact the business of the University, that’s a completely different story. How do we do that? I’d suggest that we follow something that Kevin’s been beating into my head now for more than a year. Get out and talk to them. Not your friends, or even your acquaintances, find somebody that you don’t know, introduce yourself, take them to coffee, and ask what you can do to make their job easier. If it uses VoIP, you get a double win!
Come on, now. You’ve trivialized almost all of my questions to the point where no one else will answer them.
You asked, “If the mission of the University is best served by customers using cell phones…” I know at least some jobs are better served by cell phones and those employees never use the functions of “business phones” such as conferencing, transfer, and presence (which we currently don’t offer very well on VoIP) that don’t exist in any simple form on a cell phone today.
This ridiculous policy is what deters anyone from moving in the direction of replacing their desk sets with cellular service.
My non-authoritative answers to your survey questions:
Q: Is telecom boring?
A: Yes. Talking to people, on the other hand, can be as exciting as you make it.
Q: Is the public excited about anything in telecom besides the iPhone?
A: No.
Q: What would make VoIP phone service interesting again?
A: Nothing.
Q: What features would make you want to use your VoIP phone service instead of your cell phone when the VoIP “phone” (whatever form) and the cell phone are right next to each other?
A: There is no answer to that question because the situation will never happen. They will never be “right next to each other.” If I have a cell phone, it is with me always, everywhere I go, and people know that is how to contact me. Unless you have a nationwide cellular data plan, VoIP is tethered. It isn’t with me when I need to talk to someone. Even if you do, then you also have a cell phone, so you may as well use it. VoIP may eventually become the way voice is transported across cell networks, but it will just be an implementation detail.
Q: What should phone service cost?
A: $0 for unlimited voice, data, and text messages. Nationally.
Q: If it cost nothing to dial overseas, would you make more international calls?
A: No, but people who want to talk to people overseas might.
Q: Is the price already so low that toll charges don’t really matter?
A: Who pays for minutes any more?
Q: Who’s on first?
A: Yes.
Q: What kind of convergence/integration do university people really want?
A: The kind that makes it so they can stop being asked these questions and get on with communicating.
Q: Voicemail by e-mail?
A: Wired.
Q: E-mail by voice?
A: Tired.
Q: Softphones on the computer and web browsers on the phone?
A: I can already do that. What value would the University add?
Q: More video capabilities?
A: See previous.
Q: Would most people be happy if we just provided a bunch of ringtones and background pictures?
A: I’d start by suggesting we focus on making sure the service we provide offers customers what they need. If the mission of the University is best served by customers using cell phones, why would we want to prevent them from doing that?
I’m really trying to be helpful here. We all have our own style. 😉