Comments on: iotum and the Open AIM Phoneline Developers Program http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/ A daily round table on the tech industry with experts and callers from all over the globe. Join us as we pick apart the news and get to the meat of what\'s happening out there. Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:20:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: AOL announces AOL OpenVoice API. CAVEAT DEVELOPER. — Alec Saunders SquawkBox http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-740147 AOL announces AOL OpenVoice API. CAVEAT DEVELOPER. — Alec Saunders SquawkBox Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:03:09 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-740147 [...] The AIM Phoneline Developers program was announced September 7, 2008. A week later, iotum was one of three developers (the others were MyNumo and mVox) demonstrating early products at the AOL booth at VON. A whirlwind of promotional activity occurred. At the end of September, MyNumo’s Bill Volk, Andy Abramson and myself spent the day at AOL headquarters in Virginia recording podcasts with AOL VP’s Ragui Kamel and Alex Quilici, along with Sharon Kasimow, director of AOL Voice Services Product Management. At the Voice 2.0 conference in mid-October, AOL Senior VP Ragui Kamel was clearly one of the stars. AOL was lauded by the press and blogging community for the depth and breadth of their vision — America’s telephone company for the 21st century, they were called. [...] [...] The AIM Phoneline Developers program was announced September 7, 2008. A week later, iotum was one of three developers (the others were MyNumo and mVox) demonstrating early products at the AOL booth at VON. A whirlwind of promotional activity occurred. At the end of September, MyNumo’s Bill Volk, Andy Abramson and myself spent the day at AOL headquarters in Virginia recording podcasts with AOL VP’s Ragui Kamel and Alex Quilici, along with Sharon Kasimow, director of AOL Voice Services Product Management. At the Voice 2.0 conference in mid-October, AOL Senior VP Ragui Kamel was clearly one of the stars. AOL was lauded by the press and blogging community for the depth and breadth of their vision — America’s telephone company for the 21st century, they were called. [...]

]]> By: foRumCuQ » Google kel?me ve pr Yukselt… http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-514642 foRumCuQ » Google kel?me ve pr Yukselt… Sun, 06 Jan 2008 10:42:55 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-514642 [...] http://juploadr.sourceforge.net/2006…-other-people/ http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/io…opers-program/ http://www.blog.mediaprojekte.de/cms…get-king-text/ ++ [...] [...] http://juploadr.sourceforge.net/2006…-other-people/ http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/io…opers-program/ http://www.blog.mediaprojekte.de/cms…get-king-text/ ++ [...]

]]> By: Alec http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-47975 Alec Mon, 02 Oct 2006 22:02:27 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-47975 Hi Joyce, This isn't an AIM Phoneline support site, and I am probably not the best person to help with your question. I recommend you go to www.aimphoneline.com, and check for their support people. Thanks - Alec. Hi Joyce,

This isn’t an AIM Phoneline support site, and I am probably not the best person to help with your question. I recommend you go to http://www.aimphoneline.com, and check for their support people.

Thanks - Alec.

]]> By: joyce mcbride http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-47810 joyce mcbride Mon, 02 Oct 2006 02:13:58 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-47810 can you help me? i tried to get aim phone and i guess somehow my seperated husband was signed in because when i put my information in and finished it it gave me his email not mine to where my messages would go. i have looked everywhere on aim for help with this and really want to get it fixed.thank you, Joyce Mcbride can you help me? i tried to get aim phone and i guess somehow my seperated husband was signed in because when i put my information in and finished it it gave me his email not mine to where my messages would go. i have looked everywhere on aim for help with this and really want to get it fixed.thank you, Joyce Mcbride

]]> By: Andrew http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-40330 Andrew Sun, 10 Sep 2006 18:06:00 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-40330 "A common thing startups come into VCs and say is this: “there’s a big market and if we get just 1% to try our cool new thing, it’ll be a huge success.” " I said that not the guys @ Iotum, but in fairness your statement is very true. The real beauty of this relationship isn't the fact that Iotum is marketing to the AOL customer base, it is the fact that the solution is extensible, based on standards and provides a platform for Voice. This (as far as I am aware) doesn't exist yet, it is a first. AOL truly gets it, and has the money and resources to keep partners around while they ramp up, they aren't a start up, and I have an inkling they won't compete, or allow partners to fail in the short term. “A common thing startups come into VCs and say is this: “there’s a big market and if we get just 1% to try our cool new thing, it’ll be a huge success.” ” I said that not the guys @ Iotum, but in fairness your statement is very true.

The real beauty of this relationship isn’t the fact that Iotum is marketing to the AOL customer base, it is the fact that the solution is extensible, based on standards and provides a platform for Voice. This (as far as I am aware) doesn’t exist yet, it is a first. AOL truly gets it, and has the money and resources to keep partners around while they ramp up, they aren’t a start up, and I have an inkling they won’t compete, or allow partners to fail in the short term.

]]> By: Rick http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-39520 Rick Fri, 08 Sep 2006 21:54:24 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-39520 It's a great start. iotum won't get one iotum if they do nothing. This could be a snowball effect, like viral marketing. I suppose Skype started with less. It’s a great start. iotum won’t get one iotum if they do nothing. This could be a snowball effect, like viral marketing. I suppose Skype started with less.

]]> By: VOIPCommentor http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-39485 VOIPCommentor Fri, 08 Sep 2006 20:32:12 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-39485 A common thing startups come into VCs and say is this: "there's a big market and if we get just 1% to try our cool new thing, it'll be a huge success." They're usually quickly shown the door. The reason is that the "big market" is often much smaller than the startups think, and they wind up with 1% of their real market. For iotum, their real market is the AIM Phoneline users, who are also SOHO, and who find that a standalone AIM Phoneline does not meet their needs. Be generous and assume that you get 2-3m people on free or paid AIM Phoneline, looking out a year or two, which would be a significant accomplishment for something new to the mainstream like online voicemail or online calling - that's a 5% penetration or so of AIM/AOL users. Of those, likely 10-15% are actually SOHO, which gives you 200-300k as your real target market for iotum. Now apply the 1%, which is the early adopters in that crowd who will actually be interested, the ones that really are using AIM Phoneline heavily for their business, the ones that really have a problem that intelligent call forwarding might be able to solve, and the ones who will open their wallets and pay. You get 2-3k. And that assumes you'll get the 1% from having a small presence in a "storefront" that only some of the audience will ever visit even once. Remember, AOL itself only got a reported 2k subscribers on it's own TotalTalk service despite having some real marketing muscle to apply to it. Don't get me wrong. I like iotum's little application, but it's a big mistake to assume that AIM Phoneline is what will magically turn them into a mainstream success. A common thing startups come into VCs and say is this: “there’s a big market and if we get just 1% to try our cool new thing, it’ll be a huge success.”

They’re usually quickly shown the door.

The reason is that the “big market” is often much smaller than the startups think, and they wind up with 1% of their real market.

For iotum, their real market is the AIM Phoneline users, who are also SOHO, and who find that a standalone AIM Phoneline does not meet their needs. Be generous and assume that you get 2-3m people on free or paid AIM Phoneline, looking out a year or two, which would be a significant accomplishment for something new to the mainstream like online voicemail or online calling - that’s a 5% penetration or so of AIM/AOL users. Of those, likely 10-15% are actually SOHO, which gives you 200-300k as your real target market for iotum.

Now apply the 1%, which is the early adopters in that crowd who will actually be interested, the ones that really are using AIM Phoneline heavily for their business, the ones that really have a problem that intelligent call forwarding might be able to solve, and the ones who will open their wallets and pay. You get 2-3k. And that assumes you’ll get the 1% from having a small presence in a “storefront” that only some of the audience will ever visit even once. Remember, AOL itself only got a reported 2k subscribers on it’s own TotalTalk service despite having some real marketing muscle to apply to it.

Don’t get me wrong. I like iotum’s little application, but it’s a big mistake to assume that AIM Phoneline is what will magically turn them into a mainstream success.

]]> By: Andrew http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-39127 Andrew Thu, 07 Sep 2006 22:07:05 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-39127 I disagree Voip Commentator. The vast majority of AOL users in the US pay for AOL internet access and up until recently for AOL (how I understand it). If just a small percentage of them are SOHO's (which I believe they are) an enhanced messaging and forwarding platform like Iotum is a no brainer. What are the other options? Skype's VM is piss poor (and hasn't been updated at at all) Vonage doesn't have a hosted business solution, and any hosted PBX solutions are really expensive (with the exception of Versature, another Iotum partner - caveat you have to buy a rather pricey IP phone), If Iotum can provide a tool set for the SOHO crowd that is functional and can actually replicate an advanced PBX solution with software and a few USB peripherals, they have a great shot at being adopted. I would use it. I disagree Voip Commentator. The vast majority of AOL users in the US pay for AOL internet access and up until recently for AOL (how I understand it). If just a small percentage of them are SOHO’s (which I believe they are) an enhanced messaging and forwarding platform like Iotum is a no brainer. What are the other options? Skype’s VM is piss poor (and hasn’t been updated at at all) Vonage doesn’t have a hosted business solution, and any hosted PBX solutions are really expensive (with the exception of Versature, another Iotum partner - caveat you have to buy a rather pricey IP phone), If Iotum can provide a tool set for the SOHO crowd that is functional and can actually replicate an advanced PBX solution with software and a few USB peripherals, they have a great shot at being adopted. I would use it.

]]> By: Voip Commentor http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-39095 Voip Commentor Thu, 07 Sep 2006 21:09:00 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-39095 AIM Phoneline's ecosystem is a very good idea. Unfortunately, I doubt iotum will get anywhere as a paid service with the AIM audience. AIM users just don't pay for things, especially for niche products for the niche audience that really needs sophisticated forwarding. The service would be a lot more interesting if it were free, since AIM is all about free, since then at least some people would play with it. There's also the issue about when AIM Phoneline will actually get 43 million subscribers. Those people are there to instant message, not to make or recieve phone calls. Rumor has it that the service is growing quickly, but it took Skype several years to build a meaningful audience, and it's going to take AIM a similar amount of time to get people to think of AIM as a phone. Definitely interesting to see what happens, but it'll be a very big surprise if iotum gets over 500 subscribers by the end of 2007. AIM Phoneline’s ecosystem is a very good idea.

Unfortunately, I doubt iotum will get anywhere as a paid service with the AIM audience. AIM users just don’t pay for things, especially for niche products for the niche audience that really needs sophisticated forwarding. The service would be a lot more interesting if it were free, since AIM is all about free, since then at least some people would play with it.

There’s also the issue about when AIM Phoneline will actually get 43 million subscribers. Those people are there to instant message, not to make or recieve phone calls. Rumor has it that the service is growing quickly, but it took Skype several years to build a meaningful audience, and it’s going to take AIM a similar amount of time to get people to think of AIM as a phone.

Definitely interesting to see what happens, but it’ll be a very big surprise if iotum gets over 500 subscribers by the end of 2007.

]]> By: Rick http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-39047 Rick Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:29:26 +0000 http://saunderslog.com/2006/09/07/iotum-and-the-open-aim-phoneline-developers-program/#comment-39047 Awesome. AOL is a very friendly partner; not so concerned about personal greed as a true ecosystem. Awesome. AOL is a very friendly partner; not so concerned about personal greed as a true ecosystem.

]]>