And his central point of contention is that to thrive VoIP providers need to innovate on the services and features side, instead of focusing simply on lower pricing compared to traditional voice services. "Voice over IP is a zero-sum game now, with everybody matching low prices," says Pulver. "If the VoIP industry is only known as cheap local service, we all lose."
While there are those who would say that Pulver is no slouch at promoting himself as "Mr. VoIP," his enthusiasm for new technologies and innovation in the broadband-enabled telephony space is real. The same geeky high-school kid who once crossed a ham radio with a cordless phone to give himself an early version of mobile voice capability, Pulver now oversees a small empire of voice-related business concerns that include the Voice on the Net (VON) trade shows, the largest VoIP-centric event in the industry, as well as software and hardware enterprises all centered around IP-enabled communications.
Rather than just pitch VoIP as a cheaper way to make phone calls, Pulver sees opportunities for innovations that can open up entire new streams of revenue. On the enterprise customer side, he sees VoIP over Wi-Fi as a technology that could exact an enormous potential for cost savings and operational control, if you believe research that says most corporate cellular calls are between phones on the same campus.
"Wouldn't it be cool for enterprises to take advantage [of Wi-Fi VoIP] and take control of their own cellular bills?" Pulver asks.
On the innovation front, Pulver sees near-future opportunities for Wi-Fi mesh networks running VoIP, as well as technologies that support VoIP roaming between Wi-Fi and GSM networks.
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