Communications 2.0

Every once in a while I like to take a step back, look at things the way they are and ask, "Why?" Why are things the way they are right now, and what is the reason we are maintaining the status quo. Quite often we maintain the status quo merely for the sake of keeping things consistent. You often hear arguments like, "Well, that's the way we've always done it." Or "That's just the way it is." For example, think about this: why do you have a phone number? Think about it long and hard. Most people know that the phone number identifies the device in your home that you use to make outbound calls and receive incoming calls, but - what is it really for?

Would it surprise you to learn that the phone number is an archaic device used by PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Networks)? Each number used to represent a specific tone that was sent on the wire. When the tone was received by a central switch, it would literally switch your carrier signal and send it down a different wire. Think about a train conductor requesting that his train be switched to track 2. Now, carry that analogy forward - to get where he needs to go, the train conductor might make the following track switch requests: 1 5 5 5 5 5 5 1 2 1 2. First, he wants track one, then track 5, then another track 5, and so on. This is how your signal is carried from your point of origin to the destination in a standard phone network. Here's where it starts to suck. If any of those points between switches is weak, you might lose your signal. If it's slow, you might not establish a connection in time. If one of the points between any of those switches has a lot of interference, your entire conversation will be subject to the interference, even though the interference might be because of some small problem on a 200 foot stretch of road in Idaho somewhere. Obviously things have gotten more advanced now, and the technology supporting the telephone numbers is far more advanced than that, and certainly more advanced than the days when Sherriff Andy Taylor used to be able to pick up the phone (without dialing) and ask Sarah to connect him over to Floyd's barber shop. Sarah was eventually replaced by a machine that listened for specific frequencies and wavelengths, one of which could eventually be used to connect to Floyd's Barber Shop.

Now let's keep going and look at what sucks about getting in touch with people today. Let's say I want to get hold of Bob, a co-worker of mine. I'm at home. First, I pick up the phone and dial Bob's home number. No answer. Then I call Bob's Cell, and I get voicemail. Not sure if that means he's unavailable, his phone is off, or he might have been in a meeting and just hung up on the first ring. So, then I check Bob's IM and see if he's around. He's not on his IM. So, then I finally send Bob an e-mail and sit around twiddling my thumbs for 15 minutes. Finally I got a quick e-mail from his Blackberry, "Doin PPT. Tlk l8r." Apparently Bob's up in front of people doing a PowerPoint, which explains what's going on. However, it doesn't give me back the time I wasted calling his house, his office, his cell phone, checking his IM, and pinging his e-mail box. This scenario wreaks of unnecessary complexity and is begging to be simplified. This is where Communications 2.0 comes in.

Fast forward a short 3 years into the future. Somehow I'm still working with Bob. I need to get a hold of Bob. I am home so I pick up my cordless VoIP phone. I've got a nice color display of all my buddies (replacement for the old Address Book or Contact List). Next to Bob's picture in this list I see an Icon for "Not Available". If I push a button to drill down into Bob's presence status, I see that Bob is in a meeting right now. Note that I never once needed Bob's phone number, nor do I care. Phone numbers are SO old school it's not funny. Nobody has phone numbers anymore, we all have SIP URIs, from which we have multiple devices connected and multiple status and presence information indicators. Knowing that Bob is in a meeting, I call Joe. I do this just by pushing the call button next to his name. No numbers. Joe picks up the phone - I've connected with his Cellular phone. Why? Because he's not at home, and his phone is set to available, and the plumbing for the phone system knows Joe's preferences and connected me to his cell. If someone not in Joe's buddy list tried to reach him, he would have appeared to be unavailable - this is all part of Joe's preferences, not mine.

After talking to Joe for a while, I look down at my phone, flip through my buddies, and see that Bob is now available. I don't know where he is, but I just push his name and he gets added to the phone call. Bob is now online from his office phone. I push Jane's picture because we need someone else in this conversation and Jane picks up from her PC using a headset. This is what Communications 2.0 is all about. The people attempting to communicate shouldn't have to worry about managing 8 million phone numbers, they shouldn't have to do the human equivalent of "polling" to determine presence. Presence should be delivered to me about the people I'm interested in before I even make a phone call or pick up a phone or turn on a computer. It should just be there. The people being called have full control over their availability information. They control the rules about where incoming calls go, and can choose to whom they appear as available and to whom they do not. Wouldn't it be nice if you could simply tell telemarketers that you're just not available?

Now imagine that the speech interface to some devices has gotten a lot better (Granted, we actually have some devices today that do a darn good job of recognizing your speech, unless you happen to have a thick southern drawl, in which case you're outta luck). Picture this - you're on the phone with Joe. You say, "Phone. Add Bob". Bob gets called and picks up. Then you say "Phone. Add Jane." Jane gets called on her PC and picks up. That folks, is what Communications 2.0 should look like, and the first people to be able to provide such an experience are going to be hailed as deities. The only real barrier to entry there is that some of the phone companies are being dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century because land lines and PSTNs still provide over a trillion dollars in business per year. What people don't realize is that when you combine IP networks, IP TV, VoIP, Communications 2.0, presence, and all that stuff into a single cohesive package that doesn't rely on traditional phone numbers, and uses forward-thinking presence/presentities, you're going to make a flaming truckload of money because your customers will be frothing at the mouth to get their hands on this. With such an integrated package, a picture of Bob could appear in a picture-in-picture type icon on your TV when he is calling and you could choose whether you want to take his call on your cell or your home phone, or pick it up on your laptop for a PC-to-phone call.

The future of communications is a bright one, provided no one screws it up.

Now if only I can get my computer to respond to the following command:

Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

tags: communications  voip  sip  mobile  cellular  comm20  

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