Free SIP

Kueblekan, a reader and former co-worker at the now defunct SunRocket VOIP start-up, sends me news that OnSip is now offering free SIP accounts to any sucker person who wants one. All you have to do is send in a photo of yourself dressed in the parachute pants and Members-Only jacket you wear everyday.

Seriously, this is so yesterday! While SIP is in serious use today, most of it is behind-the-scenes SIP trunking to lower costs for the telcos. But for end users, this has all been overcome by events with the move to smart phones. And while things like Google Voice and FaceTime might use SIP underneath, they are proprietary offerings from the user's perspective.

The traditional integration of end-user SIP with the telco system was never that great. Long call-setups were common, FAX is difficult if not impossible, etc... Meanwhile Google Voice and FaceTime are doing video chat. I remember our telco-bread Qualcomm executives brought in to shape up SunRocket telling us to quit thinking about video chat because users didn't want it. Kinda funny because it is quite popular with families trying to keep grandkids in touch with their grandparents. Anyway, so much for their advice. We know where SunRocket landed.

The real issue Keublekan should be thinking about is getting his boom sticks smuggled out of commie territory so we can take them to the range. But that's a post for another time. Seriously Keub... that could really be a post for a another time.