Fellow blogger Tom Keating reports that “a source” has just informed him that Vonage has plans to open up their Session Initiation Protocol credentials. The move reportedly would occur in March or April of this year.
Such a move would, as Tom writes, let Vonage users configure their own Vonage-compatible SIP softphones and hardphones.
The move would be a significant strategic departure for Vonage.
“One of the main reasons why Vonage has kept the SIP credentials ‘closed,’ Tom writes, is that they charge $9.99/month for their SIP softphone client, which then gives you access to your “personal SIP credentials”.
So why would Vonage even contemplate a strategic 180 degree turn?
Tom says his source tells him that Vonage is feeling strong competition from other VoIP providers, including som such as Broadvoice and SIPgate that already offer SIP credentials.
Perhaps the most direct justification for such a move, as Tom notes, would be that in opening up their SIP, Vonage would enable users of the Asterisk
open-source IP-based phone system to use Vonage for PSTN termination.
As a postscript, I note that the Vonage Forum has already opened a thread on this issue. “Awesome,” comments frequent Vonage Forum poster blakadher about the report.