Soon, protocols will be irrelevant since all VoIP devices will support all of them.
An interesting point -- though it misses a key issue. Translation can replace standards as long as the standards are transparent and processor speed is cheap and plentiful. This is true for all open protocols -- think currencies, human language translation... But not so for closed, proprietary protocols. As an open-source VoIP offering, Asterisk makes it easy for anyone to support since their protocol is published. Translation for Skype, on the other hand, might prove much more difficult.
On another front, I spoke to someone who was told by Global Crossing that they are now doing tests to certify Asterisk. If they decide to formally support Asterisk, this will be an even stronger indication that we are on the road to wide adoption rather than oblivion...
COMMENT 5/8/2004 1:40:50 AM Roland Tanglao (www) said:
Hi Ted:
Yes, it can be difficult to translate and emulate a closed protocol like Skype, but it's not impossible.
If Skype doesn't interoperate and coexist with other VoIP protocols but in spite of this still becomes popular with the mass market, somebody will reverse engineer it!