Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

Last week, eBay created much buzz when it announced Skype for the iPhone. The application is free to download and allows free calls between Skype users, much like the computer-based program does. We've been tracing the development of VoIP and its migration to the handset for awhile as it will surely be a game-changer.

Here, great moments in VoIP history:

1995

• Vocaltec releases what is believed to be the first internet phone software

2000

• Networking manufacturers introduce equipment that routes and switches VoIP traffic

2003

August

• Skype launches peer-to-peer VoIP telephony service free for Skype-to-Skype users regardless of distance

• SIPphone, Inc. announces the availability of free, worldwide phone calls using the first affordable plug-n-play internet phone

October

• Skype rolls out a service that allows relatively cheap calls to the Public Switched Telephone Network

2004

February

• Skype becomes first service to offer peer-to-peer Internet telephony conference calls and becomes fastest growing, globally available communications tool in history

2005

April

• Skype launches Skypeln, which allows users to select a country and area code and receive a local number

July

• Gizmo Project unveils public beta of its free consumer VoIP software, heralded as “the first viable Skype alternative”

August

• SIPphone announces Gizmo Project 1.0 along with an agreement to connect to GoogleTalk using open standards, making the two the first major instant messaging networks to launch complete compatibility

September

• eBay acquires Skype for $2.6 billion

2006

February

• Skype and Hutchinson 3, the 3G mobile company, announce partnership to enable Skype on 3G

• iSkoot announces the iSkoot Mobile Network, a gateway that connects cellular voice and PC-to-PC networks, enabling consumers to place and receive internet calls with their mobile phones without the need for PCs, special hardware, custom phones or Wi-Fi hot spots

August

• iSkoot signs a co-marketing agreement with Skype, allowing Java-phones and Smartphones to place and receive internet calls through Skype

September

• GrandCentral launches at DEMOFall ’06 featuring “One Number for Life,” centralized voicemails accessible from the web or by phone and the ability to import contact lists from email programs

October

• JAJAH, an easy to use "web-activated calling" solution, officially launches worldwide and reaches 1,000,000 users just six months later

2007

May

• MOBIVOX launches its hosted service, making it the first ever communication provider to bring Skype to ANY mobile device.

June

• Skype announces Skype To Go, with which users can make international calls from their mobile phones at a discounted rate by calling a Skype-issued local number

July

• GrandCentral Communications is purchased by Google

November

• Raketu introduces its SMS-Text Driven VoIP Service allowing mobile users to make phone-to-phone VoIP calls with no computer or Internet connection required

December

• Popular international social networks add voice-oriented deployments like JanglMe for Bebo, Phonebook for Facebook and Jangl for Friendster

2008

January

• TalkPlus, a service that allows a single phone number to ring your mobile, home and office phones all at once, is released

April

• JAJAH is selected by Yahoo! as the outsource partner for its premium voice service

• MOBIVOX announces “Send Message,” which allows users to send text messages or emails from any phone by recording a short message which is then transcribed to tex

June

• Josh Silverman, CEO of Skype Limited, discloses plans to offer unlimited free calls to mobile users in Korea, a move that can change the pecking order of the Korean telecom market

August

• Global IP Solutions enables real-time VoIP on iPhone apps

• Tatung creates a VoIP phone prototype

September

• Creation of the first eco-friendly VoIP phone

October

• JAJAH partners with Momail, a free mobile mail operator, allowing users to make VoIP phone calls by sending an e-mail

November

• VoxOx unifies VoIP, video, instant messaging, texting, e-mail, fax and social media into one desktop application

December

• Truphone releases app for the Apple iTouch effectively turning the iTouch into a mobile phone

2009

February

• Skype says it will integrate with Nokia to get its VoIP and IM software program pre-installed on some Nokia devices

• JAJAH offers VoIP to users of Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Symbian

• VoIP company Gizmo5 creates a free Skype gateway called OpenSky that enables any VoIP client, SIP or mobile phone to make calls to Skype users

March

• Skype for the iPhone is announced

From the very first “Internet Phone” 14 years ago to this latest achievement, VoIP has come a long way and Skype has been instrumental in this evolution. In the first few days after the Skype for the iPhone went live, it was downloaded more than a million times. Skype will likely get an even bigger boost when it becomes available for the Blackberry in May. Of course, the Skype app only works on WiFi, not the carrier's networks, so its far from a carrier replacement. Still, it will be interesting to look at this timeline in a year or two. Its no wonder carriers are already investigating alternative revenue models.