3. Add Presence Capabilities to the Network ??? It's almost criminal that three years after launching, Vonage still hasn't leveraged the most exciting of possible services, presence. Knowing when someone is available for a call (think IM) is a huge time server. Yes, , presence will cut down on call minutes and voicemail, but it will also give your service a unique differentiator, one that will separate you from most other Internet-based telephone services.
4. Get Vonage to Spell "I-M" ??? Many of IP-savvy competitors get that IM, video, voice, and presence belong together. You can do one better. Open up Vonage as the first true, global commercial IM offering. Establish peering relationships with other IM vendors. The motivation? Financial. Offer them some fraction of a percentage of voice termination on your network. They're not getting anything today for voice termination so even a little will be an incentive. In return, you get the first IM service that can connect with AIM, Yahoo, MSN, Skype, and GoogleTalk/Jabber.
5. Add Video ??? You knew this was coming. You've got to move fast if you're going to play the video card and you'll need that card in the longterm. Your competitors are already aggressively pursuing the technology. So should you. Over time our living rooms will be changed into conference rooms, our bedrooms into, well, we won't go there. Any consumer-oriented, communication service though without a video play in that space is ultimately doomed.
6. Dish up Teen "Stuff" ??? Video, presence, IM all of it sounds like the teen-crowd play, a play that you could easily capture. Adding sound effects, ringtones, and voice effects would also go along way to grabbing this market. Pop in video and you've got the killer service.
7. Don't Ignore Small Business - There was and probably still is a great opportunity for Vonage to offer "the small business makeover kit." You could package your VoIP technologies to give small companies the appearance of large ones. You already have multipole area codes and 800 lines. What about centralized billing and reporting? Why not add a VonageClickToCall button so customers can turn their Web pages into contact center pages.
