Businessweek posted an interesting analysis on Google Voice and Ring Central, called “Services that Eliminate Telephone Tag.”
Erik Hesseldahl calls both of these services “call management.” They are both geared towards not missing calls, routing calls to the right numbers, and sending calls straight to voicemail. They are about “arranging call connections.”
Hesseldahl does not view these services as competition. Ring Central is geared towards businesses, giving business phone systems more of a big business feel, while Google services popular customers. Nevertheless, Ring Central clearly felt the need to sharpen the distinction between the services, as they posted an in-depth chart on their website contrasting all of the features offered by each. While Ring Central notes the importance of some of its applications for businesses, it still argues that it is “suitable for both business and individual use.”
Google Voice will inevitably continue releasing new features to complete the package. Differentiating factors today, such as the need to choose a google number for Google Voice (in Ring Central you can keep your existing number), may begin to fade away as Google Voice picks up steam. But, Google’s ownership of all call details will surely remain a factor for all businesses that need complete security.
Comparing free and paid services leads to interesting marketing discussions. The free services keep the paid ones on their toes, forcing them to explain the added value of their premium service. But, the release of a free competitive service will not necessarily harm the premium one. It could instead have the reverse effect, of popularizing the need and comfort with the specific type of service, and then allowing the competitors to explain their added value. Let’s stay tuned to see what happens in this case…
Related posts:
- Voice is Coming Back in Style with iPhone Apps and Google’s Nexus One
- 5 Reasons Why Teachers (and Other Non-Techies) Love Google Voice
- Google Voice Enters the iphone – Through the Web Browser
- Question of the Month: Did Apple Really Reject Google Voice?
- Real Time Google Voice Translation in the Works
