Virtual Telecoms: The Future of Social Networking or Bygone Technology?

News emerged last week surrounding speculation that Google and Verizon are set to become partners in the delivery of a new Google VoIP service, which will form part of the existing Google Voice, and will further enhance the Gmail experience for consumers.

While analysts at Goldman Sachs believe that the driver behind the move is to reinforce its social networking services as opposed to becoming a virtual telecommunications provider, we can’t help but think that the move could mean major change for a number of industries, digital, telecommunications and IT to name just three.

Views remain mixed about the impact that the move will make.  Some argue that adding telecommunications to social networking defeats the objective.  Social networking is about sharing conversations openly within a broader community, adding dynamic content, photos, video and games to the dialogue, rather than one to one calls via the web.  Advances in mobile internet communications are reducing the need for traditional land lines and home phones, which raises questions about the purpose of a new VoIP provider.  Others are more convinced, believing that calls routed through computers, rather than the existing method of telephones, is a revolutionary step that will push our lives further down a virtual path.

Either way, Google has once again created headlines and fierce debate over the future direction of digital communications; only time will tell if this is another revolutionary step forward by the Internet giant, or another failed experiment.