TeleSpan's 2005 Predictions
Here's what I think!
Elliot M. Gold, Publisher, Electronic TeleSpan
TeleSpan's Prediction #1:
Freeconference.com grows to 4% of North American market by 2007
Out of nowhere, Freeconference.com has grown to 2% of the North American service bureau market (Electronic TeleSpan, November 8, 2004, p. 4). While many feel TeleSpan is nuts to even write about Freeconference as its calls are "free," you have to begin to ask yourself: How much difference is there between "free" and 1.78 cents a minute, a rate I've seen from an auction for toll-free automated voice calls? On top of that, we're seeing folks bolting from North American service bureaus and going to long-term hosted agreements, like IBM going to Avaya/Spectel, Latitude customers moving toCisco/Latitude, and Oracle leaving Raindance to manage its own calls internally. Based on Freeconference.com's market share today, I'm predicting it could double that share by 2007.
Just a note to those who have figured out Freeconference.com's business plan, and how it actually does make money on those "free" calls. You might think that current regulatory trends could hurt Freeconference.com's business plan. Just remember how slow the regulatory process is and how full of holes it is, before you conclude that I'm wrong.
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Reprinted from the January 17, 2005 issue of Elliot Gold's Electronic TeleSpan, with permission.
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