Case 4 I Want My VOIP!!!! Essay

Less cost Digital telephone uses VOIP based on soft switching technology, which is less xpensive to apply and maintain. 2. Multifunctional In addition to equip with all the regular services offered by traditional telephone, digital telephone can convert phone calls into data, the integration of telephone, TV, and data Is extensive. 3. convenience There is no long distance charges and physical location of equipment doesn’t matter. Calls between multiple phone numbers are free. 4. Huge potential Features in the future are out of the reach of the local telephone, such as videophones, video emails. 1 . Relatively poor voice quality The voice quality of digital telephone is not as good as regular telephone service. 2. Power problem Lose of power means loss of telephone service while regular telephone systems still operate when electricity is out. Though batteries work for temporary backup power, but there is nothing would provide telephone service for extensive blackout periods. In view of Rita’s needs, lower cost. convenience and value, if I were her, I would choose digital telephone. However, before subscrlblng to Time warner, I would make a comparison among the digital telephone companies and decide the proper one, Compared with other companies, Time Warner has such Advantages Better service Relatively expensive Therefore, in view of RltaS needs, If I were her, I wont subscribe with Time Warner. #2. Write the first part of a marketing strategy statement for the Time Warner digital telephone offer ? Include the target market and planned product positioning. customer value and achieve profitable customer relationships. This process involves market segmentation, market targeting, differentiation, and positioning. Target market: A set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company ecides to serve. Positioning: Arranging for a product to occupy a clear, distinctive, and desirable place relative to competing products in the minds of target consumers. marketing strategy statement Target Market People like Rita who want lower costs, convenience and value, such as: People who want to lower their phone call costs, People who are fancy with multiple functions; People who usually make long distance calls, such as businessmen , or families with members far away from home Planned product positioning Low cost, convenient, multifunctional, promising communication product 3. In what stage of the product life cycle is Internet telephony? Does the answer to this question vary across companies such as Vontage, Comcast, Time Warner, and Cox? Product life cycle (PLC): The course ofa product’s sales and profits over its lifetime. It involves five distinct stages: product development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. 1 . Product development begins when the company finds and develops a new-product idea. During product development, sales are zero, and the company’s investment costs mount. 2. Introduction is a period of slow sales growth as he product is introduced in the market. Profits are nonexistent in this stage because of the heavy expenses of product introduction. 3. Growth is a period of rapid market acceptance and increasing profits. 4. Maturity is a period of slowdown in sales growth because the product has achieved acceptance by most potential buyers. Profits level off or decline because of increased marketing outlays to defend the product against competition. 5. Decline is the period when sales fall off and profits drop. 1) According to the definition and characteristics above, we can tell that Internet elephony is in the introduction stage. Although analysts expect 16 million subscribers to buy cable telephone services within 5 years. More than 20 companies have entered the market so far. Cable operators have been so slow to introduce the services and the growth of subscribers is even beginning to decline. Most of them still provide basic products. Nowadays they are taking great effort to advertise the product and to attract the customers. But the sales and profits are not so impressing. They all match the characteristics of Introduction stage. 2) The answer varies across ifferent companies. Comcast and Vontage have Just entered introduction stage because they started slower and now moving much more slowly than the other companies. Cox Communications and Time Warner is entering growth stage. Their cost per customer is cutting down and profit is rising. the advantages to both the consumer and the company? 1) Bundling of services work so well for the cable companies is because it meet consumer’s needs perfectly. For one thing, it is cheaper than the telephone company’s service. For another, consumers prefer one company one bill which is more convenient.