By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

We use smart phones like little computers already. But there’s a less visual revolution going on in voice world. Bulky landlines systems as we know it, might soon take a hit. If the predictions are true, the telephone will become more like a web browser and will run on a different type of network entirely. Instead of sending phone calls through the old school switch method, voice wil be routed through an IP network. This is precisely what the profitable company, Bandwidth.com is doing. Bandwidth just launched FlexNetwork, an IP voice network, after spending 3 years building the network from scratch. It might be one of the “most significant VoIP investments in the past decade.”

Technology Review reports:

Though Bandwidth.com says it built this network and owns it, in today’s world, that doesn’t mean the company laid any cable. Instead, it involves weaving together a system of Internet circuits, IP routing technologies, and connections to other telephone providers. “The hardest part and the longest pull is the interconnections with all of the various [carriers],” [Bandwidth's chief technology officer, T.R. Missner says].

Suddenly if you think about voice as an app, the possibilities to manipulate how voice is used become endless. And unlike regular telephone systems, people on this network can access both voicemail and email, or have one place for several phone numbers to come through. It also makes conducting conference calls easier.

Yext, OnState, Voxeo, ifbyphone are on this voice IP network already. Through Ifbyphone’s platform, people can track their incoming calls and automate calls going out. And Yext is a kind of yellow pages for businesses. OnState is using the network to roll out a cloud call center to help connect customers to the employee that is most suited to answer their question.

Customers can get a local U.S. phone number through its service. This year, the network has provided 4 billion minutes and 1 million phone numbers. And VoIP network gives small businesses a way to cut down costs. Most importantly, the groundwork for creativity has been planted. And a surplus of apps will soon follow.

Image: flickr/ Toni Blay

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