Jeff Bonforte of Yahoo! believes Voice 3.0, the next phase in voice communications, will require more than a reinvention of the existing PSTN. It requires the ability to directly integrate voice with the content, applications, services, and data available on the internet.
Jeff points out the need to provide more compelling reasons, beyond simple cost savings, for a greater majority of users to give up their current telephone. Otherwise, why discard something that works well?
Jeff says Yahoo! has built a core set of assets that position it as the company capable of moving voice to the next stage. It wants to provide more open access to its resources and become the leader in the transformation in voice communications.
Jeff Bonforte is the senior director of Voice Product Management at Yahoo! Inc. Bonforte oversees the product and business operations for Yahoo!'s consumer voice initiatives as the company extends its voice services as a core component of Yahoo! Messenger.
Prior to joining Yahoo!, Bonforte was president of SIPphone, Inc., a VoIP startup, where he championed the development and launch of the Gizmo Project, a free internet telephone. He was senior vice president for Larry Ellison's New Internet Computer (NIC), where he managed all business development and marketing for the startup. Bonforte is also the former CEO and founder of on-line storage pioneer i-drive.com.
Prior to his work in the internet, Bonforte worked in management consulting for seven years. Bonforte holds a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is an avid freefly skydiver when not sitting in front of a computer.
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