In their study Residential Telephony, ConsumerLab researchers Mikael Björling and Erik Kruse examined how telephony services are being used at home in the mature markets of the US, Korea and France, focusing on what - if any - demand exists for multimedia features such as personalized ring tones, internet services and address book functions.

They discovered that the home phone remains deeply rooted in people's minds as the most important means to stay in touch with friends and family. But while consumers are reluctant to part with a fixed device, they are seeking a new, yet simple, at-home phone experience.

"Consumers expect the home phone to be developed with new, richer services," Björling says. "But nothing has really happened in terms of usability and attractive design, and the consequence is that the current functions are difficult to manage and the device is perceived as being boring."

As one respondent put it: "I can receive SMS messages and I think I can send them as well, but I never do. It seems complicated and I have never bothered to learn how to do it."

Overcoming this perception will require a careful look at what women want, Björling and Krus believe. "Women are the main users of home telephony and we have to understand how and in what context they are using services when developing new multimedia functions," Björling says.

It was women, in particular mothers, who responded most favorably when questioned about the use of multimedia features, possibly because they do not use their mobile phones or computers as frequently as other family members.

Of the 12 concepts put forward for consideration, text messaging, internet and e-mail functionality ranked as the most interesting to moms. But these options were well down the list for other segments, which considered call history, visual feedback, address book and video calls as more appealing.

In all cases, multimedia features are considered "nice to haves" rather than "must haves," establishing this as a tough market.

In France, the most advanced of the three counties surveyed, introduction of VoIP and triple-play bundling has proven successful. Freebox, for example, has made significant inroads, offering unlimited broadband, voice calls and multi-channels for just EUR 29.99 per month.

Björling and Krus found that VoIP availability has actually increased home phone use in the country, while France Telecom subscribers say that they use their fixed-line phone just as much today as they did three years ago.

The future? It is in the hands of the industry, Björling says. "The mobile handset market has created an update loop that makes people change their phones every year. This is driven by new design, new features and performance. The home phone has to be developed in the same direction. From a telecom perspective this means new services, new business models and smart, attractive offerings. It is up to the industry to drive and revitalize development in this area."