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IP Communications, SIP Trunking Set to Drive Growth in 2009

By Greg Galitzine, Group Editorial Director

Dallas, Texas-based Broadvox (News - Alert) offers SIP Trunking, SIP origination and termination services,a and hosted communications solutions.

 

Broadvox sees its mission as providing integrated managed VoIP services to SMB, Enterprise and Carrier customers. In order to achieve its goals, Broadvox has deployed a global VoIP network and worked hard to gain the trust of over 160 telecommunications carriers, CLECs, ISPs and over a thousand enterprises to terminate and originate over six billion minutes annually.

 

Anchored by the Broadvox network operations center (NOC (News - Alert)), the company prides itself on providing reliable, secure and high-quality service to its customer base.

 

Recently Broadvox announced that it had certified AudioCodes’ Mediant 1000 multi-service business gateway to work with its service, in an effort to enable countless enterprises that have not yet made the switch to IP to enjoy the cost savings and feature benefits of SIP Trunking.

 

Andre Temnorod, Chairman and CEO of Broadvox was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to respond to a series of questions for TMCnet. The following Q&A is a result of that effort.

 

 

GG: When you look back on 2008, was it a good year for your company?

AT: It was. Where many telecom companies were adversely affected by the economy, we systematically grew and expanded. Our focus at the beginning of the year was on growing our VAR channel and targeting SMBs. As the months continued, we directed our attention on our channel and selected seven Directors of Channel Sales to cover the United States and Canada. With these changes and additions, we were able to capture more of the market share of SMBs and anticipate that the growth that began in 2008 will continue as we expand our reach to even more SMBs and enterprises that are migrating to IP communications solutions.

 

Moreover, our wholesale business reached new records as well. We have a very experienced carrier sales team that customizes our products to meet the demanding needs of other IP network carriers and application providers. We also enhanced the carrier products with the addition of E911, CNAM, Directory Listing and LRN Dips. The ability to meet customer needs and the enhanced products led to our best 3Q results.

 

GG: What was your firm’s biggest achievement last year?

AT: We completed the integration of the Sonus and NextPoint (News - Alert) Softswitches into our network. This was very important as we expanded our wholesale and SIP Trunking offerings. Our customers are benefitting from our network improvements as well as those made to our services and features. In addition, we repackaged our SIP Trunking product offerings and at the same time, began delivering our products at lower price points than ever. We also branched out in the connectivity arena, offering DSL, T1s and DS3s as well as allowing customers to use their current broadband provider. If their broadband can successfully pass our QoS measurements, then why should they have to switch providers? Improvements to our network, as well as additions to our product line, came together to deliver greater network availability and a higher quality offering to our customer base.

 

GG: What can we expect to see from your company for the next 12 months?

AT: We anticipate a burst of activity and substantial business growth throughout the coming year. Our prediction is based not only on the achievements we made this year, but also on the economy. Where other industries are suffering, IP communications has the opportunity for significant growth due to its cost saving properties. Companies need to view this time as an opportunity to manage cost more effectively and to position for future telecom services. IP communications will make both of those a reality. The network upgrade, restructure of product packaging and pricing and new offerings promise to infuse new interest in Broadvox nationwide. Having laid the groundwork for expanding our customer base, we directed our focus on our channel and selected seven Directors of Channel Sales to cover the United States and Canada and with these changes and additions, we anticipate capturing even more of the market share of SMBs and enterprises that are migrating to IP communications solutions.

 

GG: Do you think a new administration in Washington, D.C. will be good for the communications industry? If so, how? If not, why not?

AT: Because the Democrats won the election with President Elect Obama, there will be a push to open the Internet to further competition. This will undoubtedly promote the growth of IP communications. We will see evidence of the growth as more companies migrate to IP communications, not only because of the new applications that will become available, but also in an effort to survive the current economic crisis by cutting telephony costs. IP Communications offers the cost savings needed and with the Democrats leading the country, further deregulation of the Internet is likely. This opens the door for more competition, mergers, acquisitions and more activity in the industry that is a direct result of the shift in political leadership from one party to the other.

 

We also expect the marketplace to grow as broadband initiatives in rural and small towns are pushed forward by the new administration. USF Reform and Net Neutrality will each be a priority under the new administration. Of course, one must remain cautious until we see actual policies, budgets and laws to know the full direction or impact upon our telecommunications infrastructure.

 

GG: In your view, please describe the future of the IP Communications industry?

AT: The IP Communications industry holds a unique position in today’s economic climate. Where most companies that produce a consumable product, IP Communications is a service and more importantly, communication services are not a luxury but a necessity for the success of business as a whole. Therefore, where most companies deliver a tangible, physical product that can be bought and sold, companies like Broadvox are delivering a service that is vital to the future of these companies. Aside from the fact that communication is necessary for the very survival of business, no matter what the economic state, IP Communications is one of the few industries that is actually providing a concrete method to reduce expenses. Where most companies right now are facing workforce reductions to reduce costs, migrating to IP Communications delivers a cost savings of up to 70% over what is spent for traditional telecom. Imagine a company cutting their monthly expenditure for communication from $2,800 to as little as $840. It is well known that IP Communications is here to stay, and with the amount of savings it brings, it will continue to grow, steadily and securely, not only in spite of, but also because of the current economic crisis.

 

GG: How do the current market conditions affect your potential customers? Do you think they will hold off on purchasing new solutions or do you think the economic conditions will spur them to make purchases that will allow them to be more competitive?

AT: The current market conditions are certainly alarming, and those who are at the highest risk of being adversely affected are SMBs. Certainly they are being even more cautious when considering changes to their communications infrastructures, but given the amount of savings they can achieve by migrating to IP Communications, the advantages certainly outweigh the risk. In economic times such as the one we are all facing today, it becomes clear that it is an optimum time to spend a little to gain so much by reducing monthly expenditures, thereby increasing profits and solidifying the future of their company through an unstable economic period. However, hardware purchases of IP equipment are impacted. For this reason, Broadvox works with its partners to sharpen their value proposition statements and improve the development of ROIs and TCOs. Customers will make buying decisions that meet tactical and strategic objectives and wisely migrate to IP Communications. This not only delivers hard dollar savings, but also less quantifiable savings through increased efficiency and productivity of their employees.

 

GG: What sets your company’s solutions apart from the competition?

AT: Service and reliability. Broadvox is service oriented, with a focus on customizing solutions for our customers. Where many companies offer pre-packaged solutions, we carefully analyze our customers’ needs and tailor services specifically for them. When we deliver IP communication solutions either wholesale or retail, our customers enjoy services deployed on a private network, designed and engineered to provide the highest level of quality. Our flexibility and customization coupled with certified interoperability and ease of deployment are factors that our customers appreciate.

 

Reliability is also major differentiator. Through major investments in our network over the last few years, we have improved network reliability to where customers view it in a similar light to POTS/TDM. Carriers and businesses are comfortable with their Broadvox service and more comfortable recommending our service to friends and other professional relationships.

 

GG: If you had to make one bold prediction for 2009, what would it be?

AT: The coming year will be filled with challenges. We have new leadership in our government and economic instability. Broadvox delivered on its commitments in 2008 quite well and will continue to flourish during 2009. As was repeated throughout the presidential campaigns, this year will be filled with change, and the telecom industry is going to thrive and grow, not in spite of the economy, but because of it! Okay…Carrier Ethernet will continue to have accelerating growth. The number of carriers launching new products in 2009 will only increase. Finally, we also see an increase in the adoption of VoIP as it becomes embedded into applications and devices of all kinds. 

Greg Galitzine is editorial director for TMC’s (News - Alert) IP Communications suite of products, including TMCnet.com. To read more of Greg’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.

Edited by Greg Galitzine