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The days of questioning the availability, security and even the quality of VoIP (and all IP-based communication services) are over. With the ubiquity of broadband connectivity and the proliferation of IP-powered devices, access to services from “the cloud” is now a part of our daily lives. Whether viewing your finances in an online banking app (because after all isn’t logging into an account online accessing a “cloud” somewhere) or managing your critical customer information through a hosted CRM solution, we all have come to rely on “cloud” based services.
We have over 425 telecommunications service providers world-wide managing communication clouds to deliver IP-based services to their business and consumers customers, ensuring the immediate availability of every possible communication option …texting, IM, voice, video, web collaboration, the options go on and on. Our telecom service provider customers are also empowering their customers by allowing individuals and professionals to personalize their communication services and manage all of their communication devices from a single, web-based account.
But what is still an area of focus is the “readiness” of a SMB’s network for IP-based communications services. Gartner predicted over 50% of SMBs are not ready for a VoIP deployment. In need of a network assessment for a successful deployment, 60% of SMBs experienced monthly disruptions in their voice-data networks as reported by the Computing Technology Industry Association (read the PacketSmart whitepaper for full details). With such a heavy reliance on “the cloud”, ensuring any network, whether an enterprise LAN or a consumer home network, is configured to optimize IP connections for a superior communication experience is essential to our customers.
As many of you know, BroadSoft purchased PacketSmart, a deep-packet assessment and monitoring service, in late 2010. Our customers have quickly recognized the value in BroadSoft PacketSmart as the solution has continued to ensure the end-user experience is never sub-par and paired with the highest-quality service. Don’t take our word for it. Hear for yourself:
- Industry analyst details the value of BroadSoft PacketSmart as an essential QoS UC tool (No Jitter): http://bit.ly/dwTHXz
“PacketSmart has proved itself as invaluable tool in isolating issues, and to ensuring we are providing the best quality of service possible.”
- Steve Francesco, CEO Chairman and President, Cohere Communications
“PacketSmart enables us to easily perform remote analysis of a customer network to determine if the network is ready for applications such as VoIP and maintain optimum performance post-deployment. Since it is an affordable, hosted solution, PacketSmart eliminates the need to purchase and manage expensive network monitoring software and allows us to provide these network performance services much more cost effectively than other solutions.”
- Bill Tomlinson, IT Solutions Director, Stewart and Associates.
“PacketSmart allows us to make certain that the customer network is truly IP ready prior to implementation, both voice and increasingly video. This saves us not only time but more importantly ensures that everything is 100% optimized in the eyes of the customer. IPFone is dedicated to delivering the most advanced IP services with the highest level of service quality. Utilizing PacketSmart is another important way that we differentiate ourselves from our competitors.”
- Jonathan Lieberman, President/CEO, IPFone
“Packet Island’s technology has given us line of sight into areas of the customer’s own network that was virtually impossible to monitor previously, and at a price point that made the decision to partner with Packet Island easy. ENA prides itself on world class customer service, and Packet Island is a key component in that support strategy”
- Simon Weller, Director of Product Design, ENA
“One of the biggest challenges in delivering VoIP products to the SMB market is ensuring the call quality. Since businesses rely on their phone service for day-to-day operation, customers will not tolerate poor quality, dropped calls or even service outages. The best management of quality is to identify problems before they have an impact and if the quality is compromised, quick diagnosis and resolution. Packet Island provides the solution to this with their monitoring device backed by a very responsive and knowledgeable team. The solution allows for rapid identification and possible remedies without the need to devote resources and time. ”
- Pete Llewelyn, CTO, Vinculum Communications
Read for more about BroadSoft PacketSmart.
The FIFA World Cup craze has even hit the US. And with over a billion people from across the globe tuning in to watch the tournament being held for the first time in Africa, many pundits expect this to be the most exciting and memorable World Cup ever staged.
Off the field, the World Cup is expected to generate more revenue through advertising and associated sponsorship than any other sporting event on the planet. It’s also the first global sporting event that will truly capitalize on digital technology, with games being viewed across a wide range of platforms, from traditional broadcast television and radio, to Internet TV and mobile phones. Football (soccer for us Americans) is a unifying force and people the world over are communicating seamlessly.
For football fans who can’t make the journey to South Africa, we all have more opportunities than ever before to watch, and interact, with the matches. It’s possible to catch games, highlights and commentary on multiple platforms – from cell phones, laptops and computers – to the big screens. Moreover, supporters will have the chance interact with each other – regardless of location – using social networking platforms like Twitter.
As the World Cup is a quadrennial event, it offers a perfect benchmark against technology. Putting things into technological perspective, the last World Cup, Germany 2006, coincided with the invention of Twitter and the general public launch of Facebook. Technology is fast paced. When viewers the world over are sitting down to contemplate matches at the World Cup 2014 in Brazil – imagine how we will all stay connected.
Personally, I can’t guess at what the next communication sensations will be. If I could, I’m pretty sure I’d be out securing venture capital funding to cash in! What I will say is that unified communications will be at the heart of those new social media communications channels. Will you?
Infonetics reported last week that service provider revenue from residential/SOHO and business VoIP services grew 20% in 2009 over 2008 – pretty impressive given the macroeconomic environment during that time. In the last six months, we have seen the introduction of innovative, new cloud-based business solutions powered by our BroadWorks platform. Here are just two examples of how our service providers are achieving higher-margin and higher revenue with their Communications as a Service (CaaS) product delivery model. And their customers are highly satisfied thanks to the CaaS economic and improved employee efficiency benefits.
PCCW – one communications
Hong Kong’s largest service provider, PCCW, recently launched its’ significantly enhanced version of one communications that is tailor designed for the SME market sector. one communications seamlessly integrates fixed, mobile and broadband communications and offers businesses a simple way to improve productivity of their employees, without an upfront capital investment. one communications offers three simple user plans. Prior to making a purchase decision, the potential customer is presented with five business scenarios to ensure they select the plan that meets their communication needs, i.e., starting a business, expanding a business, etc. The comparable scenario selection is then teamed up with an equipment map to illustrate how the communication goals can be achieved. The BroadWorks® powered one communications service offers the capability to automatically route traditional voice, email and fax services for delivery through a fixed-line to a mobile phone. A mobile phone is transformed to include the functionality of a stationary office desk phone, providing access to all forms of communication messaging regardless of a user location. A user also has the ability to switch from a mobile phone to a desktop phone while engaged in a conversation without needing to forward the call. A user will never miss a call as all calls will be sent to the desktop and mobile phones simultaneously.
KPN – Zakelijk InternetPlusBellen (ZIPB).
Royal KPN N.V. is the leading telecommunications and ICT service provider in the Netherlands, offering fixed-line and mobile telephony, internet and television services to both business and consumers. KPN chose BroadSoft’s BroadWorks application solution to supply reliable, hosted communications services for their SOHO/SME markets. KPN’s BroadWorks powered solution, ZIPB, is a fixed-mobile offer that includes the toolbar in Outlook that allows the customer to be accessible anytime and anywhere. The BroadWorks solution allows KPN to offer new and innovative services to its customers.
Although they are separated by almost ten thousand kilometers, these service introductions reflect a new market reality. Hosted business communications are no longer a niche concept pushed by aggressive startups; it is a proven operational solution and a proven winning business case for both customers and service providers alike. A hosted business communications solution allows customers to focus on their core business (not their “chore” business) in a more cost-effective way. Additionally, service providers are able to offer a product with higher margins and revenues compared to reselling premises systems and delivering trunks.
BroadSoft continues to enhance its hosted business solutions portfolio by adding new functionality, operational and sales tools to increase productivity and profitability, and a large portfolio of third party partner solutions. For more information on BroadSoft hosted business solutions, please contact your account manager today.
IDC recently released a report with some astonishing figures on mobile workers, forecasting more than 1 billion worldwide by the end of 2010. But wait – Google took it one further, with the director of its European operations stating that desktop PCs will be “irrelevant in three years” (reported here in Read, Write, Web). And, as the same report identifies, this sentiment aligns with what Google’s CEO discussed in his keynote at Mobile World Congress, when he made it clear that a primary focus for Google going forward will be on the mobile market.
While three years seems dramatically soon for desktop PCs to disappear, it’s clear that we have reached a tipping point of sorts for advanced communications technology tools and services. There is no denying the impact VoIP has had on this explosion and its role in providing seamless, hassle-free remote access. Many work places have implemented enhanced, formal telecommuting policies and are encouraging employees to take advantage of them. A central part of this equation is unified communications.
We’ve been singing the praises of UC for quite some time, drawing attention to the practical applications and ROI of its integration aspects. For BroadSoft employees, UC was a lifeline during the recent Snowmageddon of 2010, allowing us to maintain productivity and not skip a beat over several days in which none, or few, of us were able to commute into the “office.”
As the world gets flatter and the demand to work remotely increases, we can expect to see a number of trends on the rise (besides more workers going mobile and the end of dinosaur PC’s under cubicle desks), including more businesses turning to SIP Trunking and dramatic increases in hosted UC deployments. A CDW survey, reported by TMCnet supports this, showing that many companies have already experienced increased ROI from UC.
The bottom line to all of this is that in the not too distant future, we can expect almost all businesses to offer telecommuting options, often supported by hosted UC tools and services, just as today they provide employees computers and internet access.
BroadSoft is attending this week’s 2010 Mobile World Congress, where of course lots of new services are being announced. Microsoft’s unveiling of Windows Mobile 7 grabbed a lot of attention, as well as an array of new smart phones sporting the latest bells and whistles. Perhaps of course the most interesting topic to us at the event is the role of VoIP for wireless carriers, which is a tremendous opportunity.
BroadSoft unveiled today its newest mobile features for our BroadWorks Application Server, which we have appropriately named BroadWorks Mobility Suite . These new features bring a myriad of opportunities to wireless carriers, enabling them to expand their enterprise and consumer offerings and develop far deeper relationships with their customers.
For example, businesses today, with increasingly mobile and distributed workforces, are challenged by how to best manage their employees’ mobile devices. Our new mobile features overcome this challenge. Mobile operators can now enable enterprises to manage their communication costs and meet company objectives, from tracking mobile phone use in real-time, to extending corporate policies to mobile devices.
Employees benefit from our latest features as well. One great example is the improved “reach-a-bility” of employees, who can leverage a mobile operator’s ability to deliver any IP communication option to a single number, not just voice and SMS, but IM, presence and location-based applications.
For consumers, they are now in control. They can manage all of their communication services and devices from a single account on a secured network.
But our new BroadWorks Mobility Suite isn’t just about enabling mobile operators to take new, innovative communications services to market today. Our platform is designed to easily migrate these features when mobile operators move to LTE networks. And this is When with a capital W – not if. LTE is no doubt the future of wireless. Curtis outlined the numerous benefits of LTE, such as 10X the transmission speeds and lower costs per bit here. AT&T is planning field trials of its LTE roll-out later this year, according to a WSJ article last week. And China Mobile- the country’s largest wireless service — is rolling out its 4G service this May.
The core of our newest mobile features is a superior end-user experience – ensuring individuals can stay continuously connected, regardless of where they are and regardless of the way they want to communicate. So whether you are stuck in the midst of a blizzard or working from a trade show in beautiful Barcelona, it really makes no difference, you are connected….
How many of you are tired of hearing about the fact that Washington, DC and its surrounding suburbs are experiencing Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon, or whatever catchy name you want to use to describe the 30 inches of snow that fell within 24 hours and then another 8 inches 3 days later in our area? Well, let me personally say you are no more tired of hearing about it than those of us at BroadSoft’s corporate headquarters are of living through it.
But our snowstorm of the century is no reason to stop commerce. Those of us in corporate America have projects to complete, goals to accomplish and performance metrics to hit…..so even though most of us are snowed in, we are certainly not bored and looking for something to do. As a matter-of-fact, I have been extremely productive the last 4 business days working from home. I’ve gained an hour, and sometimes 2 depending on DC traffic, by not needing, or not being able, to commute to work each day.
Here is how a BroadSoft employee (me) has spent the last 4 business days…..and how I have leveraged our hosted communications solutions in order to keep moving our business forward (audience for that statement, my boss).
A couple of my days started at 7:00 am Eastern time, on conference calls with our European PR firm. Okay, on the surface, that is not overly interesting, but when I say I was on a video conference call using my Bria for BroadWorks softphone, then interest is piqued. It is not unusual for me to have video calls with my counterparts and partners at agencies around the world, but I typically use my Polycom VVX desk phone. This week, I have used my softphone, and each call has been equally as productive as if I had been in the office.
And thanks to BroadWorks Anywhere, I have not missed a call, even though my email signature and business card do not list my cell phone number. I simply set my home phone as the primary way to reach me through our BroadWorks web-based portal, and all my calls have found me. All my outbound calls show my BroadSoft office Calling Line ID, so my “office” has been extended to my home phone and my mobile phone.
Today was particularly great. Each quarter, our sales executives provide an update on their accounts, so the entire organization is aware of how we can contribute to ensuring our customers are satisfied. Our North American quarterly review was scheduled for today. Even though no one was in the office, because it was officially closed, we all attended the meeting, remotely, and leveraged our Unified Communication services. Many of us joined via video, we all used our collaboration tools to share documents online, and like any business person these days, most of us were multi-tasking, sending IM messages to get other work done.
So, we in the DC area are persevering and pushing on, but even with these great IP-based communication options, many BroadSoft faithful are actually looking forward to when we will be able to dig ourselves out and drive to the office, after so many days with the kids….
And for our service provider customers, we now have 110 personal case studies we can share on how hosted communications solutions are priceless to ensuring business continuity…..
Last week Mike Dolan of FierceVoIP wrote a fantastic editorial about the state of the industry and where we’re – or rather, where our industry should be right now. It was so good in fact I decided to write a post about it.
Reflecting on Fierce’s recent IT Expo post, Mike wrote about how the move to 4G will be the inflection point that brings VoIP and broadband to mobile and enabling video calls on the move – now THAT would be revolutionary. The constricted 3G pipe, due primarily to continued problems with legacy T-1 lines providing backhaul to towers, is holding back exciting innovations in mobile communications. When 4G finally arrives in the form of LTE, every mobile voice call will become a VoIP call. BroadSoft supports the One Voice consortium that will enable the migration of voice to 4G.
On the wired side, we were excited to see SIP Trunking called out as a critical catalyst for really cool stuff reaching mass adoption. SIP Trunking allows for IP conversion and the delivery of innovative communications services, not available with a PBX. But, we believe if a carrier uses trunking only to replace switched voice with VoIP connectivity, they will see their revenues erode. The big upside is using trunking to deliver new communications services in demand by the enterprise market. There are several market trends driving this move by enterprises. Over the next five years, it is believed:
- Enterprise workforces will become increasingly mobile
- Video calling will be widely adopted
- High-definition voice will be the new standard for voice communications
- PBXs will migrate to hosted unified communications
- Enterprises will continue demanding comprehensive business continuity capabilities
Finally, Mike notes that once our industry does migrate to the all-IP networks of the future, suddenly “best effort” isn’t a good enough effort at all, not by a long shot. What has also hindered innovation is the need to ensure the utmost reliability for these advanced services. That’s where BroadSoft’s PacketSmart line of business comes in. PacketSmart allows service providers to remotely manage the end-to-end delivery of VoIP-powered services. To go even a step farther, BroadSoft is working with customer premises equipment (CPE) manufacturers to embed VoIP management agents into devices designed for the SOHO and SMB markets.
So we’re excited to help move our industry through this next revolution of innovation.
The recent news of Polycom’s (Nasdaq: PLCM) partnership with Juniper (NYSE: JNPR)—which GigaOm suggests is in response to Cisco’s acquisition of Tandberg—got me thinking of the playing together in the sandbox analogy. Making room for everyone to play well in the same space is more important than ever with the rapid advancements in communications technologies. It’s all about making sure that customers – businesses and consumers – have access to the networks and devices that best suit their needs and that the different technologies can be integrated easily.
I believe that this partnership, along with a slew of others recently announced (see here), will foster greater flexibility and more options for businesses and consumers.
That is why BroadSoft has established partnerships with Tandberg, IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) to name a few. And this week we announced an extension of our partnership with Polycom to provide an integrated voice and video solution. This new offering builds upon our long-term relationship with Polycom and brings video and voice together for businesses in a way that has not been readily available before. More often than not, video and voice live in separate silos at businesses, making it difficult for employees to leverage these tools simultaneously for the next generation of telepresence. Through our new solution, V2Connect, we bring video and voice together in one infrastructure so workers can take advantage of these tools easily and seamlessly and businesses – including SMBs –can potentially save money and increase productivity.
At the core of all these partnerships is Unified Communications, enabling employees to communicate through various channels, at any time, from any location and in an integrated, streamlined way. For example, through our collaboration with Polycom, businesses have access to unified voice and video solutions delivered as a hosted service. Our integrated UC solution with Microsoft facilitates integrated voice, presence, instant messaging and web conferencing as a hosted solution, so that employees can work virtually, from any location and at any time.
Moving forward, we expect to see rapid expansion in the hosted UC market. As more businesses shift to a hosted model, the need for plug and play technologies will likely increase.
Broadband Ignite periodically catches up with thought leaders in the sector. This week we had the chance to chat with Praveen Kumar, the chief technologist for PacketSmart at BroadSoft. Praveen joined BroadSoft from Packet Island following the company’s acquisition. He spent some time discussing the integration of their solution into the BroadSoft offering and the momentum that has been building in the last five months. Click on the icon below to listen to the conversation.
You can dive a little deeper into the capabilities of VoIP monitoring and PacketSmart here for a 10-minute demo (software download may be needed).
Michael Tessler
Scott Hoffpauir
Leslie Ferry
Alex Doyle
Curtis Hartmann
Shirish Andhare
AT&T to FCC — It’s Time We Moved On
January 20, 2010 in Broadband, IP | Tags: AT&T, circuit-switched, digital TV transfer, end PSTN, FCC, FCC and request for comments, landline deadline, VoIP and analog | by Leslie Ferry | 2 comments
AT&T rang in the new year with a special request for the FCC to set a deadline to end landline voice networks. This was in response to the FCC asking for comments on how best to transition to a fully IP national network. AT&T’s response reminded me of the classic Danny DeVito movie “Other People’s Money.” You may recall the famous speech DeVito’s character makes to the shareholders of a cable and wire company he is looking to liquidate, calling it long dead. And why, he asks the shareholders? “…Fiber optics. New Technologies. Obsolescence.”
This was back in 1991 – about five years before most cable companies even began moving to hybrid fiber/co-axial lines. A more recent example of IP transition we all remember is the digital TV transition – first set for February 09 and then pushed to June 09 to help ease the conversion for some consumers who were not quite ready.
The move from circuit-switched lines to all IP-based networks is nearing completion for the same reasons mentioned by DeVito’s character in the movie. The carriers see greater revenue generating opportunities in this switch over and there is tremendous benefit for businesses and end users. When the copper-based circuit switched networks are no longer a burden to carriers, carriers will have more resources to focus on innovation resulting in more robust, competitive products for consumers. In addition, the ability to access multiple communications channels across one network – Internet, TV, phone – is huge. We help over 450 carriers do this for their customers today. For businesses, the integration of voice, data and video brings new meaning to the word efficiency.
It’s easy to see that the question is no longer if, but when, do we make this move. There are several sticking points including how to service areas where high-speed access is not yet available, how to get the 33% of Americans who have access but don’t subscribe to see the value, and the whole ongoing discussion around emergency access and security. All of these will need to be addressed by the forthcoming national broadband plan –now due out in mid-March after being pushed off a month from the original deadline. One possibility highlighted in this e-Week article looks at transitioning to new companies focused solely on maintaining the old PSTN, perhaps with public subsidies.
While these details are being ironed out, it’s time to start preparing a transition plan so that the switch over will be as painless as possible. Consumers who don’t yet see that VoIP is every bit as good as analog, or just don’t want all the additional benefits of IP may need a little prodding. For them some financial help like the digital TV refund subsidy might be in order. But the change is coming – let’s help the FCC deal with it in a thoughtful and orderly way.