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In a big announcement made last week at the Cloud Computing Expo, eight BroadSoft customers unveiled the Cloud Communications Alliance, a consortium dedicated to bringing unified communications to businesses in a smarter, easier and more strategic manner – because it’s delivered as a hosted “cloud” application.
This consortium is made up of a great group of companies. Alteva, Broadcore, Callis Communications, Consolidated Technologies, IPFone, SimpleSignal, Stage 2 Networks, and Telesphere have all been huge innovators in our space. And this Alliance shows that they’re just as innovative in business models as they are with technology and market offers.
What I like about this is that the Alliance isn’t just talking about hosted voice or hosted PBX – they’re changing the game in lots of different ways:
- End-to-End High Definition Voice for business-to-business HD (not just intra-company islands);
- End-to-End availability of video for business-to-business video;
- Mobile phone integration, including apps like IPFone’s iPhone applications;
- Nationwide disaster recovery and business continuity; and
- Business App mashups with Microsoft Office Communicator, Salesforce.com, and much more.
The Alliance has gotten tons of well deserved press on this already (Network World, TMCnet, VoIP Planet, Billing & OSS World and WirelessWeek). This is great coverage, which brings a lot more visibility to the power and benefits of hosted business communications.
But the real news, I believe, is that what we’re seeing now is an adoption shift, not a development shift. We’re at the point where the hosted/cloud UC solutions are real, proven and ready – and now the shift we’ll see is about adoption: more customers becoming aware of and choosing to go with a hosted/cloud option. I believe that the creation of the Alliance is a huge step forward in accelerating that adoption shift.
So cheers to the Cloud Communications Alliance, which has changed the game yet again.
Two separate announcements crossed my inbox today, and even though they were generated on opposite sides of the globe, they both highlight the beginning of a big change in large enterprise communications. It’s becoming more obvious not only that large enterprises (1,000 seats and up) are moving towards hosted communications – but what’s more interesting is why this shift is particularly well-suited for carriers and service providers.
First up, from today’s VoiceCon eNews newsletter from VoiceCon super-chair Eric Krapf, on what he’s looking out for at next week’s show:
- Are enterprises seriously considering cloud-based communications, to a more significant degree than they were a year ago? Can carriers/service providers deliver enterprise-grade services from the cloud?
- Is video coming to a meaningful number of enterprise desktops in the next 12-18 months, and if so, why?
- Is interoperability in Unified Communications even a remote prospect?
Now let’s shoot ten thousand miles away to Australia, where Telstra announced not only that their hosted communications service (TIPT) now supports video phones, but also that TIPT supports video calling and high-definition audio calling between enterprises on the Telstra network:
Following the launch of the first video telephony service from an Australian telco, Australians will now be able to communicate face-to-face using desktop video phones.
Telstra’s acting Executive Director, Data, IP & Enterprise Services, Carol White, said more than 300 organisations using Telstra’s hosted IP telephony product (TIPT) could take advantage of the high-quality business-to-business video telephony service simply by upgrading their desktop phones.
And remember – TIPT has already integrated enterprise OCS from Microsoft. Telstra also supports SIP Trunking as a complement to its hosted offers, allowing it to serve ‘hybrid’ enterprises.
The killer app here, the theme that’s starting to come to the fore across large enterprises around the world – and the key competitive advantage for service providers like Telstra – is integration. While Small Businesses and Midmarket companies are open to ‘greenfield’ unified communications solutions, large enterprises really aren’t. Large Enterprises have made decisions and investments in IT and tools, and they don’t want those replaced – they want them complemented. They want things like:
- Voice Integration – Integration of their premises-based communications systems (PBXs) and hosted communications,
- App Integration – Integration of their communications and the IT apps (Microsoft OCS, IBM Sametime) they have in-house, and
- Video Integration – Integration of their communications and video collaboration systems.
This is exactly what Telstra has done for their large enterprise customers – by integrating hosted/cloud communications, trunking to PBXs, video solutions and OCS integration, they’re delivering exactly what large enterprises need. And this is where carriers and service providers have an opportunity to shine – because these large enterprises needs really aren’t well served by individual PBX vendors.
So going into Voicecon this year, it’s obvious to me that some old misconceptions are fading away. Hosted communications is not a solution only for the SMB; as Telstra demonstrates, hosted is an ideal fit for large enterprises. SIP Trunking is not about making connectivity cheaper – it’s real value is more as an on-ramp to bring large enterprises into a hosted UC solution.
And for service providers – their opportunities to serve large enterprises, SMBs, and the midmarket – continue to grow. See you at Voicecon!
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…..
In case you missed the recent news from Alcatel-Lucent, the telecommunications equipment maker is the latest to throw its hat in the applications ring. GigaOm offers a good overview of both the future potential and current shortcomings of this new offering.
From a high-level, the primary benefit is tied to the open APIs that will allow developers to tap the assets within service-provider networks. If all goes according to plan – the groups will then be able to work together to differentiate their applications and build new revenue streams. However at the moment, the options are limited and only mobile location applications are supported.
BroadSoft is quite a few steps ahead in the application marketplace arena. While we both use a RESTful API architecture, that is where the similarities end. With a full 18 months under our belts, the BroadSoft Xtended program has attracted more than 2,000 developers. Plus our platform enables applications that integrate with business-process software, mobile clients, desk phones and other devices to offer a much broader range of applications.
Alcatel’s marketplace-deployment model is also quite different than ours —they give service providers a gallery of applications and then point you to the developer. And as we announced just this past quarter at our annual users conference, we now have complete ecommerce enablement of our marketplace. Consumers can now download apps directly and start using them. Here are a few very cool examples of apps that can be found on the BroadSoft Marketplace, which were unveiled at our annual users’ conference in our always popular “Show Me the Apps” session:
- Microsoft CRM intergration – this full-service CRM app, delivers streamlined communications options for users that enable them to quickly find and communicate with the right person, improving work flow and, more importantly, customer satisfaction.
- Our app that integrates with Mobile Max extends real-time communications to the mobile device with one number, one device, and one address book.
- JoeDevloper’s app transcribes voice messages to text and email,and enables users to search messages by keyword in their inboxes.
In short, our business model is creating integrated, real-time communication options that you can quickly take to market, delivering a superior communication experience to consumers. That’s where apps are more than just the next big thing – they are a real game changer.
We have reached another tipping point in the telecommunications industry. SIP trunking is the fastest growing service in our space right now and we all have an opportunity to capitalize on this trend, but we must be smart about our approach.
SIP Trunking’s growth presents a new revenue opportunity, but only if the trunk offers services above and beyond PSTN quality voice. If a service provider simply provides VoIP connectivity, they will see their revenues erode. SIP Trunking offers service providers a tremendous opportunity to deliver valuable services to enterprises by providing new communication services in demand by the enterprise market. Enterprises are becoming more educated on SIP Trunking. Practically every large enterprise has read a case study that demonstrates how an enterprise can reduce their trunks by 30% – 40%, which is obviously a negative revenue proposition for the service provider. So service providers must develop a comprehensive managed service offering to enhance and complement their SIP Trunking service.
There are several market trends, which are driving adoption of SIP Trunking by enterprises. Over the next 5-years:
- 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 unified communications
- Enterprises are demanding comprehensive business continuity capabilities
We can easily talk about how SIP Trunking is enabling new revenue opportunities for service providers of each of these trends, but in this post we will focus specifically on the prospects with Unified Communications.
ABI Research recently issued a report “Vertical Market Opportunities in Unified Communications,” which predicts that the unified communications solutions market will reach nearly $4.2 billion in 2014 – a sharp increase from 2008 when the market reached around $302 million.
We all know that Unified Communications (UC) is the integration of varied communication options, like voice, video, email, instant messaging and conferencing, on a single IP platform. The primary benefit of UC is the ability to speed the rate of communications, keeping everyone more closely connected and improves collaboration among employees.
Another capability of UC is the greater control it provides a user over their communications options. With a single Web-based account, individual users can decide when, where and how they can be reached — and users can define these parameters without the need for IT support. (See last week’s Broadband Ignite post: VoIP’s Success in 2009 and Beyond, which focuses on the user experience…and a smart network).
SIP Trunking enables the delivery of Unified Communication capabilities now, from the “cloud, offering service providers an immediate, new revenue opportunity versus shifting that revenue opportunity to the PBX manufactures. With a “cloud-model”, enterprises no longer need to purchase additional equipment to have a full-featured UC solution.
BroadSoft has tightly integrated our BroadWorks product with business applications from Microsoft, IBM, Google, Zimbra and Counterpath in order to enable service providers to offer “UC as a Service.” When service providers host UC in the cloud, enterprises can purchase UC on an as-needed basis. This approach eliminates the need for businesses to spend valuable CAPEX dollars to purchase on premises-based systems, and creates a new revenue opportunity for service providers.
Another business model for service providers is Aastra’s Clearspan product, which integrates BroadSoft’s BroadWorks platform. Clearspan enables enterprises to collapse PSTN connectivity from multiple sites into a single centralized SIP trunk while allowing for a graceful migration of enterprise users to UC without the immediate need to replace costly PBX phones. Service providers can deliver and manage these platforms for enterprises, regardless of their communications environment, PBX, IP or a hybrid.
And the benefits of UC to an enterprise are no longer just a gut feeling. Aberdeen Group recently conducted a study that quantified the benefits of UC to an enterprise, which are:
- 35% increase in knowledge sharing
- 35% increase in workplace flexibility
- 25% improvement of an organization’s competitive performance
- 16% increased of collaboration for decision making
- 11% accelerated speed of conflict resolution
All of these factors present a perfect storm for service providers to increase revenue opportunities, versus creating a commoditized service. They are well positioned to offer advance communication services today through SIP Trunking.
We are hosting a webinar tomorrow, December 2, 2009: Capitalize on SIP Trunkings’ Momentum where we will expand on the other revenue opportunities available with a comprehensive SIP Trunking solution strategy, including:
o Unified Communications
o Fixed mobile Convergence
o Video and Telepresence
o Teleworker Solutions
o Disaster recovery
o Customized communication applications with BroadSoft Xtended
BroadSoft’s goal is to enable service providers to deliver value with SIP Trunking, not simply enable the replacement of circuit switch calls. We will all lose if that is the strategy for SIP Trunking.
With a 10X increase in transmission speeds and a significantly lower cost per bit, Long-term Evolution (LTE) represents a tremendous opportunity for operators given the prospect of converting more than 4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide to 4G or fourth-generation technology. The evolution in wireless communications is driving operators to change the way voice services are delivered.
Voice over LTE is an important topic for providers today. LTE is all about data so trafficking circuit-based voice services onto IP networks is a big issue. There are a number of technical and business challenges associated with Voice over LTE. While there are questions over when Voice over LTE will be deployed, one of the big technical impediments until recently was a unified standard.
A few weeks ago a consortium of service providers, equipment vendors and device manufacturers came together in support of a standard for delivering voice and SMS services on LTE networks, One Voice. The One Voice specification will use components of the existing IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) framework (which already defines how to provide data, voice and multimedia content over IP) to route voice calls between circuit switched and IP networks…meaning LTE mobile calls will become VoIP calls.
Prior to One Voice, a competing approach — the VoLGA (Voice over LTE via Generic Access) initiative — was put forth as an interim LTE voice solution using existing circuit-switched networks …instead of IMS. VoLGA supporters claim this would allow operators to get there sooner rather than later. While we understand the problems VoLGA attempted to address, we think they’re greatly exaggerated. Since the One Voice announcement, many in the industry are now questioning the livelihood of VoLGA.
In our opinion, VoLGA’s time has passed. Here’s why…
- T-Mobile is the only operator backing VoLGA. Now compare that to the list of heavy hitters behind One Voice…AT&T, Orange, Telefonica, TeliaSonera, Verizon, and Vodafone.
- The addressable market for VoLGA is minuscule compared to that of One Voice. Handset manufacturers and network equipment vendors follow the lead of service providers. Given the first point, it is obvious where the opportunity is.
- Given VoLGA is a temporary solution, vendors are not likely to invest in it — innovation will occur with One Voice though.
- IMS is MORE mature than what VoLGA proponents pushed. BroadSoft has more than 50 live IMS deployments worldwide and with an inside view of 450+ providers’ network roadmaps, we can validate this is real. Many carriers in the US and most European providers have already deployed IMS.
As providers continue to lose landline assets and look to collapse their networks into one, IMS is critical. Since IMS simultaneously serves broadband wireline and LTE wireless networks, this provides operators with a path to service convergence. Fixed-line providers have been moving in this direction for some, and now converged and mobile operators need to follow suit. This is huge opportunity for them.
BroadSoft believes One Voice is the best approach for delivering voice and SMS services on LTE networks and will help accelerate the process of moving to all-IP. Providers should not be sidetracked with an interim solution that doesn’t address the primary goal.
UPDATE – It’s really dead now – Ericsson leaves VoLGA Forum, from Unsprung: http://bit.ly/4nSnAI
It’s day two of our seventh annual users‘ conference, Connections 2009, and today we raise the curtain on an initiative we’ve been trying to keep under wraps for some time now – the monetization phase of our Xtended program.
The Xtended initiative was launched in 2008 to open up the BroadWorks platform to third-party innovation and the Web 2.0 in particular. We picked the best practices of Web 2.0 – open standards, RESTful APIs, forums, and an online presence for our community in the form of a developer portal and marketplace for them to post their creations. Today, with a developer community of 2,000 strong, we take another big step forward – adding ecommerce functionality to the Xtended marketplace. Now, any BroadSoft-powered operator (more than 450 worldwide by the way) can distribute third-party apps, sourced from the Xtended developer community, in their own custom-branded online store.
Think of it like the Apple App Store for IP Communications apps with a twist. Every BroadWorks-powered service provider can pick and choose from the eCommerce-enabled marketplace and create their own mini app store. This is a big deal not just for service providers that have a new revenue-generating channel, but for consumers and businesses who will have fast, easy access to a diverse array of solutions online and available for download in one click. Plus third-party developers in the Xtended community stand to benefit with online stores where they can shop their apps to more than half-a-billion people.
Several BroadSoft-powered service providers including Comporium, SimpleSignal, Telesphere and WorldxChange will be launching their apps stores in early 2010. And when they do, a number of developers will be at the ready to hit upload including:
- Spinvox, which offers a ‘Voicemail to Text’ app
- JoeDeveloper whose Quickset Pro application manages a host of call functions such as Sequential Ring, Speed Dial and Remote Office
- Mobile Max’s Enterprise Edition a unified communications client that allows access to all call functions – Do Not Disturb, Call Forward – from a mobile handset
Of course, we think this is game changing – but don’t take our word for it. See for yourself here.
Avaya Labs recently demonstrated a prototype application that integrates call-control with Facebook, with the nifty moniker “FacePhone.”
Doug Mahoney from Doug on IPComm calls it a “UC Killer”:
Built using Facebook’s APIs, Avaya’s FacePhone is an enterprise app that loads into Facebook and is designed to enable social networking functionality within the enterprise, on a business-to-business basis, and on a business-to-consumer basis and enables voice, video availability, as well as the stock Facebookness of chat and IM. … doesn’t this sound a whole lot like UC?
Hmmm… it’s like UC, but it’s built on a common platform and is built to leverage social media with both call center features (consumer to biz, biz to biz), as well as enable communications within the large enterprise. Smells a lot like “traditional” UC solutions, but at a MUCH LOWER cost of implementation. Since users are already familiar with and using Facebook for communication, this app fits right in.
I’m going to respectfully disagree with that.
I think Doug’s argument relies on the assumption that UC solutions are ‘closed’ systems – so, therefore, if you can get UC-like functionality from places like Facebook, which are outside of the closed UC system, then you’re ‘killing’ the UC solution.
But…really, isn’t the whole point of a UC solution that it’s open? That’s certainly our philosophy: when it comes to CRM, you can integrate BroadWorks into salesforce.com, or ACT, or Microsoft Dynamics; when it comes to business messaging/presence solutions, you can integrate BroadWorks into Microsoft OCS/Exchange, IBM Sametime, or Google Apps….or even Facebook – something our BroadSoft Xtended team demonstrated about 18 months ago.
So – if you’re bringing a ‘closed’ UC solution to market –if your UC solution is basically an “all-in” PBX on steroids – and yes, there are plenty of “PBX in UC clothing” boxes out there – then Doug’s absolutely right: Facebook is going to be a threat to you. But if you’re a Service Provider delivering UC off of the BroadWorks platform – a platform that’s committed to application integration – then Facebook, salesforce.com, mint.com – these are all assets to you, not threats.
Many businesses once married to the idea of having everything on their own servers are starting to come around to see the value of hosted services. SIP Trunking is grabbing attention as the way to go in the interim, and perhaps long term for companies who prefer a hybrid solution.
BroadSoft works with nearly 200 service providers offering SIP Trunking. Figuring out which one can meet your business’ specific needs can be tricky. A couple of key questions can get you started. While price often plays a role, it shouldn’t be the only or even most important consideration. Especially if the least expensive offering is not SIPconnect compliant, doesn’t ensure business continuity and falls short in enhanced services.
A first step is finding out if the SIP trunking service is delivered over a managed IP network with SLAs. This guarantees a single point of contact for trouble shooting and resolving issues. It also means the provider can deliver expected voice Quality of Service (QoS), unlike services that run over the public internet, which are inherently less reliable.
Network infrastructure is another important criteria– it can be the difference between reliable uptime and frequent outages. For service provider to scale to millions of users and meet uptimes of 99.999%, they must have carrier class VoIP network infrastructure. This ensures service availability for all but 6 seconds a day or five minutes a year. Enterprise-grade platforms like Asterisk, SIP Express Router, or home-grown technology often don’t have the proven track record of delivering five 9s of reliability or scaling beyond a few thousand users. Don’t be afraid to ask a provider for historical network uptime statistics.
Providers who can support Business Continuity must have redundant trunk groups into an enterprise IP PBX. This supports automatic re-routing and load sharing, so even in an outage, employees can access communications networks no matter where they are located. In worst case scenarios such as a natural disaster, this enables a business to continue operations.
SIPconnect is the industry standard for SIP trunking. If a service provider is not SIPconnect compliant they cannot guarantee all of your PBX features will work properly with their SIP trunking offer, or that their service will continue to work when you upgrade your PBX software (typically twice a year). A proper service provider will be certified interoperable with all leading IP PBX vendors such as Cisco, Avaya, and Nortel.
Finally, enhanced services are critical for businesses to remain competitive. By supporting Video, Mobile extensions, Telecommuters, and Unified Communications, a SIP Trunking provider helps you increase productivity and efficiency across your company. Examples of this include lower travel costs and less time lost in transit for employees who can connect virtually through video to communicate, attend meetings and training sessions. Through Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC), a single number service eliminates multiple voicemail boxes and lost time associated with two devices. Network-based services eliminate CAPEX and are PBX vendor independent.
We’ll be diving deeper into this subject at our upcoming users’ conference, BroadSoft Connections 2009: Voice & Vision. The session, Tap Trunking’s Possibilities, will look at how a number of operators have used business continuity as part of their SIP trunking proposition and the impact it has made to the success of their services.
A few years back, CBeyond CTO Chris Gatch, a pioneer in SIP Trunking, famously said that using an IP PBX with TDM PRI circuits was “like driving a Ferrari on a dirt road.”
I thought about Chris’s comments this week when Sprint announced that their SIP Trunking solution (BroadWorks-powered), now generally available to business customers, is certified with Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 R2.
OCS by itself brings communications productivity to businesses – but that productivity is stymied if you’re running your business through a “dirt road” TDM circuit. By complementing OCS with BroadWorks-based SIP trunks, Sprint allows enterprises to reduce operational costs, and reduce and consolidate equipment across the organization.
But – those are really operational and cost benefits of SIP trunking. That’s certainly substantial and appealing – but it’s only half of the story. If you read past the release’s comments on cost savings, and note their focus on wireline/wireless integration, check out Sprint’s Seamless Enterprise blog, and their Convergence portal – it’s great to see that Sprint is focusing on the UC/functionality aspects of SIP Trunking, not just the cost savings.
This certainly resonates with us – one of the themes we keep coming back to at BroadSoft is that we’re seeing the industry shift to a second generation of SIP Trunking– initial releases of SIP Trunking were all about integrated access and cost reduction, without a lot of differentiation, which is a recipe for fast market commoditization. (I suppose that’s sort of like putting fancy streetlights on a dirt road. It may look a little nicer – but it’s still a dirt road.) But now we’re seeing service providers “UC-enable” their SIP Trunks – add network functionality like mobile integration, video, business process services – and it’s nice to see Sprint push this in the market.
And since we’re talking about customers who benefit from UC services, it’s worth noting that BroadSoft’s “UC in the Cloud” solutions are stronger than ever. For businesses who want UC, but don’t want, don’t need, or can’t handle the process, overhead, and maintenance of premises-based systems, BroadSoft’s “Hosted UC” solution with Microsoft just celebrated its first year on the market, and is deployed live in every region of the world. We remain extremely excited about this solution – for economic, technology, demographic, and business strategy reasons, Hosted UC and Cloud Communications in general is hotter than ever. (Even the US federal government is hot on cloud communications, a sure sign that this has hit the mainstream.)
So – to service providers – you’ll come across customers where you’ll provide UC in a fully hosted model, and you’ll come across customers with premises UC systems where you’ll provide additional UC functionality “in the cloud”. You’ll see both scenarios – but your BroadWorks system will let you attack and monetize both.
Michael Tessler
Scott Hoffpauir
Leslie Ferry
Alex Doyle
Curtis Hartmann
Shirish Andhare
Paul Adams
