What Service is Missing from your Communications Portfolio? Voice!

Featured Article By Earl Wright, VP of SIP Trunking, Bandwidth

As communication technology evolves, unified communications and managed service providers are racing to stay one step ahead of your needs.  A big piece of this is their ability to offer you a broader palate of communications services.

Unified communications (UC) is the integration of real-time communication services, such as instant messaging (chat), video/voice conferencing, and collaboration with non-real-time communication services like integrated voicemail, e-mail, web hosting into one seamless service offering. These applications are the thoroughbreds in any UC provider’s stable.  Until recently, one critical service has been left out of that portfolio: voice.  Connectivity to the public switch telephone network (PSTN) is a critical part of any business and any UC Provider needs to confirm they can provide it.

SIP trunking can be an incredibly valuable tool for UC or Managed services providers in their quest to provide a seamless, all-inclusive solution. There is a way for your provider to be the one-stop shop for all of your UC needs, including PSTN services.  It’s a private label solution that enables your UC provider to efficiently and effectively leverage SIP trunking for PSTN connectivity without having to drill down into telecom’s weeds.

You get access to all of your services through a single interface, one bill from a single provider you know and trust, and one company to call for tech support – i.e. the “one throat to choke” everyone always talks about. (Not that we advocate violence in any form but hey, we have all been there!) More importantly, you also get the peace of mind that comes with knowing your phone service is backed up by a company who ensures calls reach their destination without the need to manage yet another frustrating technology vendor relationship.

The Challenge

Today, IT decision makers have limited choices when it comes to phone service.  Of course, there is the incumbent local exchange carrier and wide array of VoIP providers focusing on the enterprise segment.  But either way, providers are left with yet another vendor relationship to manage.  Additionally, when there is a problem, everyone points back to each other, leaving the user wondering who to call for support.

The second option is not much better.  Maybe your unified communications provider has a referral relationship with a specific phone service provider.  There is nothing wrong with strong business partnerships, but do you really want your competitive choices to be determined based on the referral partner with the best partner compensation model?

Encouraging your UC providers to investigate private label SIP trunking breaks that mold.  The benefit is that you receive the same level of service as big companies, but from people you already know and trust.  As an added bonus, you may also receive additional negotiating room by bundling more services into the service agreement.

Now it’s time for your unified communications provider to include voice – complete with in demand features like SMS and 911 capabilities into their unified communications portfolio.  But if you want it, you have to tell them.

Earl Wright, VP of SIP Trunking

Earl Wright is a 17 year telecom operations veteran holding various operational leadership roles at MCI, Winstar and Covad. Prior to joining Bandwidth, he was VP of Network Services at Covad, responsible for the operational health of that company’s nationwide facilities based network in support of its comprehensive voice and data services portfolio. At Bandwidth, Earl began as VP of Operations in early 2010, and transitioned to VP of SIP Trunking with P/L, strategic, operational and product management responsibility for the line of business.