By Bhagwad Park
One of the great things about the VoIP market today is the state of competition. There are relatively low barriers to entry even though it is important for SIP providers to have proper infrastructure in various locations to ensure prompt and reliable service. But other than that, there is no requirement for expensive government regulation and heavy investments in assets. A multitude of entities have emerged providing Over the Top (OTT) VoIP services that use a customer's existing Internet connection to function.
We are seeing however a trend of telecom companies entering the VoIP space. Since they invariably own the networks over which VoIP is delivered, it may be tempting to choose one of them instead. However, there are several disadvantages to having your telecommunications provider also sell you VoIP services.
To start off with, there is always the danger of lock-in. What this means is that the telecom company might bundle the VoIP services in such a way that it is impossible for you to disengage for any reason later on. You may have to move to another geographical area or you simply may find a better deal elsewhere. It's always good to keep your options open after all. So if you have invested a significant amount of time and effort into receiving VoIP service from a tier 1 provider, you lose the flexibility and become a hostage to them.
Mind you, I'm not talking about SIP trunking here. I'm talking about full-fledged hosted VoIP PBX services. Smaller providers realize that they need every edge they can get and so properly implement SIP standards that enable VoIP interconnection between other service providers who do the same. Large companies invariably do not follow SIP standards and therefore you lose the advantages of network effects. Again, if you build your system on a nonstandardized protocol, there is always the danger of it being broken in the future. Bottom line: telecom companies don't play nice and have no incentive to implement open standards.
Finally, smaller OTT VoIP providers will give you better customer service because your business is truly important to them. The larger a company gets, the more difficult it is to obtain personalized attention. When you sign up with a local SIP provider, you can be sure that they will move heaven and earth to ensure that your system works perfectly and that you receive the best VoIP quality possible. As a business, this is an assurance that you simply cannot afford to go without. You need someone responsive and agile at the other end to help you deal with any problems that might occur.
So while it might be tempting to opt for vertical integration and use the same provider for your VoIP services and your Internet connection, it's generally not such a good idea.
Bhagwad is an expert consultant on [http://www.onsip.com/local/chicago-hosted-pbx]phone services in Chicago. He also specializes in VoIP competition. [http://siponiphone.com/2012/10/state-competition-voip-market/]Click here to find out more.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-You-Shouldnt-Use-a-Tier-1-Provider-for-VoIP-Services&id=7352219] Why You Shouldn't Use a Tier 1 Provider for VoIP Services
One of the great things about the VoIP market today is the state of competition. There are relatively low barriers to entry even though it is important for SIP providers to have proper infrastructure in various locations to ensure prompt and reliable service. But other than that, there is no requirement for expensive government regulation and heavy investments in assets. A multitude of entities have emerged providing Over the Top (OTT) VoIP services that use a customer's existing Internet connection to function.
We are seeing however a trend of telecom companies entering the VoIP space. Since they invariably own the networks over which VoIP is delivered, it may be tempting to choose one of them instead. However, there are several disadvantages to having your telecommunications provider also sell you VoIP services.
To start off with, there is always the danger of lock-in. What this means is that the telecom company might bundle the VoIP services in such a way that it is impossible for you to disengage for any reason later on. You may have to move to another geographical area or you simply may find a better deal elsewhere. It's always good to keep your options open after all. So if you have invested a significant amount of time and effort into receiving VoIP service from a tier 1 provider, you lose the flexibility and become a hostage to them.
Mind you, I'm not talking about SIP trunking here. I'm talking about full-fledged hosted VoIP PBX services. Smaller providers realize that they need every edge they can get and so properly implement SIP standards that enable VoIP interconnection between other service providers who do the same. Large companies invariably do not follow SIP standards and therefore you lose the advantages of network effects. Again, if you build your system on a nonstandardized protocol, there is always the danger of it being broken in the future. Bottom line: telecom companies don't play nice and have no incentive to implement open standards.
Finally, smaller OTT VoIP providers will give you better customer service because your business is truly important to them. The larger a company gets, the more difficult it is to obtain personalized attention. When you sign up with a local SIP provider, you can be sure that they will move heaven and earth to ensure that your system works perfectly and that you receive the best VoIP quality possible. As a business, this is an assurance that you simply cannot afford to go without. You need someone responsive and agile at the other end to help you deal with any problems that might occur.
So while it might be tempting to opt for vertical integration and use the same provider for your VoIP services and your Internet connection, it's generally not such a good idea.
Bhagwad is an expert consultant on [http://www.onsip.com/local/chicago-hosted-pbx]phone services in Chicago. He also specializes in VoIP competition. [http://siponiphone.com/2012/10/state-competition-voip-market/]Click here to find out more.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-You-Shouldnt-Use-a-Tier-1-Provider-for-VoIP-Services&id=7352219] Why You Shouldn't Use a Tier 1 Provider for VoIP Services
VoIP Service, VoIP Providers, Sip VoIP, VoIP Phones
