The Podium - Insights from VarPhonex

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Anonymous or location shifted phone numbers gain popularity

A popular use of VoIP technology allows individuals and businesses to deploy phone numbers used for temporary or covert purposes. From job hunters to singles in the dating scene, "virtual phone numbers" serve a real purpose for many consumers who don't want to provide their real phone number. Businesses can expand their geographic presence by using phone numbers which are out of their region or even outside their home country, giving them them an appearance that they operate in markets outside their main location. These numbers are not always used with the best intentions and can be very temporary. In some cases, unscrupulous telemarketing firms use these numbers for short campaigns where they want to disappear at their convenience.

There are many other reasons why legitimate users want these numbers. For Example, let's say you live in Mexico City and your mom lives in Miami. Her area code is 786. You could get a telephone number in the 786 area code that rings to you in Mexico City. Now mom doesn't have to pay long distance charges when she calls you. For businesses, giving a client a local number to reach you can make it easier for them to communicate and provide a higher level of customer service. Like other technologies, there is always room for abuse. In the case of temporary phone numbers, the benefits for those with good intentions outweighs the bad.

Quick Links
Available Area Codes
Telemarketing VoIP Solutions

tags: business, did numbers, telemarketing, virtual phone numbers

Monday, June 23, 2008

Video Telephony

The world is catching up with futuristic concepts every day. The Video Phone is no exception. Now, you can "reach out and see someone" using easy to configure software that offers a clear video picture along with standard IP Communications features. Internet Telephony Service Providers offer free Video calls with most calling plans and Prepaid Calling services. Two distant users can easily connect and stay in touch and sight, bringing people closer together during short business trips or more permanent relocations.

VoIP Resellers can use video calling as a unique entry point to introduce their services to new customers. Video allows the reseller to stand out from the crowd of other telecommunications providers by offering feature rich services which truly add value to their relationship with their customers.

Quick Links
Eyebeam Configuration
IP Communications Features
Monthly Calling Plans
Pay-as-you-go Calling

tags: eyebeam, internet telephony service provider, ip communications, video phone

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Many mobile phones are VoIP enabled for free

Many telecom resellers and consumers don't realize that their existing mobile phone/PDA might already allow for VoIP calls using free client software such as Articulation for Palm, Fring for Windows Mobile and a Nokia application designed for the e60, e70 and n80 mobile phones. Using a mobile phone as a User Agent for your VoIP calls is now easier than ever with simple VoIP configuration guides to help you get your clients up and running fast.

In the ever-changing global business environment, the ability to communicate with those outside of a user's home country becomes very important. Until now, making and receiving international calls from a cell phone was cost prohibitive. With VoIP applications which run on many popular mobile phones, the world is becoming smaller in the sense of easy communication. Add to that the ability to have localized phone numbers in other countries and your users will be able to increase their ability to do business with far away locations at a reasonable cost.

Quick Links
Nokia Mobile VoIP
Articulation for Palm PDA
Fring Mobile VoIP Solution
Available Area Codes

tags: articulation, did numbers, fring, mobile phone, nokia, palm

Friday, June 13, 2008

SIP Trunking or [whatever you want to call it]

One person says SIP Trunking, another says interconnecting or some other passé phrase used to describe how one connects to a carrier, authenticates, and manipulates calls. A carrier's ability to offer flexibility in the ways that their customers connect to them is what's really important. In some cases, due to the CPE, the end user or reseller is limited in how their calls can be originated. Standard ATA's typically require a registration and are limited to just sending and receiving calls for a single line. Asterisk and other advanced UAs can send text/prefix authentication with no need to register to send calls. Or, they can choose SIP Trunking and have much more control for both inbound and outbound calls, and multiple lines with multiple DIDs. The fact is that a reseller must support whatever the customer requires; keeping in mind both the business rules and available infrastructure.

Quick Links
SIP Trunking
Text/Prefix Authentication
DID Phone Numbers

tags: asterisk, ata, sip trunking, text/prefix authentication, UA

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Fixed Mobile Confusion?

Fixed Mobile Convergence is not just a buzz word. It's also not as complicated as it sounds. Here is one definition found on the web: Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) - the integration of wireline and wireless technologies and services to create a single telecommunications network foundation.

The benefits of FMC will differ based on the type of user and level of integration they require. Call forwarding and "follow-me" are basic services that allow a user to integrate their office or home phone with their mobile phone seamlessly without the caller's knowledge. Calling card gateways allow a user to make calls from their mobile phone using their home or office long distance account. These are very basic features that are currently available and require no additional infrastructure, planning or conversion of existing systems.

The future of FMC includes extending PBX features and functionality to mobile devices along with the implementation of unified communications. Telecom resellers, integrators and others providing networking and communications services should begin to introduce their clients to the features which are available today, while waiting to see what the buzz will be tomorrow.

Quick Links
Calling Card Gateways
VoIP Reseller Features
SIP Based PBX

tags: calling card gateways, fmc, mobile, pbx features, telecom, wireless

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

What Can Asterisk Do For You?

Asterisk is more than just a phone system, it's the world's leading open source telephony engine and tool kit. Most people know it as just an open source phone system. There are many uses past the obvious of creating a home or small office phone system.

Using Asterisk, you can create virtual hunt groups, implement on hold entertainment/messages, integrate with monitoring systems to generate alerts for service outages, create a calling card system, integrate with SMS to generate specific actions, create your own "phone company", create help desk tiered routing, provide "out of market" DID numbers, manage outbound callerID, provide reminder calls and play current information or pre-recorded messages, transfer calls, provide extended services far away from the server, integrate with CRM to recognize and display caller information, better handle NAT, create dial in conference bridge, create telephone surveys. You get the point, there are a lot of creative ways to integrate Asterisk into your specific business needs while benefiting from its open architecture and price (free).

Combined with the right ideas and Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP), Asterisk can and has helped many developers create businesses which previously required large investment in infrastructure and licensed software.

Quick Links
Asterisk Calling Card Gateway
Asterisk/Trixbox with VarPhonex Trunk
Asterisk Backup Set File
101 Things You Can Do with Asterisk

tags: asterisk, calling card system, open source phone system, telephony service provider, trixbox

Monday, June 9, 2008

Buy vs Build: Offering VoIP Service

Internet Telephony is no longer a service offered exclusively by pure play VoIP operators, Cable Companies, ISPs and telecommunications giants. Hosted private label solutions are enabling others to provide white label VoIP service without large investment in infrastructure and staffing. Today's IP phone service providers now range from social networking companies to system integrators who previously had no experience in providing telecommunications services. These new "telcos" are the latest benefactors of telecommunications convergence offering cutting edge communications features to compliment their products and services. From disposable phone numbers to inexpensive calling card services, the next wave of VoIP enablers are finding their way to the already competitive telecommunications marketplace.

Consumers and businesses across the world are being introduced to the enhanced features and cost savings that Internet Telephony has to offer. More often, these introductions are coming from vendors who previously had not been involved in providing communications services. The growth in availability of VoIP Reseller Programs specifically designed to enable these vendors has created a new force in the industry. Choosing the right partner to provide your VoIP service is first and most important decision to make. The first step is to determine exactly which services you want to offer. Some popular services include Video calling, IM, Presence, calling card services, digital phone service and more.

Once you have determined the services you want to offer, you must ask yourself if you need to build them yourself or is there an opportunity to partner with a provider with a hosted solution.

Quick Links
VoIP Reseller Features and Benefits
VoIP Reseller Program
Hosted VoIP Solution

tags:hosted voip solution, internet telephony, private label voip