Some VoIP News I Wish Was Interesting

There seems to be a new Hosted PBX launching every month. This month it is a SIP Trunking company. SIPTRUNK.com Announces Public BETA Program. With this program, now even your phone vendor can offer SIP Trunking and compete with you for the small slice of market that is available. This will likely result in (a) more white-label programs; and (2) price war coming since 2000+ Hosted VoIP providers are already finding it expensive to find customers. The one challenge that SIP trunks have over POTS: QoS. I don't see this platform solving that issue. It isn't a lack of SIP; it is a lack of quality of service as most SIP trunks ride OTT (over-the-top) which offers little in the way of control or quality --- the reason many small businesses keep (or go back to) POTS.

Grandstream announced a one and two line phone line. Just what was needed - more phone models. I am not picking on snom, Yealink, Grandstream or the other manufacturers, when you make phones, you make phones. That is your hammer - and everything is
a nail. The problem isn't about cheaper. Many are debating the death of the desk phone. These phones are computers. They understand XML. But we don't use them for anything. They have all the smarts of a smartphone and the same ability. Lack of Imagination. Hire some folks from Disney.

SMS is growing, according to Voxox, a wholesale VoIP and SMS provider. Frontier has had SMS enabled landlines for a year. Many ITSPs are enabling SIP lines with SMS. (that whole unified messaging inbox.) It is something that will soon be a checklist item, instead of a value-add.

There is a thread on voice-ops listserv about delivering Key System Emulation via SIP, especially BroadWorks. BSFT has a document on how to do it. Key System emulation is wrought with issues - from the phone (especially the Polycom VVX) having issues with call appearance to call park and message on hold. The best advice (from the list and me): "We also try and break people of the key system habit whenever possible."

Often key system comes with associated challenges like overhead paging which SIP has a problem delivering in the same way. Door buzzers are another. You can one off these solutions with third party gear, but you still have to support it; make it work; and keep the customer happy. New one to me this morning: flush mount intercom door station that is SIP enabled.

BTW, Phonism launched out of Beta. Phonism is out of Tampa and does VoIP endpoint Provisioning and Monitoring. Cool dashboard and interface. I am on their board.