VoIP Barrier To Entry

The overriding theme of any VOIP technology is connection. The idea is to allow you to stay connected via an IP network such as the Internet, even if you are based in a suburban or rural area well-removed from a major city center. This flexibility is especially important where only analog service has previously been available, or where DSL service is not an option.

After all, with a VOIP solution, you can expect faster Internet connections of up to 512K, solutions for multi-line operations (usually three or above), and the ability to transfer calls between multiple locations. These options are ideal for home-based businesses or businesses operating in suburban or rural areas like those mentioned above. Requiring only custom IP telephones and routers that can be leased at low rates from providers, VOIP solutions offer the kind of connection that can keep you viable as the business environment increasingly depends on staying “plugged-in,” so to speak, to an ever-growing network. But still despite of these stories there are many VOIP Barrier to Entry.

Both the learning curve and capital investment in SIP phones significantly dropped with Canadian Xten Networks’ announcement of the release of version 2.0 of its standalone X-PRO and X-Lite SIP User Agents for Windows PCs. Both agents make and receive VoIP calls using services such as Free World Dialup and iConnectHere. Marketed primarily to IP Telephony Service Providers, X-PRO retails for $50 and has all the features and functionality of a small business phone system. Version 2.0 incorporates a new “cellular-like” menu system that makes it familiar and easy to use by lowering VOIP Barrier to Entry. X-Lite is a scaled down version of X-PRO and can be downloaded from Xten’s website for free. (www.xten.com)

Likewise, enterprise-player Avaya, lowered the VOIP Barrier to Entry for businesses with its announcement of Release Four for its IP Softphone product line – available in August 2003. R.4 provides control of the IP telephone, allowing users to dial from the IP Softphone’s local directory, call log, LDAP contact, or Microsoft Outlook, and talk

using the IP telephone handset. Also announced are two new phone units designed to provide employees with the tools and feature-set that best suits their specific job function. The feature-laden Avaya 4620 IP Telephone is priced at $495, while its more basic counterpart, the Avaya 4602 IP Telephone, lists at $195. (www.avaya.com)

Let’s see some more stories of VOIP Barrier to Entry. CoolCall.com, Inc., announced its global IP telephony strategy and deployment plan to compete with the “Goliaths” of telecommunications. It has been offering free IP telephony gateways to CoolCall partners in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the U.S. to seed its international expansion. It is deploying approximately 25 gateways over the next few months, reducing VOIP Barrier to Entry and laying the foundation for expansion into 250 major points of presence by the year 2002.

CoolCall has targeted agile, entrepreneurial firms such as ISPs, regional telecom players and alternative local loop providers and is providing them a turnkey solution, an “IP telco-in-a-box,” including branding, equipment, network management and billing in exchange for revenue sharing. They will compete under the CoolCall brand.

“This is a plan that will catch on like wildfire. It is a grass roots cooperative approach that supports even smaller players” says CoolCall CEO Burt Chojnowski. He adds, “The CoolCall business strategy maps well with the Internet and has been well received by CoolCall partners in every corner of the world.”

CoolCall uses the resources of its network partners, such as GRIC Communications, and marketing partners, such as ISPs, as a substitute for major capital investment in developing a global network and marketing presence. This strategy allows for scalability without limitations. CoolCall can deploy, test and provision IP Telephony gateway service in as little as thirty days.

GRIC provides worldwide access and termination across 71 VoIP gateway servers and five regional QoS network hubs, offering worldwide call termination.

According to Mr. Chojnowski, “We are building our network from the bottom up rather from the top down. It is smarter, faster and less expensive. CoolCall local partners can make more money by adopting our network and focusing on sales and marketing rather than gateway investments.”