In one of my last posts I talked about how since service pack one, users could now add SIP trunks, or in simple English, external phone numbers for the VoIP unit that are provided over your existing WAN connection. This is a major development for Response Point and an evolution of the system into a real market player.
Microsoft has had a team on the road for what seems like all year. After each show we seem to learn a little more about new relationships Microsoft had been making with VoIP SIP providers. I have been looking at these providers in great detail and to date have seen that there are two real players with networks that are ready and up to speed. The first is NGT and the second is Bandwidth.com.
The first provider I have worked with is NGT. They have a great business model for SMB Managed Service Providers such as myself. They have a setup that allows me to resell the service and handle the entire transaction from contracts to provisioning all over the reseller portal. We are paid on an ongoing basis as long as the customer maintains service. This is very powerful. When vendors help make us profitable we can add to the services we provide. They take the front line trouble calls and if a problem involves the local network will escalate the issue and get us involved right away. They also provide an Internet based desktop fax service. If you do a lot of faxing, this is an incredible tool. Their partner program has some real polish and a lot of support and training to make sure what we sell we can deliver. NGT has a pretty well established network through a partnership with Level 3 Networks. The only issue we have had to date is my first client was in a very remote location. Due to that, NGT could not provide E911. That prevented the order from processing because NGT follows FCC guidelines very closely. If they can't provide E911, they will not activate the order. I still plan to continue to offer NGT as a choice for my customers and plan to make them a long term partner.
The second provider I have worked with is Bandwidth.com. Bandwidth.com provides SIP service just as NGT does and they also have a business model that allows me to resell the Bandwidth.com brand. Something a little different about though, is Bandwidth.com also allows us to resell data circuits of every possible shape and type and includes virtually all available speeds. I can see a strong advantage in being able to bring these services together for both billing and support. While at SMB nation I had the chance to meet with the Channel Manager, Jeff Uphughs. Jeff was excited to sit down and chat due to the problems we had being Bandwidth.com's first Response Point deployment. He and his team wanted to be certain all was well. He was totally aware of the problems we had and wanted to be absolutely sure the issues were fixed and that both me and my customer were happy. We are and must say I was impressed. Later during the SMB Nation event we spoke again and the topic of the Church IT Round Table came up. I was planning to speak about Response Point for one the topic bazaar. Without asking, Jeff not only lined up a Bandwidth.com rep to come out to the event, he sent out a Syspine Response Point demo unit as my previously planned equipment loaner fell through. Way to step up to the plate and help a new partner!
So what does this mean to you? Do you have an aging analog phone system? Are you paying more than 15 to 20 dollars per phone line per month? If you answer yes, you have an opportunity to upgrade a 10 phone PBX system for less than 3,500 bucks. It will add rich desktop features and integration with local address books. It will provide you with a phone system that has rich voice activation for nearly all its features. Finally, some of you may be paying as much as 60 dollars for a single phone line per month. Bottom line...there may be a state of the art solution out there for you and with SIP phone line service there is the potential to save as much as 45 dollars per month per phone line. That is some serious money over time.
I hope this post is informative for those who took the time to read it. If you want more information, please feel free to contact me via my blog. Thanks for visiting.
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