[VoiceOps] 2015 Softswitch

[Carlos Alvarez]

My experience is that most customers aren't looking for cheaper; they are
looking for a better value proposition.  The traditional phone company they
have and their hardware vendor have been screwing them for years with a bad
value prop.  Outages that go for a day or two, all MACs take days and cost
$175+, missing basic features like concurrent ring, remote/home phones,
etc.  We find that the most basic of VoIP features are what most customers
are looking for, along with stability and exceptional customer support.
They are also tired of talking to a $10/hour call center worker when
something does go wrong, or they need a change done.

We position ourselves with all the features that have easily recognizable
business value and a high level of service.  We are not cheap like Vonage
and others, but that almost never matters.  And we've learned that if it
does matter, that customer will suck anyway.

About 15% of our customers are highly customized, and that's another value
proposition.  Doing something that can't be done with PRI/analog, and in
some cases, that other VoIP providers can't do.  Those customers are higher
in overall revenue per seat though, and probably account for 30% of our
revenue.


On Fri, Oct 30, 2015 at 7:05 AM, Peter Rad. <peter at 4isps.com> wrote:

> With a market penetration of less than 20% in the US in over ten years, it
> doesn't matter that there are 2000 Hosted VoIP providers in the US. Most
> are taking orders for cheap voice. Hardly anyone is actually "selling" UC.
> Doesn't matter what switch you have, if you are losing a deal over a
> feature, you failed at sales. Period.
>
> In my experience, it is rare that a deal stumbles over a feature.  Most
> people just want a cheaper version of what they have. Hence, all that key
> system emulation crap that we see -- and where the deployments ultimately
> fail and the customer leaves (and the SP loses money).
>
> If you have a Broadsoft now and you think THAT is what is stalling your
> business growth, your platform, a lack of features????
>
> I have seen folks fail at Asterisk or Freeswitch. Migrate to Meta from
> BSFT. MIgrate to BroadCloud. It is rarely the tech that messes them up ---
> it is the sales department. And later the implementation, but you have to
> sell it before your can mess up the deployment.
>
> Most of the sales right now in the US are people dissatisfied with OTT
> VoIp and are shopping for another one.
>
> Top providers in the US have no common theme:  Comcast, Vonage, 8x8, RC,
> thinking phones, Shoretel.
>
> I am presenting UCaaS sales training today at Noon ET, reply to this
> message and you can jump on for free.
>
> Regards,
>
> Peter Radizeski
> RAD-INFO INC813.963.5884http://rad-info.net
>
>
>
> On 10/29/2015 9:50 PM, Colton Conor wrote:
>
> I appreciate all the replies to this thread. I can honestly say that no
> one said it better than Rob Dawson. Especially the part about " 99% of
> all Broadworks shops sell the same exact product. Whatever comes out of the
> box, with the crappy BW portal, using Polycom phones but taking no
> advantage of any of the advanced features that are available. I really
> think that in the next few years that providers who are not offering a full
> UC&C experience for their customers and not doing anything to differentiate
> their products will start faltering. That innovative product suite is what
> providers will need in order to be competitive in the future."
>
> I couldn't agree more as I feel that is where I am currently at, on a
> Broadsoft platform, selling the same basic feature sets, at the same price
> points, as everyone else. Hard to be innovative with Broadsoft when
> Broadsoft nickles and dimes you for ever little feature especially when the
> big competitors are giving these features away for free or at no cost
> because their platform allows them to.
>
> So I am looking for a new soft-switch engine. Something that with API's I
> can integrate into these existing services such as fax (that I wish people
> would stop using).
>
> The only thing I have seem so far to come close as an all in one solution
> is NetSapiens. I have not looked at Metaswitch as its too expensive unless
> there is someone out there that has a wholesale, hosted, whitelable
> Metaswitch product?
>
> Anything else besides Broadsoft, Metaswitch, and Netsapiens that fits the
> bill?
>
>
>
>
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