by W. Khris Kendrick, Sr. Director, Business Development, Grandstream Networks
During the last recession in 2001, VoIP was in its infancy and everyone was ready to throw the baby out with the bath water. RFC standards were barely developed and SIP-based platforms were marketed towards incumbent service providers like Qwest, XO, Verizon and SBC. Big bucks were on the table until everyone realized SPs were slow to move, change or add VoIP. This forced a lot of innovative IP voice companies out of business.
VoIP, however, like a Cinderella or Shrek story, has a happy ending. The technology survived the recession and will survive the economic downturn in 2008 if we fight smart. What must be done is to provide SMBs easy access to an IP-PBX and SIP Trunking service that enables them to realize the benefits.
You may ask why. Multinational VoIP IP-PBX manufacturers don’t want to support the SMB, often referred to as the squeaky wheel. The support cost to revenue ratio is simply too high to justify. Offshore call center costs rise and overall profit diminishes by supporting these smaller organizations.
Recently I attended a conference where a major manufacturer senior executive said the company doesn’t want to sell directly to the sub-100 employee firm. That means it is up to the VAR channel to duke it out themselves with little support from their brethren and lots of choices including open source. This fragments the market and leaves the SMB bewildered with decisions such as do I buy the equipment outright, lease to own, buy refurbished or buy unused.
If this is your target market, there is more for you. It is the fastest-growing sector and SIP Trunking is hot news. There is no waiting for large teams to make decisions by committee. Why extend that TDM phone system lease when low TCO is available for new extendable and flexible unified communications?
Many industries are feeling the effects of the gloomy economic forecast. I believe the VoIP industry can escape this current downturn if the focus becomes penetrating the SMB market. As the dollar weakens, coupled with high travel costs, SMBs need to find cheaper ways to communicate. SIP Trunking provides 70% toll-call savings in most cases through providers like Broadvox, Voxitas, Broadvoice and RNK. IP video conferencing through devices like Grandstream’s GXV3000 phone will allow face–to-face at low cost.
We may have to fight hard again to make VoIP the hero in 2008 as we face a looming recession. We cannot expect the government to rescue us if we do indeed see a downturn; there quite simply will not be another Bear Stearns.
VoIP has to prove itself once again. The way to accomplish this is to make the SMB realize its benefits – QoS, plug-n-play, one-button-provisioning, ease-of-use, advanced features (FMC) and affordability. It shouldn’t be a luxury item.
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