VoIPConsultants.BIZ is an innovative agency for private label VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services in the United States. The company seems to be in the right business as hosted VoIP usage is estimated to increase from $476 million a year today, to over $2 billion a year by 2010.

 

The company’s clients range from independent cable operators, MTU/MDU operators and "Pure Play" VoIP providers who want to sell VoIP services under their own brand.

President of VoIPConsultants.BIZ (News - Alert), Steve Safley, recently discussed with Technology Marketing Corporation President, Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) the impact of recent world events on the IP communications market and shared his belief that hosted VoIP will take off in the coming years.

SS: As a small business owner, 2008 was a year that gave us reasons to be pessimistic but over the past three months or so I am very optimistic with the increase in client activity. When I factor in our new venture, I am very bullish on 2009. 

 

SS: Somewhere north of 750,000.

 

SS: Not at all. What disappoints me is how the markets are so easily manipulated. The recent events in the financial sector and automotive sectors are prime examples.

 

SS: We've adapted a new model to increase the options our clients have to enter the private label VoIP business. 

 

SS: Typically by delaying purchasing decisions. Some of our clients sell hosted solutions offshore, but most of them are still moving ahead with their business.

 

SS: Earlier this year it was a rough spot and clients weren't spending money, but now I'm sensing a change and as a result we're seeing more clients’ inquiries. 

 

SS: Depends on your perspective but by and large I would say you better present great value to your customers and more importantly, they need to know you are giving them great value.  I also believe that another key item is to be as easy as possible to do business with.

 

SS: It allows them to provide cost effective hosted VoIP services to their customers. In a time when discretionary spending is being cut, telephone service still stands out as one of those essential services many people have to have. Hosted VoIP offers a lower cost of service than traditional phone service.  

 

SS: There is nothing Bush can do before leaving office. During his terms in office, he was responsible for ruining competition in telecommunications. The best thing he can do is go home on January 20th. 

 

SS: Fire Kevin Martin, break up AT&T (News - Alert) and re-enact legislation that fosters competition. President Bush did more harm to competition in telecommunications than any other president in modern times. There was no reason to allow AT&T to buy up the RBOC's. I mean, can anyone say today that phone service from AT&T costs any less than it did before all this recombination was allowed to take place? Of course not. I never heard or saw any evidence of how the recreation of a monopoly benefited the public good. And one only has to look into the actions taken by AT&T to put ISP's out of business with their blatant anti-competitive business practices (without recourse from the FCC) to know that no good has come of this.

 

I would tell President-elect Obama to look long and hard at what Bill Clinton did in 1996 with the passage of the Telecom Act. Especially in this time of high unemployment, the Telecom Act was largely the reason we saw unemployment drop to as low as 3 percent in the late 1990's. If President-elect Obama wants job creation, a few prudent legislative moves in telecommunications would be a boost to many.  

RT: Will this slowdown present an opportunity to reinvest in your company/market? If so, where will you invest?

 

SS: I have invested in infrastructure that allows me to create private label services for my clients, using one of the best platforms from my top VoIP carrier. 

RT: Which country will present the largest opportunity for your company in 2009/10?

 

SS: Which country? Interesting question. Without divulging strategic secrets, there are enormous offshore opportunities that haven't been tapped that we are beginning to get involved with.  

 

SS: My Verizon (News - Alert) wireless phone and my IP phone services.

 

SS: RIM for sure, now that they have touchscreen capability. I think Apple is in trouble because they are aligned with AT&T whose 3G network is prone to issues, which caused me to move to Verizon by the way. RIM is the market leader, dominates the business sector and the touch screen ability was a great flanking strategy to keep Apple away from the business market and allow RIM to go into residential, which is Apple's core following. Nokia survives at least in the short to mid-term cause they own the market. They need to be wary of LG and Samsung (News - Alert) however. Google is google and will continue to be the premier search engine.  

 

SS: Our latest option for clients who wish to offer private label hosted VoIP services. 

 

SS: Anyone with a business plan to enter the hosted VoIP space. That would include residential, commercial, SIP trunking, trunk replacement, prepaid and callback services.  

 

SS: It’s the classic make or buy decision. They can use a multi-million dollar platform at a fraction of the cost to build it themselves.

 

SS: Because we can put you in business offering private label hosted VoIP services, and help you refine your business plan on the financial, operational, and sales and marketing aspects of entering the business. Not many carriers will do that today.

 

SS: Watching a client launch their service and activating their first customer.

 

SS: The sky is the limit for hosted VoIP. The U.S. market is only one of many that we hope to serve in the next 2-5 years.

 

 

Rich Tehrani is President and Group Editor-in-Chief of TMC. In addition, he is the Chairman of the world’s best-attended communications conference, INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO (ITEXPO). He is also the author of his own communications and technology blog.

Edited by Michelle Robart