Virtual Office Resource

To say that hosted VoIP depends on bandwidth is something of an obvious statement. Indeed, what hosted VoIP service – what hosted service of any sort, really – could run without bandwidth? But in this case, it's a little different, as Phone.com (News - Alert) turns to Bandwidth, a major provider of scalable voice, SMS, and 911 solutions, to bring in some extra voice network services to its current lineup of hosted product offerings.

Bandwidth opens up a slate of new opportunities for Phone.com, including easy access to a network of local numbers that cover the United States, all backed up by a set of service management APIs, designed to make inventory search a lot easier, along with the necessary activation procedures to get those local numbers up and running. Bandwidth also brings in RESTful APIs to give users access to a powerful new service management system, allowing Phone.com to bring its own lineup of services for use on Bandwidth's own systems. This combination yields a better overall user experience, and better customer satisfaction.

Bandwidth also allows its customers the choice between three separate platforms to access the network and accompanying services. This allows for a variety of different customers to get into the game, including app developers who want a way to bring cloud services into the picture, as well as communications providers with data centers and VoIP networks already in place. Either way, Bandwidth customers have access to a massive lineup of numbers throughout the United States, allowing for rapid set-up, a trait that's no doubt welcome to its users.

Since Bandwidth's lineup can already be seen with some major players in the field – both Google (News - Alert) and Skype look to Bandwidth, as well as companies like Windstream – it's clear that Bandwidth is a trusted provider with experience handling major accounts. This makes Phone.com's decision to turn to Bandwidth seem like an even better one, underscored by remarks from Phone.com's CEO, Ari Rabban (News - Alert).

Rabban noted that the combination of Bandwidth's flexible structure, sheer network size, and quality management tools gave Phone.com a lot of extra room to run. Meanwhile, Phone.com could offer, as Rabban put it, “stability, flexibility, and ease-of-management...to provide quality phone services that meet our customer's needs.”

It's never good enough to just have a terrific product. It's also vital to make that terrific product more available in more places and under more circumstances, which is just what Phone.com looks to be doing here. Phone.com already had a great setup, but by bringing in Bandwidth, not only can Phone.com offer more, but it can offer more to more customers, a combination that's generally very helpful with bottom line considerations.

Phone.com's work with Bandwidth, meanwhile, should make Phone.com's lineup still more useful thanks to the number of local numbers that has come into play as a result of the association, and the accompanying bump in utility that the company can offer thanks to the increased range. It looks to be a very smart move for Phone.com, and one that should pay dividends for all involved.