VoIP Gateways

Companies that engineer, build and sell complementary digital communications network products often find that partnering each other gives them a strategic advantage in an often very competitive market. Combining resources and technologies can be a key strategy for better serving customer needs without cutting into profits.

That’s certainly the case with Patton Electronics, a provider of VoIP gateway products, which is now working closely with SIP trunking company Broadvox and ABP (News - Alert) Tech, which offers configuration and distribution services.

At the AstriCon 2010 show in Maryland last week, these three companies unveiled a turnkey business-class VoIP solution geared toward VARs, featuring Patton (News - Alert) SmartNode VoIP gateways integrated with Broadvox SIP trunking services, configured and distributed by ABP Tech.

“As a team we bring total solutions with proven interoperability to the marketplace,” said Sean Gerrity, who heads up Patton’s North America and Japan divisions.

Patton’s line of SmartNode products combine the capabilities of VoIP routers and gateways, delivering seamless integration with existing analog phone service with digital Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The company has invested significantly in making sure its VoIP gateways are interoperable with major brands of IP-PBXs and softswitches—such as Broadvox’s (News - Alert) SIP trunks.

Interoperability matters because without it, businesses, carriers and value-added resellers (VARs) find it difficult or impossible to deploy future-proof VoIP systems fast enough to keep up with the needs of their clients, and in a way that’s profitable.

“The market needs carrier-class products at cost-effective price levels,” noted ABP’s president, Robert Messer (News - Alert), in a statement to the press. “We chose Patton SmartNode because it offers the industry’s best price-performance for carrier and enterprise-class gateways.”

Gerrity added that the stability of VoIP gateway and SIP trunking products is a big concern for businesses, VARs and carriers; these customers won’t invest in such products if they’re not confident about reliability. Patton takes this very seriously and the robustness of its technology reflects that.

“We often hear them say that once they set a SmartNode up they never have to touch it again,” Gerrity said. “The equipment just keeps working. We chose Broadvox and ABP as partners because their services deliver that same kind of reliability.”

Combining reliable, complementary technologies is great, but a mechanism still must be put in place for efficient distribution. That’s where ABP comes in; the company adds fast, easy sourcing and delivery of the Patton/Broadvox solution.

Patton and ABP have been successfully working together for many months. Patton brought ABP on board as a distributor of its VoIP gateway products a year ago. Early in 2010, following a successful sales blitz, Patton named ABP its Master Distributor for SmartNode in the Americas market.

In March, ABP rolled out a new campaign, offering pre-configured SmartNode 5200 VoIP gateways from Patton. This gave internet telephony service providers (ITSPs) access to a fully provisioned, quality assured SIP trunking solution capable of reducing startup costs and freeing resources for revenue-generating activities like acquiring new subscribers.

The successful Patton-ABP partnership continued through the summer, with ABP’s IP Sizzles Conference roadshow—a regionwide tour that made stops in Los Angeles, Santo Domingo, New York, the Dominican Republic, Dallas, Lima and Santiago. The tour wrapped up in mid-September.