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SIP Trunking for the SMB

Although VoIP has been around for several years, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) has recently become the de facto standard, making the promise of converged communications a reality. As with most technological paradigm shifts, the move to SIP began with enterprises and has moved into the rest of the business world, namely small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). This is an optimum time for value added resellers and OEMs that serve the SMB market to see their revenues and profits improve. One of the key factors that will determine success will be the VARs and OEMs understanding of SIP Trunking and how it changes the value proposition from traditional telephone interconnects to a world of enhanced and unified communications.

Overview

This session will provide an overview of how SIP Trunking forms the foundation for a SIP ecosystem, which includes IP PBXs, SIP Phones, IADs, unified communications and communications enabled business processes (CEBP). We will discuss why this is such a critical juncture for VARs and interconnects, and identify both the opportunities and challenges that will alter the way you conduct business forever. Whether you are an interconnect that has traditionally sold phone systems, a computer networking reseller, or any kind of telephony equipment provider for SMBs, you will gain critical insight with specific action items that will help ensure that your business thrives in this new communications environment being introduced by SIP Trunking.

In brief, SIP Trunking rapidly reduces costs by eliminating redundant network connections and providing PSTN termination in the local area. SIP Trunking also provides for much lower pricing of long distance, toll-free and international calling. Moreover, carriers can offer local number portability, E911, DID blocks and business continuity options.

SIP Trunking is experiencing rapid growth in the SMB market. While SMBs have other options like hosted PBX and legacy interfaces, why is it that SIP Trunking is leading the way? Panelists will discuss the benefits of SIP Trunking and why this trend is occurring.

Presenters

Eric Eckman
Director and
Product Manager
Broadvox

Mr. Eckman brings over 15 years of experience covering the sales, marketing, and business development for several technology providers. As Director of Business Development and Product Management, he is responsible for creating and sustaining mutually beneficial partnerships with manufacturers of IP PBXs and SIP Software Providers, as well as interfacing with Industry Associations and other organizations comprising the ecosystem surrounding SIP. He also has responsibility for overseeing the development and positioning of Broadvox's product and service set in response to customer and partner needs and industry developments.

Prior to Broadvox, Eric served as Director of Sales and Marketing for ETC, Inc. a provider of custom software solutions for enterprises with particular expertise in wireless and mobile computing. Additionally, he served as Strategic Account Manager with Applied Technology Ventures, where he was responsible for creating and overseeing relationships with leading Independent Software Vendors in the retail and financial industries.

Kerry Garrison

trixbox Community Director
Fonality

Kerry Garrison has been in the IT industry for over 20 years with positions ranging from IT Director of a large multi-site distribution company to developing a large hosted web server platform for a major ISP, to running his own IT consulting business in Southern California. Kerry was introduced to the world of Asterisk by a friend and began installing Asterisk-based phone systems for his small business clients. He wrote articles about Asterisk and trixbox that became extremely popular on the net, and eventually published the definitive book on trixbox, "trixbox Made Easy." Today, Kerry is the Senior Product Development Manager for trixbox at Fonality. Kerry regularly speaks at trade shows, user groups, and radio programs. He is also the publisher of both http://www.voipspeak.net and http://www.asterisktutorials.com.

Erik Linask
Associate Editor
Technology Marketing Corporation

In addition to his work with TMC’s IP Communications publications, Erik is a contributor to TMCnet. Prior to joining the TMC team, he was Managing Editor at Global Custodian, a global securities services publication, where he also managed the magazine’s survey research. Erik began his professional career at management consulting firm Leadership Research Institute.