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Excel Telecommunications: 2007 a Good Year for SIP Trunking, 2008 Even Better

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TMCnews Featured Article


January 03, 2008

Excel Telecommunications: 2007 a Good Year for SIP Trunking, 2008 Even Better

By Mae Kowalke, TMCnet Senior Editor


For Excel Telecommunications (News - Alert), 2007 was a pretty exciting year. In response to industry changes, the company altered its marketing portfolio to emphasize SIP trunking—a service that utilizes call routing over an IP carrier backbone using VoIP technology.

 
Used in conjunction with an IP-PBX (News - Alert), SIP trunking is considered a replacement for traditional analog circuits. It has become increasingly popular because it offers significant cost savings coupled with reliability.
 
Steve Weltner, director of business development at Excel, told TMCnet that the company deployed a nationwide VoIP network in 2006, with the intention of supporting a TDM customer base. During 2007, 80 percent of new sales came from IP product sales. The company saw the change taking place and adapted, refocusing its marketing efforts on SIP trunking.
 
“The big change during 2007 was the modification of Excel’s operations to support the company’s new IP product portfolio,” Weltner explained. “Dedicated resources have been applied to the order procurement, customer care and turn-up processes to better support these solutions. SIP trunking is efficient and flexible, and Excel realized its operations had to match the product it is selling.” 
 
Weltner went on to say when 2007 began, Excel’s customers were really beginning to embrace IP-PBXs that run natively using SIP trunks.
 
“Going into 2007 most, if not all, of our customers were using gateways on their premise to interface with an IP PBX,” he said. “More than half of our newer customers are skipping the gateway and directly connecting to the IP-enabled PBX.
 
Why the shift? Credit can be given to the maturity of SIP standards, elimination of gateway cost, and increasing flexibility.
 
Weltner said that, in the past, the solutions sold by IP-PBX vendors boasted more functionality than service provider offerings. But, IP-PBX products were limited by the viability of Internet telephony service provider options. Today, however, most service providers have jumped on board the IP train, providing better options and enabling the growth of SIP-based PBXs.
 
“As customers become more advanced, they want the quality and stability of their current network but the efficiency and options of new technology,” he said. “SIP trunking, if combined correctly with the systems integrator market, can provide the best of both worlds.” 
 
Weltner sees big things ahead for SIP trunking in 2008. He told TMCnet that the integration of SIP trunking with other new technologies will allow businesses to focus on core competencies and boost their bottom lines.
 
To learn more about the topics discussed in this article, please visit the SIP Trunking channel on TMCnet.com, brought to you by Excel.
 

Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers whitepapers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users. Today’s featured white paper is Best Practice Checklists for Contact Center and CRM Integration.

 
Mae Kowalke is an associate editor for TMCnet, covering VoIP, CRM, call center and wireless technologies. To read more of Mae’s articles, please visit her columnist page. She also blogs for TMCnet here.







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