TMCnet asked Russ Maney, Vice President of Marketing at Smoothstone, to answer some questions about how VoIP is impacting today’s service providers, and what lies ahead for this new form of telephony.

 

VoIP stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol.” That simply means using Internet Protocol as the transmission “language” to send voice signals over a network. For some companies, like Skype (News - Alert) and Vonage, that network is the public Internet. At Smoothstone, that network is our own private, nationwide, IP-over-MPLS network. We firmly believe that, for quality of service as well as for network management and effect issue resolution, no organization should ever trust mission-critical voice communications to the public Internet.

 

As a “service provider,” we deliver VoIP as a service over our network and manage our client’s voice services for them, versus other companies that sell VoIP equipment that their customers must buy and then manage themselves. This is a critical distinction. As a service provider, we do everything for our clients, from custom design and installation of our solutions through end-user training and ongoing 24/7 support, all for a monthly fee.

 

With the advent of converged communications (data, voice and video, all delivered simultaneously over one, IP-based network), the term “VoIP service provider” is being replaced by the broader term of “converged communications as a service provider” (or “CCaaS provider”). Our services not only include local and long distance VoIP, but also wide-area networking, WAN network management, unified messaging (e-mail, voicemail and fax to the desktop), group collaboration tools, audio and video conferencing platforms and much more--essentially every type of communications service a business needs, all from one vendor and all over a converged network.

 

First, the VoIP and the other business communication services simply have to work. Many companies have tried to execute the VoIP service provider business model and failed. Successfully delivering converged communications as a service takes very specialized knowledge and expertise. Smoothstone’s services really work and really deliver all of the benefits of CCaaS. The best proof of this is that more than 99 percent of all of the clients we have ever had are still our clients.

 

Second, VoIP service providers must truly grasp what client service really means. It means clients being able to get a live, Cisco-certified network engineer on the phone any time they have a question or issue. It means having that person answer the question or resolve the issue during that first phone call. It means understanding that your clients have entrusted you with the management of the communications that enable them to conduct their business and treating them accordingly. It means not only delivering reliable, basic communication services, but also developing customized communication management applications (like automated call distribution, call detail record analysis, etc.) that can literally transform how a business operates. It means using CCaaS to enable organizations to communicate better and more cost-effectively than ever before.

 

Bottom line, fully managed, converged communications as a service (including VoIP) is simply the best way for providers to deliver and for clients to get the best communication services at the lowest total cost of ownership. By delivering all services over one, IP-based converged network, both the provider and the client only have one network to manage. This dramatically simplifies the efforts of (and thereby reduces the costs of) client IT staffs’ network implementation, management and maintenance tasks. Client IT staffs can then redeploy these resources towards higher return projects specific their companies’ particular business needs.

 

By delivering all communication features, functions and applications over the network as a service, providers can concentrate on enhancing a single delivery platform, versus managing, maintaining and upgrading multiple, different communication platforms spread across all of their clients’ locations. Clients get continuous access to this always up-to-date platform, without having to implement (and pay for) periodic upgrades, worry about capacity issues, or manage and maintain the hardware and software themselves.

 

The answer to both of these questions is the same. Since VoIP and all other communication services are delivered over one converged network and all from one platform, clients large and small enjoy the same advantages. These advantages include: a unique, customized solution that specifically fits their individual business needs and resources; ‘best-of-breed’ features and functions; one vendor, one bill for all services; one company to call for any questions or issues; and a lower total cost of ownership. Those clients with more sophisticated needs have access to customized and Web portal-based communication management applications, such as wide area network management, automated call distribution, call detail records analysis and much more.

 

Smoothstone’s approach is unique. We are the nation’s oldest VoIP services provider and the world’s first converged communications as a service provider. (In the latter case, we actually invented the business.) Our ‘approach’ is that of a professional services firm. We carefully listen to the specific business needs of each client, then analyze their current communications infrastructure and develop a solution that fits those specific needs and resources. This may be a complete, converged communications as a service solution or a hybrid solution that enables the client to enjoy many CCaaS benefits, but also migrate to a more complete solution as their needs and resources dictate.  

 

 

Quite simply, we know of no other converged communications as a service provider. Furthermore, we know of no other provider that is itself a converged equipment vendor, carrier services provider and professional services firm. Smoothstone is truly unique.

 

 

The name ‘SmoothstoneCOMPLETE’ illustrates the key difference. SmoothstoneCOMPLETE is the market’s only truly comprehensive converged communications as a service solution. Other VoIP service providers offer basic “outsourced phone systems” functionality. SmoothstoneCOMPLETE serves all of an organization’s communications needs: local and long distance VoIP, wide area networking, WAN network management, unified messaging (e-mail, voicemail and fax to the desktop), group collaboration tools, audio and video conferencing platforms and much more.

 

It also includes access to our customized and Web portal-based communication management applications, such as wide area network management, automated call distribution, call detail records analysis and much more. We are continuously developing new applications and services to meet newly discovered client needs. We keep adding services to SmoothstoneCOMPLETE--such as an ‘always available’ executive conference line--so that our suite of services stays complete and so that our clients never have to look for new applications to meet their ever-growing and ever-changing communications needs. We do this research and application development for them.  

 

Frankly, we see converged communications as a service being the “end game” for VoIP service providers and business communications suppliers of all kinds. In the not-too-distant future, all business communications will be delivered using the CCaaS business model.

 

The signs are already there and CCaaS is just the intersection of two current and very powerful trends. All communications will be over converged networks. All software will we delivered as a service (otherwise know as ‘Software as a Service’ or ‘SaaS’ (News - Alert)). While neither of these transitions is near complete, they are far enough along to conclude that, together, they are driving and mutually reinforcing a reinvention of the business communications industry--the converged communications as a service delivery model.

CCaaS will have a profound affect on all types of business communication suppliers, from equipment manufacturers to carriers and circuit providers to applications and software developers--as well as to those involved in the marketing, sales, distribution and servicing all of these.

Mae Kowalke previously wrote for Cleveland Magazine in Ohio and The Burlington Free Press in Vermont. To see more of her articles, please visit Mae Kowalke’s columnist page. Also check out her Wireless Mobility blog.