Broadvox Anticipates Strong Growth, New Opportunities in 2010

As 2009 offered both opportunities and challenges, the verdict is still out as to whether or not the telecommunications industry flourished or floundered. For Broadvox, the former proved to be true as the company realized a 20 percent increase in the annual number of traffic minutes over its network. In relation to key announcements, the GO!Broadband and GO! SIP Trunking both grabbed attention. According to David Byrd (News - Alert), Broadvox’s vice president of marketing and sales in an interview with TMCnet, the company achieved interoperability certification with more OEMs than any other ITSP.


Even with these key initiatives throughout the year, the economy certainly had an impact on Broadvox (News - Alert). While it had a negative impact on a number of companies, Byrd said that, “it infused growth into IP Communications because of the cost savings of transitioning to SIP.” While the company had braced for a negative impact year, the reality was much more positive as they experienced record-breaking sales and growth.

For 2010, Byrd and Broadvox anticipate continued growth, especially as efforts continue in the education of the general public about trends in technology and communications – VoIP especially. Broadvox has a number of innovative products in the works with a 2Q10 release and new partners being added to the existing channel to continue to drive IP communications adoption and integration.

The full interview follows:

 

David Byrd: This year we enjoyed record breaking growth. We realized a twenty per cent increase in the annual number of traffic minutes carried on our network, bringing us up to 10 billion minutes per year. Our SIP Trunking sales increased dramatically due to the efforts of our award-winning channel program, reinforced by a growing and enthusiastic channel management and sales team. 

 

 

GO! SIP Trunking footprint was extended to Hawaii. DIDs were made available in Puerto Rico, making it possible for customers to establish a local presence in there, if desired. In addition to GO!Broadband, we announced in October that we are now able to provide bonded T1s in speeds ranging from 3.0Mbs to 12.0Mbs.

 

In May, we had achieved interoperability certification with more OEMs than any other ITSP. During the year, we announced interoperability with Panasonic, NEC, Samsung, Mitel, Avaya, Zultus, Digium (News - Alert), ESI, Xorcom and many others. This is not only good for Broadvox, but for our VARs who represent the OEMs providing their customers with added flexibility to customize their IP Communications solution.

 

In September, the portal development for improved number fulfillment and portability was completed accelerating the speed with which new customers could be provisioned.

 

At ITEXPO (News - Alert) West, Broadvox was awarded Best of Show for Broadvox GO! SIP Trunking and in September, PHONE+ magazine selected Broadvox as having a Top 50 Channel program out of hundreds of nominations. Both of these honors were a testament to the successful efforts of Broadvox to expand the total number of employees by 50 percent. We grew or expanded customer service, provisioning, engineering, channel management and sales.

             

DB: The economy – contrary to how it affected other industries, it infused growth into IP Communications because of the cost savings of transitioning to SIP. Businesses took the initiative to educate themselves about the many options available for communication solutions and, as a result, the competitive space has widened to include ITSPs, like Broadvox, as a viable option for quality service.

DB: Initially, like all other organizations, we planned for a negative impact. However, the negative aspects did not materialize. Instead, record breaking sales and growth required an increase in staffing and backend systems. Moreover, we will be launching an all new order system, currently being tested, in 1Q10.

DB: Overall, we anticipate continued growth in the coming year, with much less acceptance of the FUD tossed out by the ILECs and CLECs. Fear, uncertainty and doubt always affect business growth when either competitors perpetuate rumors or the media propagates negative economic indicators. With continued efforts in educating the general populace about trends in technology and communications in particular, we will overcome the uncertainty and businesses will realize that VoIP has come of age and provides reliable, cost-effective communication that unites people regardless of their location or device, as long as it is SIP enabled and they have Internet access.

DB: New products, partnerships and alliances will continue to drive our growth. Several innovative products are in R&D and we expect to bring them to market by 2Q10. New partners being added to the existing channel will expand our presence in various markets around the country. And our business development efforts will result in enabling us to distribute and sell our products using new channels, allowing us to reach buyers beyond our current reach.

 

With the growth we are experiencing, readers can be sure that we are not sitting idle and it will be interesting for them to continue to follow our efforts over the next few months to see what we have in store for the IP Community.