2013

360Partners

9/1/2013

Which VoIP Vendor Wins the Customer Tug of War? A Comparative Analysis of the Top VoIP Brands.

2

Which VoIP Vendor Wins the Customer Tug of War?

Nothing stretches a business budget more than communication. Runaway long-distance, roaming and

monthly phone rates can seriously hurt the bottom line. More and more companies are scrambling for cost

containment as costs continue to rise. There are so many choices and so many decisions to make – what is

a business to do?

Today’s newest technologies have become more streamlined and economical, making it easier for

businesses to collaborate without the hassle of travel. A logical and “green” alternative for business today

lies with VoIP. According to Infonetics Research, hosted business and unified communications will more than

double in the business sector by 2016. Combined residential and business VoIP use is expected to be a

$74.5 billion industry by 2015. Voice traffic is going mobile too, with more than 1 billion worldwide users

expected by 2017. Mobile VoIP is another growing trend as people do business away from the office.

3

The business sector is actually growing twice as fast as the residential marketplace. Much of this VoIP

growth is due to the popularity of SIP trunking hosted VoIP and unified communication (UC) services. SIP

trunking, or Session Initiation Protocol, are telephone and unified communications services used by

business customers who have an SIP-based private branch exchange (IP-PBX) and unified communications

(UC) model in their facilities, according to Infonetics. SIP trunking can handle a host of real time

communications applications such as Instant Messaging (IM), presence applications, white boarding and

application sharing. SIP trunking breaks down geographic barriers to a business communication enterprise

by streamlining communication to satellite and worldwide offices. SIP can be configured for average,

instead of peak usage, so everyone in the network is served appropriately. Lines are easier to add.

Hosted VoIP and UC markets, unified communications markets, are highly dynamic and include traditional

operators like AT&T, cable multi-system operators (MSO), the industry term for cable company,

VARs/agents, PBX/UC vendors and pure play hosted providers. Unified communication markets allow the

integration of real-time communication services such as instant messaging, presence information,

telephony data sharing, call control and speech recognition with non-real-time communication services

such as voicemail, fax, email, and SMS messaging. Infonetics forecasts the combined business and

residential and SOHO (small office/home office) VoIP services market to grow to $74.5 billion in 2015.

Infonetics tracked a number of service providers in compiling this data. They included: AT&T, Cablevision,

Charter, Comcast, Cox, Embratel NetFone, France Telecom, KDDI, LG Dacom, LibertyGlobal, NTT, ONO,

Optus, Rogers, SFR, SK Broadband, SoftBank, Tele2 Netherlands, Telecom Italia, Time Warner Cable,

Verizon, Vonage and others.

4

Infonetics’ scorecard ranked Verizon, Comcast, 8x8 and West as the top hosted VoIP providers in North

America for 2013. Verizon, XO, AT&T and Windstream rated the highest for IP connectivity.

According to Infonetics, the top hosted VoIP providers had over 200,000 seats. Their researchers found

hosted VoIP and UC markets in North America remain highly dynamic, providing businesses with a broad

mixt of providers to select. These include traditional operators, cable MSOs (multiple system operators),

Value-added Resellers (VARs/agents), PBX/UC (unified communications) vendors and pure play hosted

providers. Comcast rated particularly high in Infonetics’ hosted VoIP leadership scorecard.

“Comcast’s nationwide push of its Business VoiceEdge service helped Comcast

grow its installed base and maintain its number one position in hosted VoIP

leadership scorecard for the second year in a row,” said Diane Myers, principal

analyst for VoIP, UC and IMS at Infonetics Research. “8x8 follows right on the

heels of Comcast, making a big leap this year, thanks to improved financial

stability, continued growth of its installed base and a focus on service

enhancements. Verizon is number one in our IP connectivity leadership

scorecard, followed closely by XO.”

The Watch List –

If you have tried to research the best business VoIP provider, you probably have discovered it is a very

time consuming… and confusing process. Different analysts rank VoIP providers differently and by different

standards. We’ve tried to cut through the clutter so you can make a decision all in one place. To help you

make an informed decision on the best VoIP services for your needs, we have scoured through a series of

business analyses of the most prominent and promising VoIP providers for 2013. Rankings vary based on

services, price and quality. Information comes from current industry analysis.

TechMediaNetwork recently rated business VoIP providers for their service plans, features, ease of

setup/use, overall network, help and support. RingCentral scored the highest in all categories with an

overall score of 9.73 out of a possible 10. JVE came in second with 9.60, followed by Q Phone.com with

8.48.

9.73 9.6 8.48 8.38 8.1 7.95 7.78 7.73 7.4 6.7

0 2 4 6 8

10 12

TechMediaNetwork VoIP Ratings

5

TheDigest.com, in their industry comparisons, also reviewed VoIP business providers with some different results.

VOIPITS ranked the highest for the most intelligent phone systems at a low cost. VOIPITs does not

charge any startup fees, and instead charges by the number of phone lines. Extra features are free

of charge.

Jive was number two on their list for reliability and services that came in for as little as $19.95 per

month. Service included unlimited local and long distance, no contracts or hidden fees.

Vocalocity ranked third with unlimited local and long distance VoIP calls and features like toll- free

numbers, virtual receptionists and on-hold music. They do not charge setup or installation fees and

provide HD call quality without a contract.

Nextiva’s Office Plan was fourth on the list. It comes in at a low cost to small business with no setup

or installation fees and free long distance calls. Businesses can also keep their old phone numbers.

TheDigest.com calls Nextiva a “reliable, scalable and powerful tool” for business.

RingCentral was rated fifth for its hosted PBX, pre-configured and full-featured IP phones that come

at no charge. Activation with RingCentral is instantaneous, allowing small businesses to transition

to VoIP right away. The company also provides unlimited calls, fax and SMS services.

VOIPITS

• Most Intelligent System at a low cost.

Jive

• Most reliable and service for as low as $19.95.

Vocalocity

• Unlimited local and long distant VoIP calls.

Nextiva

• Low cost to small business with no setup or installation fees and free long distance calling.

RingCentral

• Hosted PBX, pre-configured and full-featured IP phones come at no charge.

6

VoIP-Catalog.com had similar findings as to the top five VoIP business providers. Their rankings are as

follows: Jive, Nextiva, RingCentral, VOIPITS and OnSIP.

Jive received top honors for customer service, custom-tailored phone plans, and enterprise-grade

features that can be delivered through the cloud all at a low flat rate.

Nextiva comes in second place for unlimited local and long distance nationwide service, and never

exceeding $19.95 per month per line. They also offer no-contract obligations and great customer

service.

RingCentral is third for not charging activation or setup fees, and offering unlimited calling plans in

the U.S and Canada, along with unlimited IP faxing and SMS services.

VOIPITS received kudos for their hosted PBX over the Internet for as little as $5 a month. Their

service also includes unlimited extensions, voicemail, and automated attendant services.

OnSIP rated fifth for their reliability and pricing for business that have 10 to 300 extensions. They

specialize in SIP trunking which translates normal phone calls into calls over the Internet and vice

versa.

JIVE

• Services can be delivered through cloud at a low flat rate.

Nextiva

• No contract obligations and great customer services.

RingCentral

• No activation or seup fees and offer unlimted calling plans in the U.S and Canada.

VOIPITS

• Hosted PBX over the Internet for as little as $5/month.

OnSIP

• Reliable and great pricing for business that have 10 to 300 extensions.

7

MyVoIPProvider.com also came in with their top five rankings for small business VoIP providers. They are

Vocalocity, 8x8, RingCentral, Nextiva and OnSIP.

Vocalocity won the poll position for unlimited local and long distance calling with no contracts.

8x8 was rated highly for their advanced, affordable and reliable phone service that includes unlimited

calling to the U.S. and Canada, along with very intuitive mobile apps.

RingCentral came in third for its $19.99 per extension, per-month service with no installation fees.

The company offers voice, text and faxing in a single system. Phones are pre-configured in an easy-

to-manage system that is business-friendly.

Nextiva was also favored for its low rates - $19.95 per month, per extension. They offer unlimited

calling with top-rated call quality and great customer service. They use NextOS communication

technology to unify phone systems and extend that service to international locations. Domestic

business can have toll free lines and over 100 different calling features.

OnSIP was rated fifth for its exceptional remote PBX services. The SIP trunking provider offers

voicemail, automated attendant and a pay-as-you-go service that can support an unlimited

number of users and extensions.

Vocalocity

• No contracts.

8x8

• Advanced, affordable, and reliable service.

RingCentral

• $19.95 per extension, per-month service with no installation fees.

Nextiva

• Low rates with unlimited callling with top-rated call quality and customer service.

OnSIP

• Exceptional remote PBX services.

8

Now That You’ve Learned All This…

Do you find all this information too time consuming or perplexing to take on by yourself? Don’t worry! You can always get an outside opinion to find out which VoIP solution fits your business. 360TelecomEquipment can take the frustration out of the VoIP equation. Simply fill out a short form on http://www.360telecomequipment.com/VOIP-phone-system-quote.html detailing your VoIP phone system and service needs. They can help you cut through the clutter and help you make an educated VoIP choice that will keep your business ahead of the competition.

9

Sources:

http://www.infonetics.com/pr/2013/2H12-VoIP-UC-Services-Market-Highlights.asp

http://business-voip-review.toptenreviews.com/

http://www.ingate.com/files/white_paper_What_is_SIP_Trunking_A.pdf

http://www.infonetics.com/pr/2012/VoIP-UC-Services-Market-Forecast-and-SIP-Trunking-Survey-

Highlights.asp

http://www.infonetics.com/cgp/lp.asp?id=542

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple-system_operator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_communications http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/7/prweb10896803.htm (TheDigest.com) http://voip-service-review.toptenreviews.com/ (TechMediaNetwork) http://voip-service-review.toptenreviews.com/ (VoIP-Catalog.com) http://www.myvoipprovider.com/en/Top_100_VoIP_Providers (MyVoipProvider.com) additional info on business VoIP

Clipart:

http://www.illustrationsource.com/stock/image/46415/money-tug-of-war/?&results_per_page=1&detail=TRUE&page=2

http://www.123rf.com/search.php?word=dollar+bill&start=180&t_word=&t_lang=en&imgtype=0&sear

chopts=&itemsperpage=60

http://www.infonetics.com/pr/2013/1Q13-Service-Provider-VoIP-and-IMS-Market-Highlights.asp

http://blog.voxox.com/the-future-of-voxox-and-the-global-voip-revolution/8623

http://accesstech.biz/technologies/sip_trunking/

10

11