CRN’s 15 Key VoIP Players Has Claring Weaknesses
CRN recently released a list of 15 Key VoIP Players that attempted to give solution providers an idea of who the top dogs and market leaders are in the VoIP space. The list which includes names such as Cisco, Nortel, Avaya, and 3-Com, was disappoint to read, not just because it “went with” large incumbants, but because it was a gross mis-representation of what is truly out there.
Of the 15 players listed, only three had anything to do with open source telephony; Digium, Pingtel, and Fonality. What strikes me as odd about the list, is that when it comes to providing solutions to businesses, open source based products can be one of the most cost-effective avenues for a business, but also one of the most profitable niches. But it is not just open source, there are numerous smaller VoIP hardware and service provider doing a much better job not just supporting their reseller/solution provider channel, but also delivering better solutions, service, and supports to the end customer.
Here is my list of the key VoIP players, that should have made the list.
Missing Key VoIP Players
- Skype - Skype is making a huge push into the SMB and Entreprise space. If you are walking into a business and you do not know about the world largest VoIP service provider, you might want to do some homework. While they do not have a formal reseller channel, there is money to be made in consultation and integration of the solution with existing business processes and new telephony systems. And whatever you do do not forget about skype hardware and of course you need a skype phone
Talkswitch’s recent release of the Talkswitch 244VS, 280VS, 284VS, 480VS and 484VS, has given the company natively based IP solutions for resellers/integrators in the small to medium sized business marketplace. Value priced, superbly supported, and excellently engineered, Talkswitch definitely has products, tools, and resources to assist any solution provider in selling and supporting their product.
- SwitchVox - The San Deigo, CA based phone system vendor has created one of the easiest to install and manageable phone system softwares. Based on Asterisk, the SwitchVox system can be sold under the SwitchVox name, or can be privately labeled for the reseller/solution provider. Currently servicing over 800 resellers worldwide, SwitchVox channel focused strategy, backed by crisp operations, and excellent technical support makes them a company to consider when looking for a phone system solution to resell.
- Bandwith.com - Bandwidth.com is a complete communications provider offering advanced VoIP, internet and network services in all 50 states and around the world. Bandwidth.com can enable a reseller or solution provider to sell anything from a data pipe to SIP trunking, and everything in between. Recently named to the Inc. 500 list, Bandwidth.com can assist any solution provider in getting into the services game, on many levels, in a quick and easy manner.
Posted April 24, 2007 
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Fonality, a leading open source communications company, has announced the second Fonality trixbox Open Communications Certification (FtOCC) workshop to take place at the Hyatt Regency in Boston. The three day workshop, from June 3-6th, is a training and certification course designed around the Asterisk®-based trixbox platform, which has become synonymous with open source telephony and home to the largest Asterisk-based community. FtOCC workshops give trixbox and Asterisk resellers, as well as IT professionals, all of the tools and knowledge necessary to implement trixbox successfully in a business environment.
In the first of moves by Digium’s new executive management staff, the company has signed a licensing deal with Japanese Telco NTT. Under the terms of the deal, NTT Software Corp. will develop its own version of Asterisk Business Edition for use in its ProgOffice PBX product for Japanese small and medium-sized businesses. According to Jim Webster, Digium’s Director of Software Technologies the deal,
