Over the
past few years, the acronym “VoIP” has become a household term. Anyone who
has made an
international phone call has probably heard the term used at one point or
another. It
has become a popular topic among “techies” discussing its numerous
applications
in today’s society, as well as politicians discussing its growth and
implications
on the
world’s economy. Although most people have heard the term, very few actually
know what
VoIP is and what the hype is all about.
VoIP stands for Voice
Over Internet Protocol, and it simply means what it implies: sending
voice
conversations through the internet. Rather than sending voice through the traditional
telephone
networks owned by the telephone conglomerates, VoIP uses the internet as its
medium to
send voice. Since voice is nothing more than data, any internet connection in
the world
can be used as a VoIP terminal for making calls with the use of a VoIP gateway
or
an IP Phone.
A great
reference for gaining a better understanding of how Voice Over IP works as
opposed
to the
traditional telephone network can be found on the How Stuff Works website at the
following
URL address:
What are the benefits
of choosing VoIP?
Everyday
more and more organizations switch their communication networks partially or
fully to VoIP. There are many
benefits of choosing VoIP over the traditional telephone
network. The
major benefits that these organizations are realizing include cost of
equipment
and deployment, versatility, flexibility, interconnectivity, and time to
market.
Cost
Benefits of Choosing VoIP
· VoIP equipment costs are generally cheaper than traditional telephone
switches.
· VoIP in a direct point-to-point environment has no toll charge.
· VoIP technicians are usually more readily available and more
cost-effective than
standard
telephone switch technicians.
· Billing & Call Management software for VoIP is generally less
expensive than similar
software for
legacy technology.
Versatility
VoIP is allows your
network to be extremely versatile. VoIP allows you to interconnect with
multiple
carriers (routes) very easily and quickly. Within a matter of minutes you can
add
additional
carriers that will provide you with the lowest route to a particular
destination.
There is
added flexibility so that if one route is down, your network can automatically
reroute
to another
carrier.
Interconnectivity
VoIP makes
it easy to interconnect to multiple & redundant carriers. With traditional
PSTN
networks,
interconnecting with multiple carriers required additional expensive hardware,
and an
extensive amount of time to setup the connection, sometimes taking several
months. As
well, there is a very high connection charge occurred per month to maintain the
connection.
With VoIP, the interconnection is very simple, taking only a matter of minutes,
and without
the need for additional hardware and no connection charges.
Time to
Market
VoIP allows
your company to bring its solutions into service quicker than standard telecom.
You can
connect to different routes quickly and reliably. This allows you to bring new
routes
to customers
at cost-effective pricing in a timely manner. You no longer need to wait for
months to
connect to new routes.
How does PEC fit into
the VoIP Industry?
PEC is a
developer of software applications that integrate seamlessly with VoIP
technology.
PEC is also
a proud partner and reseller of Quintum Technologies, developers of the popular
Tenor VoIP
Gateways. Combining the power of Quintum VoIP hardware with the versatility
and
robustness of our software, we have developed numerous products to take
advantage
of the
benefits that VoIP offers. PEC develops the following products for the VoIP
industry:
CardSaver™
VoIP Billing and Call Management
· Prepaid Calling Card Industry
· Postpaid Calling Services
· Pinless Calling Services
· Call Shop Services
· Inter-office communications
· Wholesale Long Distance Termination
VoiceSaver™
Voicemail and Auto Attendant
· Voicemail Message Bureaus
· Auto-attendant systems for offices
Insight IVR
(Interactive Voice Response)
· Allows customers to develop customized call flows
· Used in almost every industry
Calling Card and
Pin-less Solutions
In the
prepaid calling card or pin-less calling business, like most other businesses,
more
startup
companies fail than succeed. Our intention is not to deter you from starting
your
own prepaid
calling card business; it can be and has been for many people an extremely
lucrative
business. Our intention is rather to explain to you the differences between a
successful
card business and a failing one so that you may learn from their mistakes.
PEC has a
great deal of experience designing and integrating with products developed for
the Prepaid
Calling Card and pin-less calling industries. We have helped over 400 clients
deploy VoIP
and calling card solutions around the world. We have platforms running on 6
continents
and in over 70 countries around the world. Through our day to day
conversations
with our clients, we learn a good deal about how the industry is changing and
about new
trends that are appearing in the market. If you have any questions, please do
not hesitate
to contact us.
Setting Up a Solid
Infrastructure
First and
foremost, you must develop a solid infrastructure for your prepaid calling card
system to
run on. Without a solid infrastructure, you will be spending more time worrying
about your
system’s integrity than marketing your product. The following is a list of
equipment
and services that you will require to start the business. We have also included
recommendations
that we feel will ensure a solid infrastructure.
1. Billing,
Card, and Call Management Software
We list this
item first not only because it is one of the products that we provide, but
because
it is the
most vital on the list. Choosing a good billing software will ensure that every
call
made through
your system is tracked and no call is left unbilled. CardSaver™ by PEC is not
only a
robust, dependable software package, but it is also the simplest and most
userfriendly
package in
the industry. CardSaver enables you to view reports on traffic passing
in and out
of your system. CardSaver also gives you complete control over your calling
cards,
including PIN generation, usage fees, expiration dates, and much more. It also
allows you
to manage your agents/distributors and effectively sell your products through
resellers.
CardSaver is a vital component for developing a solid infrastructure.
2. VoIP
Gateway
The VoIP
gateway that handles all of the calls into and out of your system is the next
vital
component.
If your hardware fails, your customers’ calls will not go through. 98% of our
customers
use either Cisco or Quintum products. Some higher-end customers also use
Nextone
gateways. These two vendors have a large following and many online forums exist
where you
can go to receive answers to any questions that you may have regarding
configuration
or specifications.
3. Server(s)
Server
technology is constantly changing, and unless you are in the business, it is a
challenge to
stay abreast of the latest and greatest. For this reason, our recommendations
on the right
server to choose are based on the current technology available.
Systems with
60 concurrent calls or less:
Rackmount
Server
Intel Dual
Core Processor
1 GB RAM
(2) 80 GB+
hard drives
10/100/1000
Ethernet Adapter
Systems with
60 to 240 concurrent calls:
Intel
Quad-Core Xeon Processor
2 or 4 GB
RAM
Dual 10K
SCSI hard drives (120 GB or more)
Gigabit
Ethernet Adapter
Systems with
240 to 750 concurrent calls:
(2) Intel
Quad-Core Xeon Processor
8 GB RAM
Dual 15K
SCSI hard drives (250 GB or more)
Gigabit
Ethernet Adapter
If you are handling more than
750 calls – we recommend using multiple servers.
