With a challenging economy, it is important to focus on retaining existing customers, reducing costs, and looking for new revenue streams and services. Today, VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) brings many new benefits; however, you also need the proper “gateway” to integrate new features and services.
I see many VoIP implementations that fail to consider the use of intelligent gateways over traditional trunking gateways that just convert VoIP to TDM and vice versa. While trunking gateways are cheaper than intelligent gateways, the advantages of using an intelligent gateway often outweighs the increased costs. The following chart outlines the differences and advantages of using an intelligent gateway over a trunking gateway.
Benefit / Feature
Intelligent Gateway
Trunking Gateway
Improving Customer Service
Caller Name (CNAME)
Yes
Yes
Recording of Complete Call
Yes
No
Recording of Multiparty Conferences
Yes
No
Automated Notification and Delivery of Messages
Yes
No
Reducing Costs
SIP Refer/Transfer (TBCT)
Yes
No
SIP Diversion/One Number
Yes
No
Number of Pops Supported
1024
5 (Typical)
Nat Traversal – Stun per Connection
Yes
No
Trunking Limit per Gateway
16 Spans
4 Spans (Typical)
VoIP Limit per Gateway
750
120
Fax Store and Forward at Gateway
Yes
No
Single Line Transfers from Switch
Yes
No
Increasing Revenues
Other Voice Services (Skype/Yahoo/AIM)
Yes
No
FoIP (T38 and G711 per Channel/Call Dynamic)
Yes
No
Scheduled Routing Based on Date and/or Call
Yes
No
Click to Call/Caller Routing Based on Campaign
Yes
No
High-Definition Audio
Yes
No
Video Conferencing
Yes
No
As shown in the table, the advantages of using an intelligent gateway are many and should be considered when looking at future business opportunities. The primary benefits include the opportunities of improving customer service, reducing costs, and increasing revenues. As VoIP continues to move towards the mainstream and customer needs continue to grow, it is important not to make your sole decision based on your needs today but to also consider the future.
John Pope is the president of CenturiSoft and has been an early implementer of VoIP. You can contact John at 800-866-1929 or john.pope@centurisoft.com.