As businesses grow, so do their needs for increasingly sophisticated telecommunications equipment to lower communications costs and improve operational efficiencies.
One of the companies addressing this market is XO Communications, which, in December, rolled out its latest and greatest VoIP solution to help customer operate more efficiently: The XO Enterprise SIP.
Eric Hyman, director of product marketing for Herndon, Va.-based XO, recently discussed the needs of today’s telecom managers in a Q&A interview with TMCnet CEO Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) – and explained how XO’s latest offering addresses these needs.
XO’s Enterprise SIP solution is ideal for businesses that desire a centralized call routing system, while pushing the feature functionality of the IP PBX (News - Alert) to the branch locations via a private data network.
“This solution greatly simplifies network management and reduces equipment and local voice trunk costs,” Hyman told Tehrani.
At ITEXPO – to be held Jan. 20-22 in Miami -- Hyman will join Mark Ricca, partner, IntelliCom Analytics (News - Alert); and Thomas G. Dalrymple Jr., director, Global Voice Services, Verizon, as a speaker for the Jan. 22 session, “Hosted IP Telephony Offers, IP Centrex and SaaS.” (Friday; 10-11:15 a.m.).
The full exchange from the Q&A follows.
Rich Tehrani: Smartphones continue to rise, find their ways into offices and homes alike. Who will dominate that market and why?
Eric Hyman: Apple will continue to dominate the smartphone market, but Android (News - Alert) will grow significantly in 2010 as major carriers like Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon have announced support for it. RIM will be challenged to maintain its smartphone market share, particularly in the consumer market but not as much in the enterprise market.
RT: We hear more and more about high-definition voice features in IP communications products and services. What is going to drive wideband audio and HD VoIP into the mainstream market? How long will it take?
EH: I believe video will be the primary driver for HD VoIP into the market. As users have become more and more accustomed to degradation of voice due to cellular service. Unless the price of HD VoIP phones are reduced, I do not see a tremendous take rate for audio.
RT: What’s the most innovative product that’s going to hit the market in 2010, from a company other than your own?
EH: I do not see a major innovative product for 2010 –offerings allowing users to provide any to any to any solutions (anywhere to any device to anyone) will continue to see adoption.
RT: We entered 2009 in a recession and now we’re seeing signs of the economy picking up. How did the slow economy affect demand for your products and services and what are you anticipating in 2010?
EH: Overall, XO had a strong financial year even with the recession. Over the past 2 years, XO has re-established its focus on the midmarket to enterprise customer segments. During this time, XO has expanded its network footprint to address retail customers with distributed locations. We have put greater emphasis on the ability of our IP and VoIP solutions to help customer operate more efficiently, which has certainly resonated during today’s economy. One example is XO Enterprise SIP. Launched in December 2009, XO Enterprise SIP is targeted to businesses that desire a centralized call routing solution while pushing the feature functionality of the IP PBX to the branch locations via a private data network. This solution greatly simplifies network management and reduces equipment and local voice trunk costs. The expectation is that these investments by XO will continue to improve demand for XO services.
RT: If you were president of the United States, what tech-friendly policies would you enact?
EH: It is important that the nation’s copper infrastructure continue to be supported by the ILECs and remain available so that broadband services, such as Ethernet over Copper, can be made more widely available.
RT: What are some of the areas of market growth in the next few years?
EH: XO Communications (News - Alert) sees Managed Services, Professional Services, Cloud Computing, Private Data Networking and Unified Communications and Collaboration as growth vehicles in the upcoming years.
RT: Please give me one outrageous prediction pertaining to our markets for 2010.
EH: By the end of 2010, the Android platform will account for 15 percent of all smartphone sales.
Marisa Torrieri is a TMCnet Web editor, covering IP hardware and mobility, including IP phones, smartphones, fixed-mobile convergence and satellite technology. She also compiles and regularly contributes to TMCnet's gadgets and satellite e-Newsletters. To read more of Marisa's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Marisa Torrieri
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