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With hosted VoIP usage projected to grow from $476 million a year to over $2 billion a year by 2010, it's becoming an important time to get inline with a leading VoIP provider.

 

Privately-held VoIPConsultants.biz LLC was founded in 2006 to help companies sell private label Hosted VoIP services to their customers. The company offers clients everything from testing a business plan to putting clients in business with industry leading VoIP carriers, and more.

 

I recently had a chance to chat with Steve Safley, President of VoIPConsultants.BIZ (News - Alert), LLC about the communications market and what the company has been up to.

 

 

Well, we have weathered the economy and are experiencing a surge in clients over the last 60-75 days.

 

I believe the market will continue to migrate to IP-based communications but even more noteworthy will be the continued introduction of new wireless alternatives to the market, further eroding the landline business of AT&T, Verizon, Qwest (News - Alert) and Sprint.  

What company made the biggest contribution to communications this year?

I guess the answer to this lies in what you believe in. For some, I suppose it's the explosion of Asterisk/Digium (News - Alert) to compete with the low-end of the PBX marketplace.

How has Google changed our markets?

For me, Google represents 'the gold standard' as a source of information. When we were kids, we had encyclopedias on our shelves at home. Now we have Google. As such, it's the single best advertising venue I have at my disposal today.

How about Apple?

Good question. I often wonder that myself. I think in terms of their iPhone, they are learning valuable lessons in how to compete in the market, but until they allow everyone to sell their phone, they will not see significant marketshare gains. I believe the biggest error they made at market launch was choosing a single carrier and not having 3G network service capability with the iPhone. They felt that using Wi-Fi hotspots made sense but to be honest, if I'm at a Wi-Fi hotspot, I'm using my computer, not an iPhone. The iPhone is a mobile device so it needs a reliable 3G service to use. That has been a hard lesson for Apple to learn, given they are not an experienced mobile phone provider.   

What mobile phone(s) do you use?

Motorola (News - Alert) Razr V3x for now. Getting ready to change phones and service providers.

Who will win in an Apple/RIM war?

 RIM

What do you think the communications market might look like in five years?

VoIP will become the standard for home usage and keep growing in the enterprise. Home Internet connections of 50MB and higher will become the norm as well. If the Democrats win the White House, keep an eye on AT&T. Based on their monopolistic tendencies, they might be forced to divest companies given the mergers they have done the past 5 years to "re-combine" --- the Bell system has done nothing to benefit consumers...absolutely nothing.

What will attendees see in your booth at ITEXPO this September?

We continue to promote our services and our carriers' abilities.

What sorts of companies should come to your exhibit?

First, anyone who wants to get into private label hosted VoIP or provides carrier services. Second, someone who wants in the business and needs some sound advice on what it takes to be in the business. We offer as many options as anyone, probably more, ranging from turnkey solutions to integration of clients existing carrier services to customized application development.

Why should customers choose your company's solutions?

We offer our clients what 99.99 percent of what carriers won't waste their time doing. That being providing sound advice on their business plan, sales and marketing programs and putting together a fair agreement they can work with.  What most clients think about first is what carriers we are going to use when they should be thinking about how they will succeed. Once we work through those details, our carrier of choice offers high quality service and manages it using one of, if not the best portals on the market. When you combine our services with that, it's an unbeatable combination. 

Please make one surprising prediction for 2009.

Consumers' tendency to purchase bundled services from the large players (AT&T/Comcast (News - Alert) amongst others) will diminish as people become more frustrated with the quality of those services, poor customer service and increased prices once they move everything to one carrier.  Consumers will become more educated and aware of the trickery of "promotional pricing" and take steps to avoid it. Using myself as an example - I used to have two companies for all my communications and entertainment. I now have four.