Lately, Comcast has been taking a beating in the press. Consumers have been unhappy on a number of fronts. And due to its near-monopolistic size and power, the company has had very little reason to care. In fact, they have been moving even more aggressively to get much larger and more powerful through a merger with Time-Warner: another large company not much loved by its consumers.
But a beat down on Capitol Hill orchestrated by frustrated consumers calling their congress critters has convinced Comcast to drop the merger effort. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, Comcast’s consumer efforts should be focused on restoring consumer trust.
The business end of Comcast, on the other hand, is doing just fine. They have business offerings of which most consumers are unaware, and probably wouldn’t understand even if they were. One such offering is detailed by Fierce Telecom in an article entitled, “Comcast Business addresses SMB, enterprise IP voice needs with SIP trunking service”.
Not only has Comcast rolled out this service, but they have done so for their entire addressable area. If it is not readily apparent why this is a big deal, read on:
SIP Trunking
WhatIs.com leads you to the following definition:
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking is the use of voice over IP (VoIP) to facilitate the connection of a private branch exchange (PBX) to the Internet. In effect, the Internet replaces the conventional telephone trunk, allowing an enterprise to communicate with fixed and mobile telephone subscribers worldwide…
Traditional PBX systems have more challenges than what I have space to outline in this piece. The part of the definition worth repeating is, “the Internet replaces the conventional telephone trunk”. That eliminates a whole host of issues, and ushers in a new world of features and possibilities. Here are a few:
Save Money
Though it is not the only business concern, saving money is usually near the top of the list. SIP trunking can help you do that. According to MegaPath:
With SIP service, you purchase only the trunks you need based on the maximum number of concurrent calls your business requires. SIP Trunks are significantly less expensive than analog lines, further helping businesses reduce costs.
Not only does one save money on the hardware, but also on the service. How many calls will you make this month? You have no idea. Now, multiply that by anywhere from 500 to 5,000 people. You will have to pay for some amount of usage per month, much of which will be spent on service you didn’t use. Paying only for what you use is a game changer for business telephony.
You Don’t Need a Desktop Phone to Make and Receive Calls
Business telephones are exp ensive. A business phone can cost upwards of $750 depending on your needs. At the low end, you are looking at perhaps $200 per seat. SIP trunking allows the provisioning of mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers for use as a company phone. That is a really big deal, especially if you have a mobile sales force that needs to be tied into the company telephony.
Have a Local Number Anywhere in the World
With a traditional telephony system, you will incur a massive expense doing business overseas. With a SIP trunking solution, you can have a local number anywhere in the world. That means that if you do a lot of business in Hong Kong, you can get a local, Hong Kong number for your associates to reach you. With SIP telephony, this small world gets even smaller.
The previous link also provides a list of other benefits including:
- Direct Your Calls Where You Want
- Seamlessly Transfer Calls between Your Devices
- Transcribe Voicemails to Emails or Texts
Comcast has hit a lot of sour notes for consumers. But they have given their business clientele a SIP of the future. And that future is very bright, indeed.