IP Voice Service

Introduction

International voice service is one of the most lucrative business opportunities in the telecommunications market. With market globalization and the migration of people throughout the world, the ability to reach out and talk to business associates, friends and family is continuing to drive the demand for international voice services.

This market segment has long been the domain of the incumbent in-country state controlled telecommunications provider. With the arrival of the deregulation of the telecommunications industry in many countries, many entrepreneurial businesses have taken up the challenge of providing an international voice service to compete with the incumbent telecommunications provider.

Setting up an international voice service, in many cases, is an extremely capital intensive, international voice rate driven business. The capital expenditures that a new voice service provider has to take into account are:

1. Class 4/5 Voice Gateway – The international voice network continues to be dominated by circuit switch network technology. These voice switches are the mainstays of the telephony network. The cost of each class 4/5 switch is estimated at USD 500,000 to USD 1.5 million. There are three major vendors for this class of telecommunication switches.
   
2. Billing system – Billing systems for traditional class 4/5 voice gateways cost an estimated USD 500,000 to USD 1.8 million.
   
3. Build up of in-country voice network – One of the biggest challenges encountered by new voice service providers is the difficulty in connecting its customers to its voice gateway. This is due to the resistance by the incumbent telecommunications provider to help the new voice service provider.

In addition to building up the voice infrastructure, a new voice service provider also has to negotiate with an international voice clearinghouse for membership and setting up connectivity with the clearinghouse. The international voice clearinghouse provides a new voice service provider to interconnect with other telecommunications providers so that calls get routed through to their intended destinations. The rates for some countries may be very good and to others may be very expensive.

All in all, with an estimated startup cost of approximately USD 4 million for infrastructure alone and low-margin international voice rates, it will be some time before a new voice service provider will be able to make a return on investment and turn a profit.

Globecomm Network Services International Voice Service is an innovative international voice service that helps a voice service provider take out all the guess work and huge capital investment in setting up an international voice service through the use of state of the art Voice over IP technology. Also, Globecomm Network Services is able to offer competitive international voice rates due to the highly competitive nature of international voice service in the United States .

Voice over IP Technology as an Alternative to Traditional Circuit Switch Technology

Voice over IP (VoIP) is a relatively new technology that uses the same technology as the Internet. The technology is 5 years old compared to the traditional circuit switch networks that has evolved over the last 60 years. VoIP uses a packet switch network to transport voice calls within its own network and integrates into the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) for final call connection.

VoIP has a number of significant advantages over a circuit switch network because:

1. VoIP equipment vendors have taken the lessons learnt by circuit switch equipment vendors and incorporated it into VoIP equipment. This has help VoIP equipment vendors to create equipment that performs the same function as circuit switch equipment but at significantly lower price.
   
2. VoIP is based on International Telecommunications Union (ITU) H.323 standard. This enables a voice service provider to pick and chose the type of equipment that they wish to use and not be tied down to a single vendor through the use of proprietary technology.
   
3. When integrated with a data network (i.e. Internet access), a packet switch network provides higher network utilization, thus more cost-effective system, than a comparable circuit switch network.
   
4. IP engineers are available to help a new voice service provider build out the network. No longer will a voice service provider be tied down by  narrowly specialized consultants required to build a traditional circuit switch network.
   
5. It is much easier to build out an IP network to support voice than to compete head-to-head with the incumbent telecommunications provider.
   
6. Through the use of IP technology, many cost-effective, commercial off the shelf billing systems are now available to new voice service providers. In contrast to circuit switch networks require specially developed billing systems and system integration between the billing system with the circuit switch network. This decreases the overall cost of and time required for setting up the billing system for a  VoIP network.

These factors help to lower the overall cost of implementing an international voice service and ensure a shorter return on investment period.

In the past, circuit switch network technology had a reputation for being capable of delivering high quality voice services whereas packet switch networks provided best effort service. This put in doubt whether a VoIP network was capable of delivering the same quality of service as a circuit switch network. Over the last two years, the IP engineering community has put in extensive engineering effort to create quality-of-service (QoS) mechanisms that ensure VoIP traffic now enjoys the same level of service as a circuit switched networks. This technology is known as Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) and is fast being adopted by the IP world.

Globecomm Network Services International Voice Service

The Globecomm Network Services International Voice Service takes advantage of VoIP technology to transport international voice calls from a voice service provider anywhere in the world to the Globecomm Network Services facilities in New York, USA. Upon a voice call arrival at Globecomm Network Services, the voice call is transferred onto the international voice network for onward connectivity to its intended destination country. The primary objective of the service is to provide a toll-quality International voice service efficiently and cost-effectively. This system is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Globecomm Network Services International Voice Service

The essential elements of the Globecomm Network Services service are:

1. Globecomm Network Services does not utilize the Internet to transport a voice call from a voice service provider. This is a critical aspect of Globecomm Network Services service allowing Globecomm Network Services to ensure a high quality of service through the use of QoS mechanisms within the connection between the voice service provider and Globecomm Network Services.
   
2. Globecomm Network Services transports the voice call immediately onto the International PSTN network, thus ensuring a high voice quality.
   
3. The ability to trunk Internet traffic into the Internet. This helps increase the value and utilization of a voice service provider link by using the link for two services instead of dedicating it for use by either service. Through the use of a QoS mechanism, a voice call will have a higher priority than Internet traffic, thus ensuring that the voice call will have sufficient bandwidth to sustain a high voice quality. When the voice call terminates, the bandwidth is made available for Internet traffic.

Globecomm Network Services International Voice Service differs from other VoIP providers because:

1. At no time is a voice service provider’s international call being trunked through the Internet.
   
2. A voice service provider has the ability to charge its customers at rates set by the voice service provider, not by Globecomm Network Services. Other VoIP providers normally impose their rates directly on a voice service provider’s customer cutting out the voice service provider from pricing the service to its customers. 
   
3. The voice service provider has the ability to pick and chose the equipment type as well as the types of service (i.e. voice mail, unified messaging, etc.) it wishes to provide to its end customers.