While selecting a target market for your VoIP services is important, it’s equally crucial to review the different types of VoIP businesses available in the market today. What you decide to both sell and promote will not only directly correlate with your target market, but it will also impact and hopefully strengthen your team’s technical expertise (ie. sharpening one’s ability to install, maintain or handle certain equipment).

Having said that, Nick Medina, VP of Business Development at VoIP Innovations (News - Alert), the nation’s largest wholesale VoIP provider, offers some advice on choosing what VoIP services to sell to achieve the best competitive advantage in part two of a multi-series whitepaper.

So without further ado, perhaps the following list of selling do’s and don’ts will clear some of the fog associated with selling wholesale VoIP.

VoIP Lines

Single PSTN line replacement for residential or business is the most common VoIP service being offered today, Medina says, largely due to its cost-savings benefits. “There are many national as well as local providers offering this service. Service providers will typically provide both inbound and outbound service for a flat rate per month,” Medina adds that this service is the most common and normally requires some type of end-user equipment. 

SIP Trunks

“SIP trunks are a PRI replacement service, allowing businesses with existing premise based PBX’s (News - Alert) to take advantage of VoIP’s pricing and calling features,” Medina explains. “With a PRI, customers typically buy 24-ports per PRI, but with SIP trunks, the customer can pay for only the ports or minutes used, which results in a huge savings.” Needless to say, SIP trunks are one of the fastest growing sectors in the VoIP industry today, as Medina also points out.

Hosted PBX

“Hosted PBX is by far the most robust and feature rich services out of the group,” says Medina. “It eliminates the need to have a premised based box and provides a full cloud solution. The ITSP will typically have the PBX servers in a collocation facility and the phones will typically connect to those servers via IP authentication.” Medina adds that some typically seen features for this service can include auto attendants, hunt groups, extension dialing and schedules. 

Calling Cards

“Calling cards have traditionally been used by households and travelers that don’t have access to long distance or attempt to get better pricing through their use,” says Medina. “It is one of the most lucrative markets that provide very good margins. Providers typically distribute via a physical card or online pin codes.”

Mobile and Cloud Applications

Mobile and cloud applications are gaining popularity, he explains, which can include services like voicemail only, call forwarding services, auto-attendant service and more. “It is estimated that the number of mobile devices will greatly exceed the number of computers in the near future,” Medina says, adding that right now, some of the most popular applications include the use of soft phones with SMS service. “As faster wireless service becomes available, there will be a trend of ditching the traditional equipment and using your mobile device for most voice and data activities.”

Medina’s last piece of advice? “Whatever service you decide to sell, you need to look at equipment and service. Make sure you are selecting scalable, efficient and robust equipment to handle growth and traffic. Likewise, your carrier should provide great quality and a great BackOffice.”

Hopefully, this overview of what VoIP services to sell will give you a clearer picture of what’s just right for you and what you may want to steer away from!

To learn more about all of VoIP Innovations’ offerings, visit www.voipinnovations.com.

To find out more about VoIP Innovations, visit the company at ITEXPO Miami 2013, taking place Jan. 29- Feb 1 in Miami, Florida. Visit VoIP Innovations in booth #507. For more information on ITEXPO (News - Alert) Miami 2013, click here.