Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Broadband Solution Communication Takes Advantage of DIDXchange


Broadband Solution Communication Empowered by DID Number Peering Session at TMC's INTERNET TELEPHONY® Conference & EXPO


Pensacola, FL – August 24, 2006 -- A typical wholesale DID quandary and its fix follows. BSCOMM - BroadBand Solution Communication, also known as GlobalVon, serves the English and Spanish-speaking global market since 2004 with a variety of country-specific unlimited calling packages. Each package includes voicemail, caller ID, conferencing, follow me, fax and more. Its headquarters are in Woodbridge, Virginia with offices also in Dominican Republic and El Salvador. Its mission is to offer innovative VoIP integrated solutions to satisfy the needs of its Spanish and English-speaking clients. They are committed to give clients what they need in the most flexible and efficient ways possible. "Flexible and efficient"... already there is match between BSCOMM and DIDX.

BroadBand Solution Communication's end-users have a huge appetite for DID's (phone numbers) both local and international. An example of a BSCOMM end-user: Company Z needs a Pakistan DID to ring over SIP to their English-speaking appointment takers. They need a Miami DID to ring their Spanish-speaking appointment takers. BSCOMM soon discovers the complicated interop and interconnect agreements of DID providers. Typically, a healthy deposit in the range of thousands is required. Minimum monthly DID purchase is huge.

Picture the VoIP newcomer with effective and exciting marketing and customer service strategies, catering to a niche market with few funds to invest. The average DID setup is $16 and monthly fee $6.50 for even a USA number. BSCOMM experiences demands from its DID vendor for ever increasing purchase and length of DID setup period. The company needed just one "Pakistan DID" and received demand for a minimum purchase of 100 at $40 each plus the initial deposit and monthly minimum DID and MOU requirement. Just one of several scenarios occurring within one 24 hour period. Impossible!

But was it really impossible? The CEO Francisco SaviƱon, Christian Fernandez, and Salvatore Alvarez, part of BroadBand Solution Communication's successful leadership team, discovered information about a company named Super Technologies, Inc. whose CTO Rehan Ahmed had invented the DIDxchange concept, software and more, something like an "eBay®" of DID. BSCOMM first read about DIDX on the asterisk-biz mailing list in 2005: hearsay, complaints, insults, and praise. A press release in October 2005 stated that the company's CEO Suzanne Bowen would share the concept of DID Number Peering at TMC's INTERNET TELEPHONY® Conference & EXPO Fall Oct 24, 2005. On the same day, BSComm opened membership on DIDX with this statement, "I Salvatore Alvarez, have tested the didx's service, and it is working fine to my switch."

BSCOMM chose DIDX because of its user-friendly web interface, the weekly DIDX Skypecast training, and the ease of one interconnect agreement. Upon completing the seamless interop process in just three days, BSCOMM moved from a couple agreements with US providers to one agreement that put them in business with 2650+ DIDX members located in USA and around the globe. The ability to buy and sell DID, open support tickets through the web-based communication system, and view call history powered a phenomenal moment in the company's history. Within a few months it had considerably increased its customer base. In addition, when there were no DID's available for a given city (USA or international), with just a few simple steps, it could request those DID's, the number needed, channels needed, and the price it was willing to pay. All DIDX members who had enabled incoming email about Request DID, received these requests, and were able to meet the need where applicable and agreed upon.

There were only a few problems, once in March and once in August 2006. Both were addressed by DIDX and fixed or DIDX had the DIDX seller fix the problem on their end within 24 hours or less. BSCOMM agrees with DIDX that the ticketing system far outweighs phone tag. DIDX keeps a permanent record of the communications in this ticketing system that BSCOMM can review anytime online.

The real clincher that eliminated DIDX's competition for BSCOMM DID needs is the free buyer and seller API. It gives BSCOMM and the DIDX membership full access to the complete DIDX database services and stock of DID, ready to sell directly from DIDX members' websites, in realtime on demand. BSCOMM is able to discriminate the DID's according to vendor rating, DID rating, and country code. It can release any DID if not satisified within 36 hours and release any of its own DID stock on DIDX when its end-users buy them. Comparison of vendor and DID ratings as well as prices offered for a particular area or city's DID's make DIDX the versatile choice for wholesale DID.

Installation was simple. Broadband Solution Communication signed up at didx.net. It received a free USA and a free UK number to test with its SIP server, by pointing to its office SIP address and checking for DTMF. An understanding of the DIDX FAQ and agreement to DIDX terms, led to an activation call with Lisa or Muneeb. DIDX took care to understand more about BSCOMM's company, its goals, and its requirements via an additional conversation with the CEO Suzanne Bowen.

Broadband Solution Communication sales have increased 35% since the inception of its use of DIDX wholesale marketplace on October 24, 2005. Originally, its customer base was located in the United States and Spain only. Now, its market has expanded to Japan, UK, and South America. The company has seen a substantial increase of its average return on investments in gaining and retaining customers by 30%. It has doubled the number of its employees. BSCOMM is now able to seriously increase its appeal and sales to business customers in its current markets as well as Asia, more of South America, and Canada. It is positioned to add unique reseller opportunties and to target government and tourism industry clients.

In conclusion, DIDX's has the easy process to purchase any DID that BSCOMM's end-user requires. This was after just one interconnect agreement and interop process. BSCOMM is readier than ever to make customers happy. Christian Fernandez of BSCOMM states, "No wonder, DIDX has been nominated for the 2006 World Communication Changemaker Award. It is definitely a disruptive technology that we paid attention to, are using and that our end-users are benefiting from. That is the bottom line."

About Super Technologies, Inc.:
Super Technologies, Inc. is a Northwest Florida-based small telecom technology solution provider, in business since 1999. Since its start, it has archived many firsts in the area of telecommunication. DIDX is the most empowering invention yet, bridging worldwide telecom and their end-users closer than ever. www.didx.net

About Broadband Solution Communication:
Also known as GlobalVon, serves the English and Spanish-speaking global market since 2004 with a variety of country-specific unlimited calling packages. Each package includes voicemail, caller ID, conferencing, follow me, fax and more. Its headquarters are in Woodbridge, Virginia with offices also in Dominican Republic and El Salvador.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Don Quixote de la Mancha and VoIP

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. By Mahatma Gandhi.

Remember the typical recess period of your first grade school day? I do. Elizabeth was creating beautiful artwork with dirt, leaves, and pieces of gum in front a small approving audience of 2 or 3. Reid was a step away from crushing it, we all knew. Lisa, Julio, Gerd, and Shawanda were playing their latest version of hacky sack. Others were sliding, swinging, jumproping, and see-sawing.
Pictured to the left is Donya Quixote at the Crescent City Classic 2005 in New Orleans.

And then, there was Alexander. He told us his parents were both women. He wore slippers to school every day unless there was a special event, and then he wore his vintage 1750 style leather shoes. He had the voice of an angel that everyone made fun of. He said he was going to be President of the United States some day. I remember his science project in 7th grade, about 1972, was really laughed at, and now, when I look back, it was ingenious, a glimpse of something like the world wide web. Well, maybe not.

The science project was called "Rousseau's Noble Savages Succeed with Nil Planning." He had built a box that was quartered into 4 mazes with some source in the center that kept it together. Inside each maze were lengths of fishing line, necklace chain, and yarn with a metal ball super-glued to the end of each. Along the corriders within each maze, there were tiny flip up doors that flipped either way. There were pieces of velcro and gum and bits of vaseline and oil in different locations. It looked a mess, but he said it was his masterpiece. He demonstrated with a Burger King crown on his head, breeches that fit snugly and had a fall-front opening, and low-heeled leather shoes fastened with buckles, and silk stockings.

I don't know what has happened to Alexander. I do know that entrepreneurs and other types who are brave enough to dream out loud and concoct new fun weird science, are politely ignored at first (no one looks them in the eye), get laughed at, have fights started with them and sometimes if they just hang in there, they win.

Look at "voice over Internet."

People laughed and said no one will ever buy VoIP. It's too unreliable. Look at Vonage, Packet8, Lingo, SunRocket, AOL and the thousands of other companies who sell it now. And what about our acceptance of the roaming costs and dropped calls and "I can't hear you" with cell phones.

Read the VoIP forums and note... the spurning, the jeering, the fisticuffs portrayed toward most ideas early in their presence like that toward Skype, paid to talk, DIDX, videochat, eBay, Paypal and other ebank services, Asterisk in general, etc.

Check out the threats of ISP's to block VoIP that is not their own... even in the United States of America, the free country, right?

People are beaten, tortured, and jailed for dealing with VoIP in some areas of the world. I remember every VoIP expo in these areas and the booth visitors whispering to me, "You must know, this is illegal here." Really odd, huh? Like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit at the edge of a cliff.

At a recent IT meeting, one of the attendees Buford said to me, "VoIP needs a reality check. And the DIDX thing... no one would want a phone number from another country. You guys who are trying to sell it, can't possibly think people will really embrace it."

I thought of the 2650+ DIDX members busily buying and selling DID's at that moment and wished I had a Burger King crown on my head as I politely smiled at Buford.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

VoIP and Volunteerism, Leveling the Playing Field

Is Asterisk... volunteerism? I'd rather you talk about that.

And what about the V word? A few weeks ago, an IT group I chair (www.itgulfcoast.org) held a Business Continuity Forum composed of community leaders in utilities, government, military, and media*. Pensacola, Florida, I mean, think "Ivan," "Dennis," "Rita," "Charlie," and more.

Never one to talk and no show, we go from there to implementing the NERD (Northwest Florida Emergency Resources Database Information Technology volunteers), sparked interest in open source Linux and Asterisk, and Buzz Ritchie, Allan Alderman, and General Bob Kennedy's repeated references to the benefits of "clusters."

I read a news clip where Pensacola City Manager Tom Bonfield (one of the panelists) recommends reading The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. Muy interesante! John Dosh, Lisa Newell, Buz Eddy and J.T. Young all spoke of businesses collaborating in advance to volunteer in disaster-preparedness and post disaster help, now, not later.

Oh, and a huge thank you to Jay Massey who attended one of our meetings where the E-commerce speaker didn't show up. He was Jay-on-the-spot. We thank him tremendously. (http://www.cocodesign.com/)

Back to VoIP and Volunteerism. SIP, DIDX, Skype, Inveneo... different types of volunteerism (freebies, open source, leveling the playing field).

Closing the digital divide... Whether it's open source code, free API on a DID exchange, free calls, or Internet run by human movement, it's refreshing. Finally, even the scrawniest kid in a most remote area of the world with a great idea can bat a home run in VoIP.

I noticed that Pulver's Von.com is offering VON attendance scholarships to university students. Very nice. www.itgulfcoast.org awards IT scholarships to University of West Florida and Pensacola Junior College students. Sponsors include General Dynamics, Super Technologies, Inc.; Bit-Wizards, J&J Webpages**, Cox Business Services, Adaugeo, TechSoft and Tech Advanced.

* Notice that the media doesn't talk much about one of the globe's worst collaborative atrocities. Read Electric Beach by Joe Hilley.

** Its CEO is also the executive director of the Disability Network and will be the September 2006 presenter for www.ITGulfcoast.org.