So what dramatic thing did I do?

I looked at the audience and exclaimed, "Bull____!"

Okay, I was braver then and there were no children in the audience. But it worked. Now I had their attention. I pressed home the point that Broadvox isn't fighting voice quality issues with its customers. The primary issues we face are the time to port numbers, getting the desired DID blocks or correcting IP PBX configurations. Never have I had a call regarding "garbled" voice.

The past year I have been on a crusade to explain to VARs, dealers, agents and anyone that will listen, today's VoIP/SIP networks are much better than they were five, four or even two years ago. We have upgraded our softswitches and session border controllers to the same level of quality as those used by the ILECs. We have better connections and peering arrangements amongst ourselves to reduce latency and voice quality issues. I use the Broadvox IP network daily and no one has ever complained about not being able to hear or understand me. In fact, I was quite interested in knowing what "garbled" voice actually was.

With a quick search of the web, I found a link with examples of all kinds of voice issues: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk652/tk698/technologies_white_paper09186a00801545e4.shtml#intro. This is educational and a bit fun to hear the various examples of failed/compromised voice.

Are there issues that ITSPs still face as an industry? Absolutely! We need to improve our backend systems thereby increasing customer satisfaction. We need to push for Net Neutrality, fairer telecom services taxation between ITSPs and LECs, expansion of broadband connectivity across America and better connectivity pricing.

We need to establish the new battleground where the benefits of VoIP using SIP Trunking are debated with us prevailing over the LECs/TDM carriers.

Stop the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) regarding IP Communications.

See you on Monday with another great recipe!