I have been added to a few new sites over the last couple of weeks and I think I should let the new readers know what the SIP and Serve blog is about. First, we will discuss what is happening in the world of SIP and IP communications. I will do this every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Second, I love to cook and outside of work, it is my passion. Every Monday, I will discuss with you what I cooked over the weekend and share one recipe that stood out. Every recipe will be original, not a copy from a book or the web. And every recipe will be something that you can fix and enjoy.

This weekend was a Philly Cheesesteak with the full range of toppings, sauté onions, mushrooms and bell peppers. However, the recipe of the week was Roast Duck with Duck Sauce. The recipe uses an over but I made it using a rotisserie that I have owned for over 25 years. With the rotisserie, I cooked the duck in 1 hour. It was well worth the hour. Cut into quarters and then into 1 inch wide chunks. Served with an ample covering of the duck sauce, it was excellent. The side dish consisted of an Asian vegetable stir-fry with noodles. As they say, "it was good eating". The recipe for the duck uses an oven, try it, you will enjoy it. Roast Duck with Duck Sauce.

Finally, I must note that I had two very good dinners in the last month. One at Nobu in Dallas and the other at RM Seafood owned by Rick Moonen. I recommend both but bring a full wallet.

...And on to SIP

Last month I had the pleasure of discussing with Alan Percy of AudioCodes some of the reasons that the adoption rate for SIP is not faster. The answer is somewhat paradoxical as Broadvox has experience very good growth in both its revenues and customer base for SIP Trunking over the last 15 months. However, as we look at where the decisions are being made it is clear that certain market segments are not making the switch. Medium and enterprise customers are delaying the switch for various reasons and Alan conducted a series of interviews to find out why. In calling Broadvox, he understood we have experienced significant growth but also face the need to grow more. Here are the eight reasons he found as significant barriers to growth:

The Economy-- It seems that in tight economies, employees are far less willing to "go out on a limb" and try new technologies, even if they could save the company significant money. Why? People think twice before taking significant risks at work when employment is so tenuous.

Existing Long-Term Contracts--Many of the incumbent carriers have their major customers on three, five or even ten year contracts that are very expensive to break. Early termination fees can be quite high.

Features--The features available to SIP Trunking services vary greatly and without careful examination, important functions like fax, network call transfers, and devices like alarm panels, postal meters, and HVAC systems often get overlooked.

Interoperability--SIP Trunking as a service is still working to overcome some interoperability issues--mostly due to the continued evolution of both the services and the applications that use those services.

Legacy Carriers Can And Will Price Match--With their long since paid-for Class 5 switches and plant, legacy TDM carriers have a lot of price flexibility to keep their customers.

Risk/Reward Factor--Like many big decisions, there is a risk vs. reward analysis at the enterprise buyer. Will moving to SIP Trunking save money? Will it put my business at additional risk? Are the savings worth the risk?

Alan and I will be addressing SIP Trunking for Enterprises and Risk Management in an AudioCodes and Broadvox-hosted coffee break and round-table on Monday from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the Emerald 2 Conference room during VoiceCon. See: http://www.audiocodes.com/events/audiocodes-connect for more information on this and other activities we have planned. Until then read SIP Trunking: What Is Holding It Back?

See you on Wednesday.