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Posted by on August 15, 2006, 12:30 pm
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I have a phone-based business idea I've been trying to implement in
the United States revolving around domestic calls.
I'd like to buy a number of 8xx DIDs and buy minutes in a pay-as-you-go
arrangement. I'd start with a dozen numbers, doing a few thousand
minutes a month, and hope to grow to hundreds of DIDs and bill
250k-750k minutes a month.
I'm definitely going to use Asterisk for the PBX side of things. Clunky
and confusing as it can be, Asterisk is worth the pain and can probably
do anything, even if I have to write the code myself. I feel secure in
my answer there.
But I'm getting increasingly discouraged while trying to set up and use
small-fry business-focused VoIP services. The prices are often great,
but voice quality and consistency are often erratic, customer service
overwhelmed, confused, or simply not available. I get the sense that
everyone is oversold and understaffed.
(I can name names if it is required, but really I don't want to
badmouth any of the five providers I've tried. I have yet to spend real
money with these guys or do much more than experiment. I'm frankly
astonished that these guys can make money at all. But I do feel
confident that my experiences are typical, even maybe leaning toward
the "good" side of the typical experience. It just isn't adequate.)
I'm willing to spent more than $0.02/minute for US domestic calls. I'm
willing to spend more than $5/month for an 800 DID. I'd happily double
all those figures if it meant I could actually get good quality
service. I might well go higher, although at some point the original
model breaks down and my idea is no longer profitable.
I do realize going with VoIP does mean reduced quality somewhere. Lag,
compression, etc. I would happily accept less than perfect voice
quality if I could count on that service being reliable (at that
degraded-but-consistent quality level) and available, and with support.
Who are the larger providers all the small-fry are reselling? Would any
be willing to deal with me while I'm small, charging accordingly, with
price breaks as my volume grew? Who should I be talking to, if anyone?
At what point should I stop looking at VoIP and start looking at TDM?
How much is TDM likely to cost me for the figures I quote above?
I do want to do all my own PBX work, by the way -- the business depends
on this fine-grained control. The managed VoIP/PBX systems are not for
me.
Thanks for any help.
Chuck
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Posted by Jonathan Roberts on August 17, 2006, 7:24 am
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>
> I have a phone-based business idea I've been trying to implement in
> the United States revolving around domestic calls.
<snip>
You might look into www.les.net and www.exgn.net.
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