The announcement of the legislative changes to voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) in February 2005 has been met with much enthusiasm by many players within this field.
The distinction needs to be made between providers offering consumer services, where the end-user acquires an IP phone and plugs into an Internet connection, and corporate services, where provision is made for business-class, quality trunk service for existing PABXs.
Says Craig Young, Managing Director of Unison Communications: "In the short- to medium-term, it may not pay companies to replace their existing telephone instruments and PABXs with IP phones, and it would not really make much sense anyway.
"The corporate market will only benefit once new service providers are introduced, offering competitive destination rates, much in line with the existing cellular routing options. Once there are a number of established service providers, it will become more difficult to compare pricing options. This will be evident since companies have different requirements and calling patterns."
Considering the multiple service provider scenarios in other countries, the rate comparison exercise can be complex. Providers offer calls to diverse destinations at dissimilar rates, often at various times of the day or week. To complicate matters further, some providers may have a sliding scale for their prices, based on call volume, or on call volume at specific times or to specific destinations.
Yet others may charge a flat fee for calls up to a certain volume, beyond which time-based billing is employed. The possibilities and combinations are endless! When one considers the potential complexity of finding the most economical solution, the need for a relevant billing-modelling tool becomes clear.
Existing call traffic patterns would need to be analysed and modelling processes run against an elaborate multiple-service-provider billing database. The output from such a modelling activity will be recommendations as to what service providers to work with, in what capacity, at which locations, and to what extent.
This is where Unison`s Galactrix Enterprise platform can be utilised. Galactrix utilises highly sophisticated data structures, which enable enterprise modelling applications to be built and executed, unlocking the potential value presented by new VOIP offerings.
Unison has an extensive history with enterprise communication billing systems. Previous generations of Unison`s product have in the past performed "multiple service provider" billing. Different "service providers" could also very well be defined as a customer`s own internal networks (PVN).
As stated by Young: "VOIP billing has been part of Unison`s capability for a long time. It is not the VOIP technology that creates the challenges, but rather the resulting commercial landscape with all its new opportunities and potential pitfalls."
Young goes on to say: "Management of this infrastructure becomes an important ongoing technical administrative function and companies utilising the Galactrix platform are able to make informed decisions on their network`s scalability, expansion and utilisation requirements."
Telephone exchanges generate detailed call records, which contain information about calls originating from, terminating at or passing through the exchange; these are then used for billing. Unison also takes into account line rental charges, equipment cost and percentage of calls made versus overflow onto the telco network. The costs are all allocated to the correct cost centres or even individuals. Information is communicated through a comprehensive Web-based reporting process, which also allows for the eventual recovery of costs.
The affordability of VOIP will obviously be viable as competition increases. However, the initial costs associated will always remain. Through Unison`s voice over IP billing application, this cost can be allocated and accounted for accurately.
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Unison Communications (Pty) Ltd is the South African industry-leader in telephone management, billing, voice mail and fax server applications. The company develops, sells, implements and maintains world-class systems.
Unison`s customer database includes most corporate and government organisations in southern Africa. Unison is a Proudly South African Company and all products are locally developed, offering sublime customer support and assistance.
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