VoIP has been changing how communication happens for all the industries. This increases opportunities for all those who want to play part in VoIP Communication. Its often challenging to decide how you can start your own VoIP business? While the opportunities are seemless you need to choose the path that you are going to set on. You can choose one of the three options for your business model.
BUY the technology and sell the services.
BUILD the technology and sell the services.
RESELL the services.
Lets take a closer look at each of the business models and see which one might best suit your needs.
If money is not a concern then you can just choose to buy from the available products and begin selling them.
Benefit: Since it’s a pre-developed product you do not need to invest time and money to create the technology. With this option you can hit the ground up and running within 3 – 6 months of time frame.
Cons: Since it’s a pre-developed product you do not have any or limited control on the product itself. Making changes within the product itself can be very limited. Also you pay for the “x” number of licenses when you buy the product. For any kind of expansion you will have to pay extra.
If you have the technical expertise and knowledge to develop your product then this is your way to go.
Benefit: It’s your product so you have full control on any kind of modification, upgrade or expansion.
Cons: Can be time consuming and requires technical expertise to develop and modify product.
Don’t have the technical expertise or the money but have excellent Business and Sales skills? You can still be VoIP Provider. How? You can be Reseller. For any newcomer in the VoIP industry, the best option is to be a reseller. By being a VoIP reseller, you can make your business more scalable, purchasing only those you need at a particular moment. It lets you maximize whatever resources are available.
Benefit: There are several benefits of being a reseller.
Cons: Since you are a Reseller you do not own any product or infrastructure.
A Guide on Making Money with VOIP (PDF Version)
A Guide on Making Money with VOIP
VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) is one of the foundations of communication in the future as the demand for mobile devices capable of connecting through it continues to grow. In fact, VOIP users will increase to around a billion people.[1] While you can always remain its avid user, this statistic also presents a good opportunity for you: you can make some good business out of it.
Business Options
In the next few years we can expect more VoIP business opportunities. Right now, however, the best choices include the following:
Calling Card
In traditional phone services, calling cards have a certain amount that can be consumed for every call. This allows the users flexibility and control over budget. In the era of VoIP, the same concept is carried over. The major difference is the mode: with VoIP, it’s already online. To be a calling card provider, you can offer various dial plans, calling cards for sale, and multi-currency cards.
Business Phone Service
Businesses often employ VoIP for a number of reasons including manageable costs, similar or even better voice quality, and mobility.[2] VoIP setup for businesses may be simple or complex, depending on the number of users and needs. Either way, they normally require VoIP providers that can offer them various enterprise packages, technical support including installation, and even hardware and software requirements.
Home Phone Service
Right now businesses need VoIP more than homes. However, over the years, we’ve also seen a growing number of households that are now ditching their landlines for VoIP as it allows them to enjoy local and international calls at a price they can afford (sometimes it’s for free).[3]
Call Centers
VoIP may be used to help contact centers set up several virtual and 1800 numbers that customers can call for inquiries or support. It allows them to set up trunk lines connected to various departments or agents designated through extension numbers. For those that are now shifting their call center offshore, VoIP is definitely a much cheaper option with a more comprehensive geo coverage.
Wholesale VoIP Origination and Termination
You can also serve as either the beginning or end point in a telephone routing system. This process is called origination (from PSTN [public switched telephone network to VoIP] and termination (from VoIP to PSTN). You can offer wholesale services, which give you the opportunity to cater to several businesses.
CallBack
One of the foremost reasons why homes or businesses use a callback feature is to lower costs. This is especially true if you’re trying to call international. To illustrate this, assume that the cost of calling from Italy to United States is 10 cents per minute. However, it’s only $8 cents from United States to Italy. A callback can be used to take advantage of the price difference.
Hardware and Software Requirements
The kinds of hardware that you need to set up VoIP depend on the actual VoIP setup you like or is recommended by a specialist. Normally, however, they include the following:
PC Handset
It’s possible to make a phone call from PC to PC. Usually, however, this works only when the caller is also using a PC. To set this up, you need a microphone and a reliable PC (perhaps with the newest operating system).
Telephone
Although it’s more likely that people may not be using the traditional landline infrastructure in the future, phones will continue to play a huge role in VoIP. There are many types of phones to choose from such as soft phones, PSTN phones, and wireless IP phones. Some types of infrastructure can also convert your mobile device like a smartphone into VoIP hardware.
Internet Setup
Definitely you need a way to connect to the Internet for your VoIP to work. In the simplest installation, you need:
PBX
A PBX system provides all departments in an organization a unified external number while they themselves also have separate local numbers.[4] This can already be automated and set up with the use of VoIP.
Adapters
You need adapters so you can convert one machine to something that function alongside the VoIP telephony. For example, the analog telephone adapter (ATA) is needed when you want your traditional analog phone to connect to VoIp. It normally uses a port called RJ-11 or an Ethernet port if you want to connect directly to a local network.
Business Experience
These kinds of hardware and software do not really matter much if you don’t have an entrepreneurial spirit, knowledge, skill, expertise, and experience. All your investments may only serve as a liability, and you will never succeed in your venture. But how do you know that you’re ready to pursue any of these businesses? Use these questions as your guide:
How to Begin
You have two ways to set up your VoIP business. One, you can begin everything from scratch—that is, you buy and build your own system. This definitely gives you so much flexibility, but it is also incredibly challenging especially if you don’t have enough economic resources, skills, and expertise.
For any newcomer in the VoIP business, the best option is how to be a reseller. By being a VoIP reseller, you can make your business more scalable, purchasing only those you need at a particular moment. It lets you maximize whatever resources are available.
This also offers you other benefits such as the following:
Faster setup time. Everything you need is already there. All you have to do is to develop the means to deploy it to your customers. You can also get an incredible technical and customer support from the wholesaler, speeding up the installation process further.
Security. Security is a very critical part of any communication infrastructure, especially since VoIP is basically online. Internet security threats are real,[5] and they are expected to become more widespread in the coming years.
Low capital. If you want to start your business right away, then becoming a reseller is the most sensible choice. In fact, some wholesalers can provide you the hardware and software you need at a deferred payment plan, which means that you don’t need to raise funds at the get-go to start your business.
Conclusion
Just like any business, opening a VoIP-related service will have its learning curve. Where do I get the funds? What types of software or hardware should I get? Do I have the skill or even business acumen to run it with confidence?
Although any newcomer has to go through these difficulties in order to learn, one doesn’t have to do it alone. Wholesalers such as DidForSale can offer you the support and expertise you need. Companies such as these can provide origination and termination services, toll-free and local numbers in various centers in many destinations.
[1] Jennifer Cuellar, “The 5 New Statistics That Prove VoIP Is Finally Poised to Eliminate Traditional Communications,” Toolbox, 25 Jul. 2013,http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/voip-news/the-5-new-statistics-that-prove-voip-is-finally-poised-to-eliminate-traditional-communications-56873 (accessed 17 Jan. 2015). [2] CornerStone, 3 Reasons Businesses Use VoIP (2010). [3] “How to Switch to VoIP and Ditch Your Home Phone Bill Forever,” How-to Geek, http://www.howtogeek.com/136959/how-to-switch-to-voip-and-ditch-your-home-phone-bill-forever/ (accessed 17 Jan. 2015). [4] Margaret Rouse, http://searchunifiedcommunications.techtarget.com/definition/private-branch-exchange (accessed 17 Jan. 2015). [5] SophosLabs, “Trends to Watch in 2014,” http://www.sophos.com/en-us/threat-center/security-threat-report.aspx (accessed 17 Jan. 2015).
Most of the voip service providers offers multitier SIP Trunking plans. This is not only confusing but also turns out to be atleast 25-30% more expensive to most consumers. Lets review by an example. Say a company needs local telephone numbers all over US to provide local reach to their customer. Toll free is obviously an option, but the cost of owning a toll free number is 10 times more than local access numbers. Not only that Local access numbers also called DID (direct inward dialing) numbers improve your company’s visibilities in local areas, but also work better for search engines as compare to toll free numbers.
So for most companies traffic is never the same for 24 hours. There is always more traffic during some hours as compare to others. Here is sample usage for a normal calling card business. Most VoIP service providers offer Tiered rates. Tiers 1 for East Coast states, Tier 2 for central USA and Tier 3 for West zone. So this business has peak traffic in morning around 9:00 and 8:00 PM in each zone. So morning 9:00 AM in Newyork is 6:00 AM in CA. By the time traffic increase in CA, you see a decline in traffic in Tier 1, East Coast. But the service provider is going to charge you for the peaks in each zone. Notice 500 Channels (tier 3) usage at 12:00 PM (which is 9:00 AM in CA). At the same time Tier 1 usage is only 300 Channels. You are not allowed to use the unused capacity in one tier to the other tier. You have to pay for the total of 1500 Channels (@ 500 Channels peak in each zone). While at DIDForSale we calculate the usage based on total of all the zones at any give time. We dont charge based on max of each zone. With our largest single tier coverage in US, our customers pay almost 30% less.
| Time EST | Tier1 | Tier2 | Tier3 | DIDForSale | Total Tier Commitment |
| 1:00 AM | 100 | 100 | 100 | 300 | 1500 |
| 2:00 AM | 100 | 100 | 100 | 300 | 1500 |
| 3:00 AM | 100 | 100 | 100 | 300 | 1500 |
| 4:00 AM | 100 | 100 | 100 | 300 | 1500 |
| 5:00 AM | 100 | 100 | 100 | 300 | 1500 |
| 6:00 AM | 150 | 100 | 100 | 350 | 1500 |
| 7:00 AM | 250 | 150 | 100 | 500 | 1500 |
| 8:00 AM | 350 | 250 | 150 | 750 | 1500 |
| 9:00 AM | 500 | 350 | 150 | 1000 | 1500 |
| 10:00 AM | 400 | 500 | 250 | 1150 | 1500 |
| 11:00 AM | 300 | 400 | 350 | 1050 | 1500 |
| 12:00 PM | 300 | 300 | 500 | 1100 | 1500 |
| 1:00 PM | 300 | 300 | 400 | 1000 | 1500 |
| 2:00 PM | 250 | 300 | 300 | 850 | 1500 |
| 3:00 PM | 300 | 250 | 300 | 850 | 1500 |
| 4:00 PM | 300 | 300 | 300 | 900 | 1500 |
| 5:00 PM | 300 | 300 | 250 | 850 | 1500 |
| 6:00 PM | 350 | 300 | 300 | 950 | 1500 |
| 7:00 PM | 500 | 350 | 300 | 1150 | 1500 |
| 8:00 PM | 400 | 500 | 300 | 1200 | 1500 |
| 9:00 PM | 300 | 400 | 350 | 1050 | 1500 |
| 10:00 PM | 300 | 300 | 500 | 1100 | 1500 |
| 11:00 PM | 150 | 300 | 400 | 850 | 1500 |
| 12:00 AM | 100 | 150 | 300 | 550 | 1500 |
This is how the Graph looks like. Short duration peaks in each zone cost you more and wider peak as compare to DIDForSale
Feel free to contact us to prepare a FREE sip-trunking report for you to see how you can save in your VoIP Bills. DIDForSale offers largest single tier coverage in US, UK and Canada.
