The Risk of BYOB

By David Byrd

Bring Your Own Broadband (BYOB) is not nearly as bad as most carriers claim. Broadvox is one of the few carriers that will support a SIP Trunk providing VoIP service utilizing BYOB. We do this primarily because businesses can become trapped in long-term agreements with a carrier and would face high termination fees if they attempted to cancel prior to the end of the contract term. So, we are offering these businesses a way to work with a new carrier, maximize use of their IP or even TDM technology and gain the benefit of SIP.  For the most part, 90-95 percent of the time, this works out very well and an overwhelming majority of our customers are very happy. However, BYOB does have its drawbacks.

It is very important to test the quality of existing broadband prior to offering any new services. It is also important to understand how the broadband is currently used by the organization. This will allow engineers to determine if it is sufficient to support a SIP Trunk. And finally, the expectations for quality of service must be made clear. The preferred and best scenario for providing a SIP Trunk is over the carriers broadband. This permits end-to-end control and ensures QoS. However, this is not possible with BYOB and the service must be described as best efforts.” This must be made clear prior to contracting any customer who chooses to not secure new broadband. Consequently, no hosted service provider offering a fully managed service will accept BYOB, and that includes Broadvox.

Voice communications is critical to nearly every business, and some, depend upon it for the bulk of their sales. When that is the case, other criteria must be considered prior to agreeing upon a BYOB implementation. To that end, most carriers offer multiple types of broadband to meet customer requirements in their transition to IP communications.

Because bandwidth and broadband selection is so important to the successful implementation of an IP service, I will discuss seven key considerations next week. Dont miss it!

See you on Monday with another original recipe and more on the world of IP.

David Byrd is vice president of marketing and sales for

Broadvox
, and is responsible for marketing and channel sales programs to SMBs, enterprises and carriers as well as defining the product offering. Prior to joining Broadvox, David was the vice president of Channels and Alliances for Eftia and Telcordia. As director of eBusiness Development with i2 Technologies, he developed major partnerships with many of the leaders in Internet eCommerce and supply chain management. As CEO of Planet Hollywood Online he was a pioneer in using early Internet technologies to build a branded entertainment and eCommerce website company partnered with Planet Hollywood. Having over 20 years of telecom sales and marketing experience, he has held executive positions with Hewlett-Packard, Sprint and Ericsson.