BroadSoft Delivers Mobility and Unified Communications for SIP Trunking

SIP trunking is rapidly becoming the standard for interconnecting business premises phone systems to the PSTN. According to research firm Infonetics, service providers' (SPs) SIP trunking revenue grew 128% in 2011, and it forecasts revenue from SIP trunking services to businesses will grow at a 52% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2011 to 2015. But, counsels BroadSoft, SPs can avoid the inevitable competitive pressure driving SIP trunk prices to commodity levels while increasing Average Revenue per User (ARPU) and market share by leveraging the BroadWorks application server software platform to differentiate their SIP trunk offerings via the extension of UC services to both fixed and mobile devices used by their enterprise customers.

The BroadWorks application server platform is the core component of BroadSoft's SIP trunking solution. It is a transport-neutral solution that operates in both IP Multi-media System (IMS) and pre-IMS architectures that delivers carrier-grade software for integrated call processing, IP PBX and UC services in a Communication-as-a-Service (CaaS) model. Through this application-oriented solution, BroadSoft competes with hardware-based SIP trunking solution providers who typically concentrate on softswitches and session border controllers (SBCs) such as: AudioCodes, Acme Packet, Cisco, Ingate and Sonus.

BroadSoft goes to market through its direct sales force. Its G2M strategy is, arguably, two-fold:

1. Cross-sell UC apps to those Tier 1 and Tier 2 SPs who already own BroadWorks, and
2. In greenfield situations offer the bundled value proposition of SIP trunking and UC apps in competition with the hardware SIP trunk guys and/or a Metaswitch software-based SIP trunk and app solution set.

As a rule, BroadSoft solutions don’t include SP and enterprise SBCs or other hardware components of its solutions. However, BroadSoft does offer an Interoperability Technology Partner Program allowing third-party equipment vendors to verify that their SIP devices interoperate with the BroadWorks platform. BroadSoft supports the testing and formally reviews the results. Companies are asked to re-validate with each new BroadWorks release, as well as any new release of their service. Approved vendors are listed and provided with a BroadSoft Partner Profile page and permitted to promote their services and demonstrate how they easily integrate with BroadWorks.

Given the current high visibility of BYOD in the CIO mindset, this press release focuses on pairing BroadSoft’s SIP trunking solution with the concept of offering value added mobile UC apps over a SIP trunk, though any UC apps could have been proposed. The two products highlighted are BroadTouch MobileLink and BroadTouch Business Communicator. These are a pair of BroadTouch client apps that users can download on their existing mobile devices. BroadTouch, itself, is a suite of end user applications focused on providing a unified experience across both fixed and mobile devices.

BroadTouch MobileLink is a simple (non-VoIP) client that enables end-users to make and receive calls using their business identity, from their personal smartphones, in essence turning the business user’s personal mobile device into a PBX extension. This allows users to dial and manage calls as they would from their office desk phone, including: tracking calls, picking up business voicemail and managing personal settings. Business Communicator, on the other hand, is a multimedia WiFi solution allowing SPs to deploy a single application to access voice, video and IM/P applications across mainstream mobile and desktop platforms including Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.