[asterisk-biz] Experimental/new VoIP rate search engine.

[Kristian Kielhofner]

On 1/4/09, Alex Balashov <abalashov at evaristesys.com> wrote:
> I think if this gets traction you will see a lot of providers doing
>  ultra-low bait-and-switch rates. Most cannot afford to be in a price
>  race to the bottom.
>

  Agreed.

  This current race to the bottom, while somewhat inevitable, is not
necessarily a good thing for customers.

  I'm about as capitalistic as they come and I welcome any form of
competition.  Basing that competition solely on initial price,
however, is foolish.

  What about quality, support, business viability, etc?  I don't think
I would ever use *the cheapest* possible provider.  Unless they have
some special magic no one else does (highly unlikely) one of three
things will happen:

- Quality will suffer.  Everything from cheap equipment and
connectivity to inexperienced and under qualified staff, all to keep
costs down.

- Customer support will be non existent (or worthless).  How are you
paying for it when your markup is %10 or less (whatever it may be)?

- They will go out of business.  If they are somehow able to offer all
of the above while still providing rock bottom prices, how long can
they afford to stay in business?  Hopefully by now people realize that
"business" does not mean burning through cash while having
ridiculously high rates of customer churn (Vonage, et al).  They'll
end up being yet another VoIP provider to go under while taking all of
your customer's DIDs with you.  This hurts the entire industry.

  I suppose that for termination only there is much less risk.  If any
of these things start to happen, send your traffic somewhere else.
But still, it very well might not be worth the hassle.

  I don't mean to be such a pessimist but I can't help but speak my
mind, especially in the current economic climate.

  Getting back on topic, will there be any sort of ranking for quality?

-- 
Kristian Kielhofner
http://blog.krisk.org
http://www.submityoursip.com
http://www.astlinux.org
http://www.star2star.com