[asterisk-users] What are the various models of DID providers

[randulo]

On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 11:22 AM, Alex Balashov
<abalashov at evaristesys.com> wrote:
> The original niche of these providers was to simply provide VoIP in the
> first place;  established carriers were used to dealing with TDM (hard,
> synchronous circuits using ISDN or SS7) and had a lot invested in
> equipment and plant to do traditional telco stuff.  So, someone had to
> be doing the TDM<->VoIP conversion work by buying the equipment and
<snip>
When you think about the learning curve of the average asterisk
beginner, the picture painted for them is "Become your own telco!" and
we all know that's not exactly accurate. For the small asterisk
install it's much more accurate to say "Get an enterprise-class pbx
free (if you don't mind months of studying)."

The biggest challenge for anyone who will NOT be dealing with the
carriers or large wholesalers is the inherent instability of the
market for affordable ITSP. Over the past few years, many of these
have fallen by the wayside or gotten so bad users began to jump ship
on their own. Expect one or more announcements VERY SOON from names
you've heard about.

My best experience is from our DSL and ITSP. I can be talking to a
human being immediately and a service tech who knows what VoIP is
within a minute. They're fantastic, but I see they are about to go
public and be on the NASDAQ. I hope that doesn't compromise their
great service.

> This will only get more true as carriers develop business processes and
> technology platforms that make it more economical for them to
> accommodate a wider range of customer size directly.  It's sort of the
> same thing that happened to independent ISPs providing dialup Internet
> access when the telcos themselves got into that game.

You think someday AT&T will have a web site where you can sign up for
termination/origination? I guess the airlines are able to sell flights
that way. Customer service would be a nightmare though. Welcome to
"Your call is important to us" land.

/r