IPsmarx's Class 5 Server offering is designed to give an ISP everything needed to become a VoIP provider, including a billing system.

by Jeff Goldman [July 25, 2007]

Voice over IP solutions provider IPsmarx Technology Inc. was founded in 2001, and now has offices in New York, Toronto, and McLean, Virginia. "We were originally a calling card platform solution provider six years ago—and then we got into softswitch and wholesale platforms," says company president Arash Vahidnia.

The company's IPsmarx Class 5 Server offering enables an ISP to provide a full range of VoIP services. Its value proposition, Vahidnia suggests, is extremely straightforward. "If you want to become a company like Vonage, you can come to us, and we'll give you every component that you need," he says.

IPsmarx Technology 1660 International Dr. #400 McLean, VA 22102 Tel: (703) 636-2466 Web contact form

The point, according to company account manager Carrie Hartford, is that IPsmarx is a one-stop shop. "Ours is an all-in-one solution, meaning we're going to provide the hardware, the software—which includes switching and billing software—and then we're also going to provide training, technical support, installation, and the termination as well," she says.

Full featured VoIP
Hartford says the Class 5 Server offers a full complement of features (.pdf). "We do a package which enables them to offer full featured IP phone service, meaning they can have all the Class 5 features like call forwarding, voice-mail, call waiting, follow-me—all of the advanced features that any large telco would offer," she says.

The service, Vahidnia says, works both with the company's proprietary softphone, which supports both voice and video, and with any SIP-based ATA.

It also includes a web portal that enables both administrators and end users to manage accounts online. The portal is directly integrated with the integrated billing solution. "You can go online and sign up there—you get your phone number, get your IP phone, and everything is automatically set up," Vahidnia says.

Hartford says the solution is appropriate for both business and residential customers, and the integrated billing software gives ISPs a great deal of flexibility in serving either market. "They can make up their own rate plans for their customers, like unlimited calling to a specific destination, promotional rates for holidays, and so on," she says.

Quick setup
The Class 5 Server is available either as an appliance or as a hosted offering. "We give them the whole solution, which includes hardware and software—and then they have the option of either putting the solution in their colocation, and they would host it themselves, or they can keep it in our colocation," Hartford says.

In either case, Hartford says, full setup from start to finish rarely takes more than 10 days. "We do remote installation, so our technicians are on the phone with the provider getting everything plugged in and all the cables correct—then we do a training, just a couple of hours to half a day, to familiarize them with the billing software and how to use it," she says. "So it's not a very time-consuming installation."

The appliance has the capability to do any call recording required, which Vahidnia claims makes it fully CALEA-compliant—and an add-on module is available to support E-911 through a partnership with a third company.

Competitive pricing
If the ISP will be hosting the hardware themselves, Hartford says, there's just a one-time fee for the appliance. If they want IPsmarx to host the equipment, or if they want to use the company's available technical support, then there's an additional monthly fee. "Our pricing is competitive, from what we're hearing from our clients," she says.

And there's no particular target size of ISP. "We work with clients who are just going into this business for the first time, who are establishing a client base—and we've migrated existing ISPs over to our platform who already have a large client base," Hartford says. "Our system is scalable."

For ISPs, Hartford says, adding IP telephony to their suite of offerings just makes sense. "And we're seeing clients get into this business for the first time with no client base and be successful—so to have the advantage of an existing client base is huge," she says.

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