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Tuesday, January 10, 2006
VoIP subscribers increase
A local Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider welcomed the year with an increasing number of subscribers, including those from the call center companies.
Simeon Edward Lim, chief executive officer and managing director of DB Edwards (DBE), provider of InTouch VoIP phone solutions, said DBE will supply hardware and airtime to a newly opened call center, Tagbi-Net, in Bohol this month.
“We are also now in negotiations with a Cebu-based call center that has 200 work stations and wants to avail (itself) of our service because it was not happy with the quality of their current VoIP provider’s service,” he said in an interview.
The Cebu-based call center he referred to will be consuming 60,000 to 80,000 minutes of airtime per month for an eight-hour shift, he said.
Double
Lim said InTouch VoIP had over 4,000 subscribers last year globally, the bulk coming from the Philippines.
“We expect to double the number of our subscribers this year with our more expanded market and business operations,” he said.
VoIP is a low-cost alternative to traditional voice calls.
Among its subscribers in Cebu is the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. that uses InTouch’s Global e800, a VoiP solution uploaded to a subscriber’s website where web visitors can talk to the person on the other end just by clicking on its icon, provided their personal computers are microphone- or headset-ready.
The technology was designed to make online business transactions faster and bring in more possible sales.
With the sprouting of many free and cheap VoIP providers, Lim said they do not feel threatened.
Earlier, another VoIP provider, WorldCall Philippines, reported the “enormous” sales success of their VoIP-enabled low-cost international outbound calls.
It has a call station, where walk-in customers come and make the calls.
Convenience
It also launched a Dialsaver card that can be used in any phone (landline or cellphone) to make an international call, making it convenient for the end-users.
“Competition is good because consumers are the ones that would benefit most. But consumers should also be quality-conscious,” Lim said.
Unlike WorldCall Philippines that requires no subscription, InTouch banks on users’ subscriptions because it allows the provider some “control,” Lim said.
“With subscription, we know the number of our subscribers and how to equally serve them with quality,” he said.
WorldCall Philippines, on the other hand, said it is “keen” on maintaining and improving its international outbound call service. (ALC)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (January 10, 2006 issue)
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