The new VirtualUSA service from BandTel allows call-centers and businesses to avoid the cost of international leased circuits while gaining access to USA 800 toll free and DID services.

by Robert Poe

Although overseas call centers can cut a company's labor costs, they are not practical for many U.S.-based SMBs (small- to medium-sized businesses). One big obstacle is that, depending on the number of employees involved, communications expenses can offset much of the savings that result from lower overseas salaries. The main expense is the cost of leased lines to carry customers' calls overseas, a problem that BandTel’s new VirtualUSA service aims to solve.

VirtualUSA starts by providing either toll-free800 or DID (Direct Inward Dialing) local numbers for use to dial to in the Unites States with DID numbers available for over 3,000 U.S. different USA markets.

The service converts the calls coming to these numbers into VoIP. In VoIP space the 800 or DID call is then translated to a foreign exchange number of the off-shore facility by the BandTel ENUM –Server™. The call is then forwarded downstream via SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) to an overseas carrier, and then ultimately handed off to the local long foreign exchange carrier , and finally the remote offshore facility.

Unlike with conventional SIP trunking, this approach doesn't require VoIP equipment in the customer's premises to translate calls from SIP to TDM, as these calls come through its regular phone lines.

Without such an approach, companies would have to many hundreds to several thousands of dollars per month on high-capacity leased lines, not to mention the additional premises equipment, according to BandTel vice president of Sales Joel Maloff. Such costs would remain fixed regardless of whether there were enough calls to fill up the circuits. Companies would also have to pay per-minute charges on both ends. With VirtualUSA, businesses just pay all-inclusive, per-minute rates that Maloff claimed could save them thousands of dollars.

Another advantage of VirtualUSA is its simple setup. Besides not requiring additional equipment, VirtualUSA can activate service within a day, Maloff said. By contrast, acquiring traditional leased lines can take weeks or months. Such quick results are particularly helpful for professional providers of call-center services, since they can start offering service immediately after acquiring a new customer.

Maloff thinks that VirtualUSA will bring overseas call-centers within the reach of increasing numbers of small businesses. It could also, he added, be great for overseas companies that want to sell products in the U.S. VirtualUSA will allow international businesses to set up local or toll-free numbers within the U.S. for a fraction of what such numbers have traditionally cost.

In summary, VirtualUSA offers offshore-call centers and businesses a very cost effective way to leverage VoIP/SIP to backhaul USA 800 and USA DID traffic to foreign locations, but with the added benefit of not having to deploy any new networking technologies.

For further inforamtion contact:

BandTel Sales at...

Tel: 800-730-2870
sales@bandtel.com
www.bandtel.com