In another article, we discussed the main threat currently hanging over VoIP operators, and the way in which they are unwillingly favoring certain competing voice services. Indeed, thanks to their videoconferencing and collaboration offerings, collaboration solution providers such as Microsoft, Zoom and Google are now well established in companies, and are preparing to take over their customers' telephony budgets...

In this article we'd like to share what we're currently seeing in the market, discuss some of the methods being used to limit customer churn and, most importantly, highlight the advantages VoIP operators have over the big players.

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How did we get here?

Until a few years ago, it could be said that voice-related services were generally introduced to the market by operators. But paradoxically, as the collaboration market began to emerge, very few VoIP operators felt the need to market such a service. At the same time, Microsoft launched an aggressive campaign to migrate Skype users to Teams, and other events such as the development of teleworking resulting from the COVID-19 health crisis prompted companies to quickly change their mindset. Suddenly, the market was ready for a solution that many VoIP operators didn't have.

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A large number of SMEs and enterprises then turned directly to collaboration solution providers, often paying a high price. And often months later, the VoIP operator's account manager would discover that his or her customer had started using a service such as Zoom, and now wanted to switch providers. The reality is that many VoIP operators didn't (and still don't) have the right offering for the collaboration market. This explains why...

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What can you do?

Faced with this threat, VoIP operators need to respond by offering a collaboration service that not only delivers the features and performance their customers expect, but can also help them leverage the advantages they have over these large providers, including proximity of the business relationship.

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What are these advantages?

A better customer experience thanks to a local sales and support network

One of the biggest challenges facing large suppliers is the administration of customer accounts, whether in terms of integration, support or sales management. To remain competitive, many of their processes are automated, and there is no shortage of testimonials from dissatisfied companies.

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Faced with these large suppliers, a VoIP operator may think that every euro makes a difference, and that the pressure on prices is permanent. But the reality is that telecom costs represent only a small percentage of a company's overall expenses. So a 20% difference between two solutions is not necessarily an obstacle. The key is to educate the customer and demonstrate that this cost difference will make a huge difference to the customer/supplier relationship, and therefore to their experience. There's no customer who doesn't value being able to pick up the phone and talk to a real person.

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Leverage application programming interfaces ("APIs") and deploy customized solutions to make them less portable

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Solutions such as Google Voice and Zoom Phone are suitable for customers with standard PBX environments, typical requirements and little or no customization. Cloning a customized PBX or software client integrated into business processes with such solutions is a different matter. Deploying customized solutions is an excellent way not only to create value for customers and protect against churn, but also to differentiate an offering.

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By staying as far away as possible from an "off-the-shelf" commercial solution (especially for large accounts), it can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to replace a custom integration with a solution such as Zoom Phone, Google Voice, Microsoft Teams, etc.

And, by leveraging standardized solutions with robust, well-documented and supported APIs, it's possible to create reusable integrations and customization levels across a customer base.

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A proactive approach to customers and the market

The services of the major providers all rely on brand awareness and massive marketing investments to attract customers directly, often via self-service or automated sales channels. There's no exchange, the relationship is superficial and transactional, and very little proactive unless you're a named account.

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This is where a qualified sales team focused on customer relations can succeed. A pro-active approach to customers and the market, with a new product, allows us to offer tests and provide information that reinforces a VoIP operator's legitimacy in the unified communications market. This keeps us on the lookout for customers ready to deploy such a service. This is probably one of the best ways of blocking the way to these new competitors.

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