Why VoIP Termination Is Critical

Callers can dial the number regardless of calling from a mobile, landline, or VoIP phone. However, the caller’s service provider must route the call via another carrier, if possible, to get the call to their endpoint. The cost of the route and carriers involved will depend on quality, availability at a particular location, time and day of the week, and price. If the call was made via the Internet or PSTN, termination services route it through the providers to the recipient.

VoIP technology’s popularity and reliability have increased internationally

VoIP technology’s popularity and reliability have increased international calling at lower rates. For example, the U.S. International Telecommunications Traffic and Revenue Data, July 2016, by the Federal Communications Commission, shows that international voice minutes have increased 181 percent over the 2000s from 30.1 billion minutes to 84.7 billion minutes in 2014. This has led to increased traffic volumes as it is much cheaper for consumers and businesses to make international calls.

U.S. -India (24.8%), U.S. -Mexico (23.7%), U.S. -Canada (14.2%), U.S. -Colombia (2.8%), and U.S. -Bangladesh (2.5%) were the top five international U.S. billed minutes in 2014. Hot Telecom’s “The Future of International Wholesale” report found that international wholesale traffic is shifting steadily from the larger operators to smaller ones. These smaller Tier 2 and Tier 3 carriers, or aggregators, are responsible for a large portion of wholesale traffic today. They also have the potential to grow in the future. These carriers are strong on local routes and offer very competitive rates.

Advantages of VoIP termination

VoIP technology has simplified interconnection and eliminated geographical boundaries, reducing international termination costs. Because of VoIP technology, the time it takes to install international services has fallen to just two to two-to-three months. Because VoIP technology has made it easier to connect to global services, the cost of interconnecting has dropped as well. It is now possible to get some additional bandwidth from the switching location, which was once expensive and would have cost thousands of dollars in the 1990s.

Wholesale termination markets are governed by the need to ensure that the carriers have the necessary capacity, quality, and ability to sell and buy terminations efficiently. This can be done at significant industry events or between operators. BridgeVoice provides an Automated Carrier Platform, where wholesale VoIP service providers can trade wholesale VoIP terminator services with other operators via an online portal that is secure and easy to use. A carrier from one country can also buy call termination services from another operator in another nation in a more competitive marketplace. This allows for lower unit prices and higher quality options.