Junction Networks is one of the newer companies to pop up on my radar in the past few months. They've been doing really interesting stuff in the hosted PBX space. Those who follow back to the early days here may recall that a couple of years back I wasn't much of a fan of hosted solutions. There are a number of reasons, but my bias stems from early years in my career and knowledge of the old telco CENTREX services. Times have changed since those days.

Now Junction Networks added another money saving feature to its onSIP hosted PBX service called “Inbound Bridge.” Inbound Bridge helps onSIP customers who want local numbers and 800 numbers in foreign countries or specific domestic regions, but who are located in the U.S. To help jump start the service, Junction Networks is testing the feature with international DID provider Voxbone.

JUNCTION NETWORKS OPENS “INBOUND BRIDGE” TO ONSIP HOSTED PBX

Bridging application lets hosting customers use third-party providers of DID numbers
for best LD price in desired footprint

NEW YORK–Feb. 28, 2008—Junction Networks, host provider of the onSIP PBX service, has launched Inbound Bridge, an accessory service that ties in third-party providers of international and domestic DID numbers. Inbound Bridge saves money for Junction Networks’ business customers by allowing them to find the best per-minute price for inbound VoIP calling minutes in their chosen geographic regions. These customers connect that to the onSIP PBX platform, which offers industry-leading price and flexibility in hosted PBX, auto attendant, voice mail and other voice services.

Inbound Bridge solves a vexing problem for companies that want local numbers and 800 numbers in foreign countries or specific domestic regions—numbers typically rented from other VoIP network providers. Many of these providers simply deliver calls from one end point to the other; they don’t implement the key function of the SIP VoIP signaling protocol that allows callers to navigate phone menus, transfer calls, put callers on hold and trigger other events. Without this function (specified in the IETF’s RFC 3515), inbound callers are disconnected when they “press 1 for sales,” or try to transfer to extension numbers for specific people.

Junction Networks’ Inbound Bridge performs the missing SIP function, maintaining the two-way SIP signaling needed for interactivity after a call is already established. It can therefore pass the entered touch-tone digits to the auto attendant and other PBX applications. It can integrate onSIP with any network vendor having an open SIP implementation (permitting communication with other SIP networks).

“This is a perfect opportunity if you’re a company that wants a toll-free service from Europe or Asia, or you have some other reason to use a third-party phone number provider,” said Rob Wolpov, president, Junction Networks. “But you do want to use our hosted solution, because it works very well, you have company extensions in one or more sites, and you like the price of that.” ($39.95 a month for core voice applications and an unlimited number of SIP extensions, with free calling between them.)

“You can get your toll-free origination from any provider that offers SIP delivery of inbound calls, and just have it go to us through the Inbound Bridge. We charge $1.95 a month per DID, and half a cent a minute to cover our cost of the Bridge. If you can get your toll-free for one or one and a half cents a minute, you wind up paying two cents a minute for toll-free, as opposed to paying almost four cents a minute to Junction Networks.

“That’s completely OK with us,” Wolpov stressed. “Go somewhere else to get your minutes and then come to us for the auto attendant, the ACD queue, the voice mail, all those sorts of applications.”

To date, Junction Networks has tested the Inbound Bridge with international DID provider Voxbone. Other third-party DID providers are to be tested and added in the coming months.

“We’re happy to supply onSIP customers with our core value—locally dialed phone presence in more than 40 countries around the world,” said Rodrigue Ullens, Voxbone CEO. “With our intercontinental voice-only backbone, Junction Networks’ Inbound Bridge and onSIP platform, these enterprises can get the best value in DID numbers and international VoIP transport, plus all the convenience and flexibility of hosted IP PBX.”

About Junction Networks
With more than 3,500 customers, Junction Networks is one of the largest providers of business-class VoIP services, for businesses ranging in size from five extensions to 500 and more. Using the most innovative applications available, Junction Networks provides high-end, multi-functional, Internet-based communications options that easily adapt to the needs of the growing business. Junction Networks' unsurpassed ability to leverage open standards, such as SIP, enables it to seamlessly integrate new functionalities into existing, scalable platforms. In this way, it can offer the benefit of enterprise-class broadband voice and data communications at a fraction of the typical cost. For more information, visit www.junctionnetworks.com