Becoming a CLEC

From the soon-to-be-gone, ISP-CLEC.com list, someone asked:

I'm looking into what it would take to startup a voice CLEC for my VoIP operations. .... I plan on hiring Kris Twomey to do the legal wrangling, work with vendors on technical training, get a little grease on my elbows, and then hiring people to fill in the gaps. Is there anything major I'm missing here?

1. Switch
2. Circuits into tandems.
3. Circuits into busy COs or tandems where my own fiber isn't appropriate
4. Same as above for 911 tandems (if in my area, otherwise the PSAPs directly)
5. Gobs of government paperwork
6. PITA of being more directly involved with the ILECs
7. CALEA, which vendors and lawyers should be able to take care of

One reply from Alex B:

"you're generally not going to have physical circuits to tandems and/or many COs. There will be an mid-span meet to an ILEC POI for interconnection and trunk groups off that will go to tandems, direct end-office trunking to COs, etc. Private circuits will apply to backhaul from COs (if you choose to go that route) and possibly the E911 stuff - don't know if those are just trunk groups too." Plus the following 5 things:

1. Interconnection agreement;
2. CFA;
3. OCN/Pooling/NANPA number allocation;
4. Point codes; and
5. SS7 STP vendors for services - who's going to do your CNAM, etc?

Let's not forget the the following other PITA's:

1. processes and forms that you have to put into place yourself, like a PIC/LPIC LOA, credit apps, and ordering forms as well as ordering processes.
2. The OSS/BSS will be a kicker.
3. LD for 1+ Dialing.
4. Keeping two training telecom engineers on staff. Voice requires 24/7 monitoring. Lots of things happen to the switch, to circuits, to routing, to translations, to LNP, to the copper/colo/etc.
5. You can outsource LNP and CNAM, even E911.
6. Mary Lou Carey can help you with circuit ordering.
7. Don't forget about $10M in Business Liability Insurance as well as E&O Insurance.
8. Set up a separate corporation to be the CLEC. Added expense and paperwork, but so worth it.
9. Kris Twomey can help with the ICA as well as the OCN Number and NANPA Numbers.
10. Collocation costs.

CFA will be handled by you into your collocation. Collocation costs about $75k-$150K per CO depending on ILEC and equipment (and how many mistakes you make that you have to keep re-applying for at $2500+ per app). It will get cheaper after the first one. Less mistakes. Less brand new equipment.

Insurance will be upwards of $10K, so you have to factor that in with CAPEX and new payroll. Plus you have to be financially solvent per the State PUC guidelines, which in some cases means having $100K in cash or equivalents.

Plan that it will take about 180 days from start date until you have your collocation build.

And we still aren't done yet. Consider the following:

• Operator Services
• Customer Service
• Billing
• Back Office
• Directory Assistance
• Repair/Install
• E911
• Numbering Resources
• Switch Maintenance
• Regulatory Compliance
• Tax Compliance
• Financial and a Pro forma
• Background of all principles
• Corporate data
• Draft a Tariff
• LERG training

If you need help, that's one of the things we do here at RAD-INFO, Inc. Make an appointment to discuss this. Our rates are reasonable - and we work closely with Kris Twomey.

Fred Goldstein of Ionary has a great checklist (old version is here).

CLEC Therapy slides from the last FISPA meeting are here. Next CLEC Therapy is in Nashville on June 25.

BB Stimulus Update

Microsoft commented to the FCC on the Broadband Stimulus plan. MS said:

"Microsoft believes that if the US government were to accomplish just one goal in this process, it should be to ensure that all schools, libraries and hospitals across the nation are connected to future‐proof broadband facilities, such as fiber‐optic cable. By offering these community anchor institutions connections with speeds that can approach 100 Mbps, plus expansion capacity, the federal government will bring communities nationwide into the larger national and international digital environment. The benefits of such a strategy will be direct, tangible, rapid and profound."

So you know where Microsoft stands. ARS Technica has a detailed article about some strategies and details. Read it here.

There's going to be a new head of the NTIA: Larry Strickling.

The next FCC meeting is April 8th. The agenda.

Telephony has an article about the BB Stim Plan here. Best quote: "because at least one grant must be given to each state (plus D.C. and some U.S. territories), the money will be spread thinly. So officials urged applicants to team up to beef up their proposals."

Comcast Sues WISP

"Man uses 35 Comcast subscriptions to fuel his own local wireless ISP; Comast, not so happy" - from DSLReports.

I guess when the TOS says no Resale, Comcast means it.

Imagine what the WISP reputation must be like?

In other MDU type news, Broadband Properties mag has a full spread about Verizon Enhanced Communities. I forget what they used to be called, but they are the MDU/MTU division that delivers DSL and now FiOS to multi-tenant buildings. This article is a precursor to the Broadband Properties Summit in Dallas on April 27-29.

Outsourcing Decision Struggles

FreshBooks has a perspective on Outsourcing Customer Service. [HERE] FreshBooks is an SAAS company that Makes Love to Its Customers, so they believe in fanatical customer care. What do you think?

Will Conficker Happen?

According to media hype, the Conficker worm will strike on April 1. F-Secure thinks that is an April Fool's joke according to the FAQ here.

Take advantage of this hype to email your clients to allay their fears; remind them to update and run anti-virus; explain what malware and spyware are; demonstrate that you are the Expert.

BTW, AVG is still complimentary while Panda and Trend Micro have affiliate programs, so you can make a dollar by helping your clients.

BTW, for those that think your customers think that you should be preventing viruses for them: it's a great time to make a video or podcast that explains what Virus, Malware, Spyware are and where they come from. Only Nullbrand, AFAIK, can stop that stuff without client software.

Make Love to Your Customers

At BarCampTampaBay last October, Saul Colt, Head of Magic at Canadian online invoicing company, FreshBooks, did a presentation titled How to Make Love to Your Customers. Saul presented a similar session at SocialMediaBarCamp in September. Here's one review. Here's Inc. magazine's perspective on it.

Business Leaders talk about Customer Evangelists and Customer Loyalty, blah, blah. In a competitive industry (and which one isn't today?), your job as the CEO or business owner is to make your customers love your company. How hard is that? Well, considering that the phone company and the cable company (and DISH Network) have received bad marks for "customer service" for years and have laid off tens of thousands lately, how hard would it be to take some extra steps to actually give your customer some service or better yet Care? Not very. Even WebHostingTalk has some ideas.

Besides staying in front of them with a monthly newsletter, a blog about your customers and employees would be another method.

• Robin Robins makes impressions by sending her clients and Prospects unique gifts.
• Thank you notes, especially hand written, make an impression.
• Do you have Google Alerts set up for your largest customers? So that you know what is going on with them and can congratulate them.
• Your team can call clients just to say Thank You randomly. Following up a day after every customer service call too to insure that the problem was resolved to your customer's satisfaction.
• Invite your customers to networking events. Introduce them around. Have breakfast or lunch with your clients.
• Give free seminars to your clients (and prospects) on tech stuff - Like How to download MP3's legally for your iPod. How to Upload Photos from your digital camera. How does that Hulu thing work? What's * and VoIP?
• Have a Customer Appreciate Day. Select a customer to give an award to (and make their day plus some PR).

And these are just of the top of my head. Be creative and remember that people leave mainly because they feel ignored.

Healthcare Options

One big expense for small business is healthcare costs. It's one of President Obama's chief issues. It is also a big issue for NFIB and other groups. NFIB has programs that works in some states. Read more here.

The agent association that I helped put together has a group health insurance policy for its members. So does MPSAlliance. (Details here)

Florida's Governor has been working hard to establish a health coverage plan for everyone. Now he is getting the word out about Cover Florida. (BayNews9 article here).

I know you are buried in day to day survival but here are some options to look at. At least, a Health Savings Account and either Catastrophic Insurance or Major Medical are a must to protect yourself, your finances, your family and your business.

What Next for DSL Resellers?

Between the FISPA meeting and two calls since, it seems that folks still think that the telcos should have to play fair and open up the wholesale DSL platform. To me, it's like a farmer complaining about the rain and soil. It is what it is. It isn't likely to change without you doing something to change it or if you move - two things most people in the ISP Industry don't like.

In 2004-2005, when we were running up to the Hill in DC to fight against DSL Un-regulation and the Brand-X case, I don't recall too much support. Not bitter. Just saying that you had your chance to fight and missed it. Fighting now will likely mean missing the boat.

There are many ways to deliver high-speed Internet Access. There are ways to add multiple streams of income, such as:

• VOIP
• Back-up
• PC Support
• Server maintenance
• Hosting
• SAAS
• Hosted Email/Exchange
• Network Security
• IT Security
• Home monitoring/security
• Home Network Install & Maintenance

If you are reselling DSL, why wouldn't you be reselling other services? Seriously. Satellite (WildBlue or Hughes), 3G, Verizon FiOS, and Cable Modem service. You can be an agent of companies like American Broadband Systems and Bandwave Systems to resell services to your client base to move them to a new platform and get some revenue.

From what I am hearing Residential Dial-Up and Residential DSL accounts are selling for under $100. You can make money selling them other services. And if you sell them Hosted Email (Exchange, Google, or someone else), you can have that revenue stream for a while.

How to Deliver High-Speed

Dave Rusin, CEO of AFS, is mad about the Broadband Stimulus bill, but he does point out all of the interesting ways that High-Speed Internet Access is being delivered:

• Fujitsu just announced an LTE wireless platform capable of delivering 120 megabits per second. It can go as high as 300 megabits at 20Mhz.
• Ericsson just announced a VDSL2 platform that boasts 500 megabits over twisted copper pairs using a vectorized noise canceling technology.
• Charter Communications is delivering 60 megabits per second over DOCSIS 3.0 technology.
• Ethernet-over-copper a favorite of XO Communications delivering between 5 megabits up to 88 megabits per second.
• WiMax platforms delivering 180 megabits today, with greater expansion as the 700MHz licenses come on board for deployment
• An interesting satellite, WiMax and wi-fi model from CTC (St. Louis) and AlphaStar International to deliver 4G bandwidth speeds by low cost radios to anywhere in rural America. The satellites are a holdover from the Reagan Star Wars initiatives which are in place for back haul today.

Notice that BPL is not on the list. And as an ISP you need to be looking at ways that YOU can deliver this -- not resell it.

CLEC Therapy III

Here's the slides for the FISPA CLEC Therapy session today where we will be pulling 2 ISP's out of the audience to break down their CLEC aspirations and put sketch a plan for them.

VZ versus BH

Sunday's St. Petersburg Times offered an interesting glimpse into the battle between Bright House Networks and Verizon for a greater share of the business and consumer telecom and entertainment market. Both have moved toward offering bundled services that include such services as cable, internet, phone, and fax. In terms of their differences, Verizon also offers wireless services while Bright House Networks currently does not. However, Bright House points to its numerous J.D. Power awards for excellent customer service and the exclusive availability of Bay News 9 as key strengths in its favor.

BH has taken 500,000 lines in the Tampa Bay market. VZ claims that it has 225k FiOS customers - no idea how many are TV too. Neither of them are doing well - it's a zero plus game. Daily marketing - in the multi-millions of dollars - to take away a customer. The customer acquisition costs are huge - but definitely higher for VZ who mails me something every single day (that's about $4 per week). To move me to FiOS would require an ONT, a modem, wiring, and a fiber team to split off the fiber run to my adobe. Two install teams. Lots of dough. How do they get that back at $99 packages? Well, one way is that with VZ $99 is not $99 -- it's $170+ and its only for 6 months and you have a 3 year contract (that BH will buy out to switch you back). What a game.

Lure Big Clients

From Telecomweb: Verizon Uses Recovery-Act Terms To Lure Enterprise Customers.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, enterprises can take accelerated, or “bonus,” depreciation for voice and data gear ordered, invoiced and placed into service during 2009, and Verizon is urging enterprises to take advantage of this part of the Act. Verizon also sees the situation as part of its economic success story, given the current economy, thus the added financing incentives.

Other companies like EXCEL and Paetec are giving away PBX equipment with a SIP Trunk. It's these type of incentives that are creating sales growth in an otherwise tight market.

Was It Right?

I took some heat for the two blogs I wrote about VOX - here and at TMC.

In the case of Junction, I had the wrong name. I wrote Junction Networks instead of Junction Broadband. (I love that about VoIP companies, such name recognition).

In the case of Acredo, they went into re-org, not closed, but that is what my source made it sound like. When you lay everyone off isn't that what it sounds like? Or do you imagine that the CTO and CEO are going to handle billing, customer service and keep things running while figuring out what the new strategy will be?

In the case of VOX, it was my wording that upset them. But after thinking about it for a few days, I'm steaming. VOX rolled out 2 or 3 press releases about its pending deal with UTGI - or at least I received 2 or 3 copies in my various mailboxes. The PR said that the deal had Closed. It has not. For a publically traded company (OTCBB:PVSP) to talk about a multi-million dollar deal that did not close seems disingenuous to me. And for that same publicly traded company to not issue a notice that it had massive layoffs is again what I call gaming the system.

I write for my customers. I'm not writing for the benefit for AT&T or any other carrier. Occassionally, I will lob in a post about a new vendor, but I let you know that - AND I believe that the vendor can indeed help your business. Now back to VOX, its customers have a right to know that if the UTGI deal doesn't close soon that they are in deep trouble. If you were reselling them, you would want to know, right?

VOX has about $7.4M in debt. In Dec., 2007 it hit 10K lines - not customers, but lines. If the ARPU is $15, that's $150K per month or $1.8M in revenue per year - against $7.4M in debt.

To put it into perspective: VOX is not the only VoIP Provider in this condition. Like ISP's, most VoIP providers have not reached critical mass. The DSL Resellers in BellSouth hardly broke 1000 broadband subs. So a VoIP Provider with less than 100K lines isn't that unusual. What is unusual is in this financial stew how difficult financing can be.

Vendors come to me to sell to ISP's. The problem is that there has been so much implosion over the years that most ISP's would rather DIY than partner with someone. Not just VoIP, but lot sof other service lines.

What Am I Doing Tuesday?

It's such a good question: What Am I Doing Tuesday? I'll actually be at the FISPA Meeting in Orlando moderating 2 sessions.

One is CLEC Therapy, where I, Jason Hunt and Kris Twomey are going to pull 2 companies out of the audience and run through their strategy.

1. what they are doing;
2. who they are targeting;
3. what are they selling;
4. how are they selling;
5. is there a marketing plan/calendar;
6. is their a USP or marketing message

The lucky two companies actually get a full consulting session out of the three of us.

The other panel is How to Sell B2B VoIP with VOX, PBX-Change and Kinex. We will discuss the sales process for selling digital voice services to a small business with between 7 and 17 handsets.

If you are attending, please let me know - twitter, email or phone 813-496-2122.

Laptop Theft

Laptop and gadget theft is growing. 109K laptops in 2007 per the FBI. Laptops, iPods, cellphones. Some of this leads to Identity theft. Some of this leads to corporate data leaks. Mainly, it's a huge pain in the butt.

There are quite a few companies that make software to get your laptops back. Did you know that there was an open-source software project for this? ADEONA.

Adeona is the first Open Source system for tracking the location of your lost or stolen laptop that does not rely on a proprietary, central service. This means that you can install Adeona on your laptop and go — there's no need to rely on a single third party. What's more, Adeona addresses a critical privacy goal different from existing commercial offerings. It is privacy-preserving. This means that no one besides the owner (or an agent of the owner's choosing) can use Adeona to track a laptop. Unlike other systems, users of Adeona can rest assured that no one can abuse the system in order to track where they use their laptop. ... Adeona is designed to use the Open Source OpenDHT distributed storage service to store location updates sent by a small software client installed on an owner's laptop.

How to use Adeona: Using Adeona only requires downloading and installing a small software client. Adeona is free to use.

My History With Data Storage

Memopal is following me on twitter. One of the messages is a list of backup software on Wikipedia. I am shocked how much open source back-up software there is. Much easier (and cheaper) to outsource data storage and back-up but if you HAVE to DIY, there are many choices.

When I was a Novell VAR before telecom, we used HP tape back-up in every office we supported. It amazed me how ineffective that was.

• No one paid attention to the error messages.
• Tapes often were locked, so no backup occurred.
• Unless the office manager remembered to take a tape home, no off-site backup.
• Only one tape was used to save money. Well, it overwrites... so one failed backup means No backup.
• The back-up software was great. User error is what messed it up.

It needs to be very simple with no user intervention. I haven't seen a solution like that yet.

Currently, I use external hard drives and burn DVD's of data. But I do not have off-site back-up any where.

Another MSP pinged me today because he has just started selling tape back-up (since being at Robin's seminar in DC) and it has been a lucrative upsell when he is closing the server maintenance contract. It is also peace of mind for him and the client. Most companies that lose data don't recover.

If you do decide to build your own back-up service, use the cloud. Amazon Web Services offers a cheap alternative to a NAS.

7 Reasons Why The Recession Is Good

On the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur site, Mike Michalowicz writes about the 7 Reasons Why The Recession Is Good For You. I think he stretched on some of them, but the one good thing is that the amateurs leave or get forced out. This happened with real estate and mortgages. This is happening with VoIP.

It certainly makes you focus, right? It makes you set priorities. And if you weather this storm, you will come out the other side stronger and more profitable.

Susan Komen 3-Day Walk

My wife is walking in the 3-Day, 60-mile Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer walk. Please donate if you can. (Sales secret: If you are in a slump, write a check to charity and watch that slump disappear. It's the Law of the Universe working for you.) Thank you.

VoIP Providers are Folding

Announced this morning on Twitter, Acredo laid off its staff. Acredo is an Orlando based hosted VoIP provider that seems to be using an Avaya based PBX as its core. Acredo wasn't cheap either: $50 for the base rate, not unlimited usage either, plus extra for the phone.

Acredo was the second Orlando VoIP provider to layoff. VOX Corp. has offices in Orlando but has HQ in NY state. VOX's funding partner had to stop funding due to losses with the stock market. Even though VOX had over 100 resellers - members of NCTA, FISPA and WISPA - it couldn't get to cash flow. And cash flow is key right now.

Certainly, we will be seeing more failures. One reason: there are over 1000+ VOIP Providers and the only message is "we are cheaper". The VOIP Providers have to get their sales and marketing efforts in to high gear in order to increase revenues.

UPDATE: REPLY FROM VOX:

"Laurus has reduced funding, and Vox is not yet cash positive. But Vox continues to increase VoIP revenue each month, reduce costs, and inch closer to breakeven. And the imminent launch of a major Vox customer with mobile VoIP services (UTGI) represents a tremendous opportunity to become cash positive almost over night. So our business model has not ‘failed’, but hit a somewhat normal funding speed bump."

NTIA Disbursement

Gary Kim explains the rules on the NTIA disbursement of funds on TMCnet. All interested parties should read it.

Will NTIA Actually be Deciding Who Gets Broadband Stimulus Grants?

Highlights include:

• It is not yet clear that many "for profit" companies will be allowed to bid...
• The statute directs NTIA to seek state advice on how funds should be spent in each of the respective states. The statute does not bind NTIA to follow those suggestions.
• in time for disbursement of a third of the funds by this summer
• defining what an "underserved" area is will be highly contentious.
• But NTIA also is directed to favor projects that provide educational or employment opportunities using broadband access/deployment/infrastructure;
• Projects must show that they would not be undertaken but for the grant. But such projects also should show how they increase affordability of or subscriber-ship to, broadband to the greatest populations.
• Projects that offer high broadband speeds also will be favored, as well as projects that enhance healthcare, or serve education or children.

Great work by Gary.

Ways to Reward Employees

25 Ways to Reward Employees (Without Spending a Dime) By Dan Tynan

"A January 2007 survey by staffing firm Accountemps found that “frequent recognition of accomplishments” was the top non-monetary compensation named by full- and part-time office workers, with “regular communication” coming in at No. 2. Both activities can make your staff more productive without shaving one millimeter off your bottom line."

Why Aren't You Selling Hosted Email?

Zimbra announced that it hit 40M paid users. HP is pushing USA.NET hosted email to its VARs. So why aren't you offering Hosted Email and Apps to your client base?

DRBC

This was an ad in HARO last week about Disaster Recovery solutions.

Do you have a disaster recovery and business continuity plan? Dollars to donuts says you don't. Too expensive, right? Until now. Enter Agility Recovery. Agility has revolutionized the disaster recovery industry by creating a turnkey, affordable recovery solution called ReadySuite. ReadySuite is ideal for the small and medium-sized business market. Here's how it works. Within 48 hours of a disaster, Agility will deliver anything you need to recover your business, from mobile office units and power generators to computers, servers and satellites for phone and Internet. Total cost? $275/mo. In short, Agility believes every business - regardless of size - should have access to disaster recovery and business continuity services that are simple, affordable and easy to use. Our mission is to keep you connected to your customers, vendors, employees and community - no matter what. Learn more about Agility's ReadySuite solution here: www.agilityrecovery.com or call 866.503.3637. Tell them you heard about Agility on HARO and get their ReadySuite 48-seat solution for just $250. (Must sign up before April 1, 2009.)

Peter Shankman writes a good ad. Two things to take away: One is that so many people are selling BCDR solutions (why aren't you?) and Two: this is good ad copy to borrow!

NTIA-RUS-FCC Meeting Summary

A summary from Steve from the March 10, NTIA/RUS/FCC meeting.

1. NTIA and RUS will both be announcing Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) in three groups. Approximate dates are April-June 2009, Oct-Dec 2009, April-June 2010.
2. The amount available for grants and loans will be approximately the same in each of the three tranches.
3. Public comment will be taken by the FCC through March 25 on what the national broadband strategy should be. Refer to GN0929 when making comment.
4. The public meetings on March 16, 17, 19, 23, 24 will be streamed on the internet.
5. One can apply for both NTIA and RUS grant simultaneously. One will not be able to bill for the same piece of equipment twice but joint NTIA/RUS funding projects will be permitted.
6. Aggregated applications with multiple people working together will be encouraged.
7. Comments on how the FCC should make broadband maps useful are welcome.
8. The definition of unserved and underserved has not been created yet.
9. Try to leverage the other broadband based programs in the recovery act. There is smart grid, there is Department of Transportation money going out, if you come forward with a proposal and you don't have to dig the trench twice, that shows efficiency and effectiveness, and so we want to you to think about how to utilize all aspects, the health, IT, there are a number of different programs within the recovery act, and so in your local communities and your states, when you're designing these programs looking for ways to leverage those different aspects will be very helpful.
10. Satellite to deliver internet in unserved areas will be an attractive application.
11. Grant loan combos will be an option. A loan from RUS and a grant from NTIA is possible. Proposals that help make the money go further will be attractive.
12. No preference as to technology however, faster is better.
13. Propagation studies might give an advantage to an applicant.
14. NTIA/RUS is looking for comment on whether creating backhaul to remote areas should be part of what is funded.

The NTIA asks input on 15 questions. You can see those questions at the NTIA website or specifically here for PDF.

Feds offer tips on how to get broadband stimulus

Red Flags

By May 1, any company that provides service in advance of payment (a “creditor”) must implement a written customer protection program to identify and detect identity theft. This program must be designed to detect a “Red Flag,” which is a pattern, practice or specific activity that indicates the possible existence of identity theft.

The FTC has identified five categories of Red Flags and provided a list of examples of the types of Red Flags that fall under each category. If you are providing interconnected voice or VoIP services, the Red Flag compliance program can be combined with your CPNI program required by the FCC's rules. The customer protection program must include policies and procedures for:

• (a) detecting warning signs or “Red Flags” of identify theft;
• (b) responding to any such Red Flags in a manner that will prevent or mitigate the identify theft; and
• (c) updating the Program.

The customer protection program must be managed by the Board of Directors or senior employees of the company if there is no Board. Also, the customer protection program must provide for staff training and oversight of your company’s service providers.

As a service to WISPA members, Rini Coran can provide you with Red Flag Guidelines for a flat fee. If you are interested, please contact Steve Coran at 202.463.4310 or scoran (at) rinicoran.com.

More info about the flags can be found here. Commentary about the flags are here from NetworkWorld.

FCC 499A Due April 1

April 1 -- Providers of Interconnected Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service must file the annual FCC Form 499A by April 1.

FCC rules require many telecommunications carriers and interconnected VoIP providers to contribute to the costs of universal service, local number portability, numbering administration and the Telecommunications Relay Services Fund, and contributions are assessed based in part on information about interstate revenues provided by the carrier or provider on FCC Form 499A (annually) and FCC Form 499Q (quarterly).

The requirement to file Form 499A applies even if the VoIP provider does not need to contribute to the universal service fund.

For interconnected VoIP providers, if the company's contribution for a given year would be less than $10,000, the company does not need to file FCC Form 499Q quarterly, but the Form 499A requirements still apply.

The FCC defines "interconnected VoIP" as a service that:

1. Enables real-time, two-way voice communications;
2. Requires a broadband connection from the user’s location;
3. Requires Internet protocol-compatible customer premises equipment (CPE); and
4. Permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network."

As a service to WISPA members, Rini Coran can assist your company in filing Form 499A for a flat fee. If you are interested, please contact Steve Coran at 202.463.4310 or scoran at rinicoran.com. Thank you.

Sonic.Net Saving Big

As the Press Democrat explains,

Data center cooling designers at Napa-based heating and air-conditioning contractor Bell Products have achieved greater energy efficiency than anticipated in a pilot system for Internet service provider Sonic.net in Santa Rosa and plan to take the innovation to other data center operators. ...Bell’s Core4 division achieved 58 percent to 68 percent efficiency while keeping Sonic’s server room at an optimum computing climate of 68 degrees Fahrenheit and 45 percent relative humidity.

As Dane Jasper of Sonic.Net blogs, "Our 2008 total utility costs are projected to come in very near 2006 levels, despite huge growth of equipment in the datacenter."

As anyone in the data center space knows, it isn't about available floor space, it's all about the power costs -- both the power to run all the hardware that generates a lot of heat and the energy required to keep the data center cool. It used to be about the space when every box was at least 12U. Now its the power cost. Just ask Atlantic.Net who saw Progress Energy raise rates late last year over 30%! I'm sure that this will be a topic for discussion this year.

MSP Alliance has Benefits

The MSPAlliance has Liability Insurance, PEO and Health Benefits for its members. It's also free to join.

They have "the first professional liability insurance product specifically designed for MSPs, offering comprehensive errors and omissions coverage for claims made due to alleged negligence in the performance of services; Underwritten by Lloyd's, London."

Contract Re-Casting

Starting in April, any accounts that fall out of contract will no longer receive a commission from Embarq. So agents will need to stay on top of contract re-casting. It reminded me that I need to do a better job of it --- and also to remind you guys to stay on top of contract terms.

Are you using CRM? You should be using CRM any way to track your sales activity as well as when contracts renew. And Zoho has up to 3 users free, plus Zoho Business is free too. Let me know if you are giving it a shot.