How to part with the traditional telephony operator and not lose calls

I know dozens of large and not-so-great companies, which, having once connected a city phone number, did not dare to change the communication provider. And this is despite his shoals of varying degrees of severity.



For example, one company had to connect a number in a neighboring region with another operator: confusion with the settings can be easily squared, plus double bills. Another company purchased equipment for a six-figure amount, but all in vain: the operator was unable to provide the required channel of the line.

Restrictions on operator transitions

Or another case. The barber I went to for 10 years was in the building where Magnit decided to enter. And during the repair, the workers slightly damaged the telephone cable with the root, leaving about 20 companies without connection, including the hairdresser. Her room was old, from MGTS, it was repaired for more than two weeks, and during this time the salon was empty - I got there just in the middle of the third week.

For safety net, they began to indicate on their business cards a mobile number in addition to the main one. But the mobile does not cause trust among customers. By the way, I go to the same master, but he works in another salon: the old one has never recovered.

Why are companies afraid to change the provider? Of course, they are not afraid of this, although here too there remains a chance to get soap instead of shila. In fact, there is only one fear: the current number is recorded with customers or printed in a magazine, on business cards and a sign. If he stops responding, then some customers will go to competitors.

It would seem that complicated, say users of mobile numbers, who replaced the carrier. Yes, indeed, there is the Mobile Number Portability service. Its essence is that before the direction of the call, it first becomes clear to which operator the number belongs. The right of the subscriber to bind the mobile number to itself is enshrined in law, and the operators execute it.

In other words, you can change the mobile operator, leaving the same phone number. When using fixed communications, there is a similar service: Local Number Portability.

However, in Russia, operators are not obliged to transfer city numbers to each other. Well, since we are not obliged, then why should they suffer losses, giving the capacity and customers to someone else. Although you can always write a request to transfer the number to another operator: what if he agrees?

SIP: leave can not stay

And now, fearing to lose existing customers, the company continues to rely on the services of an operator. Or begins to look for the strange. And finds.

The most common option is to land calls on a SIP line. At first glance, there is nothing bad in it and there are a lot of operators on the market with such an approach. But he does not guarantee the quality of the connection.

First, every vendor, when it implements SIP support, has in mind something of its own. And, using SIP-compatible hardware or software from different manufacturers, it is very easy to get an idle system due to different implementations of the same protocol. That is why most operators have lists of recommended programs and equipment with which everything has been tested.

Secondly, the call sent via SIP enters the public network and can be routed along the most fantastic paths. The call goes through dozens of networks and inter-carrier connections. And even when the connection is established, the transmission of a signal from one subscriber to another goes in different ways.

And in the photo - stand at one of the telecom operators. And where is our call got lost?

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With every junction and redirection, the stability of the connection drops uncontrollably. This leads to a deterioration in the quality of voice transmission and interference - clicks, cracks, croaking, passes, delays. In principle, if this were all limited, the scheme could be called quite viable.

But - and operators cannot control this - 100 calls will pass along the optimal route and subscribers will not experience any problems. And at the same time, the 101st will get lost in the intricacies of networks, and no one will ever know about this unless they control the logs on the side of all the points involved in the call service. Now let's imagine (remembering Murphy's law) that this particular challenge was from a client who would have made, well, let the company's monthly profit.

For example, according to the experience of one of the call-tracking services based on the carrier (i.e., with its own switch and direct connections with the main operators), the number of calls increases from 10 to 15% when SIP is excluded from the processing chain. That is, approximately 10-15% of revenue disappears in the depths of IP networks.

Gradual transition

The second option to solve the problem "customers are accustomed to this number" - a gradual transition. The old operator sets up an unconditional forwarding to the number connected to the new one.

And here, at the new one, the “correct” call reception with the necessary distribution method is organized, with a mandatory prompt for the operator that the call has come to the old number and it is necessary to warn the client about its replacement.

In this case, it is not forbidden to call from the new operator to lead through its IP-network to its terminals. To avoid losses, you can register backup mobile numbers of employees and set up a scenario in which call forwarding will go to them if there are problems with a SIP connection.

This allows you to shorten the path call on the Internet. Compare: IP connection between operators + last mile VS only last mile over IP. There is no transit IP connection between the old and new operators, which means that the call to the new one gets through the channels with guaranteed quality of work.

After some time, when the flow of calls to the old number becomes so small that the cost of its operation exceeds the possible benefits, it can be turned off.

This option allows you not to burn bridges: if the new operator does not meet expectations, the company will quietly roll back to the old and continue the search for the ideal.