The value added to any VoIP offering by adding applications is clear. Many VoIP providers are opting to outsource this application development by purchasing ready to use applications packages that are developed specifically to integrate with their switches. Along with eliminating research and development costs, this generally results in a better product by allowing the service provider to focus on providing service and allowing the applications provider to focus on developing the most robust, integrated applications possible. It's a win/win.

The key component that many service providers are missing in this equation is that the most successful applications are those that are directly integrated at the switch level. Sure, there are multitudes of inexpensive, plug-and-play applications out there that can be added onto a service provider's platform, but if the application is not developed specifically to integrate with the switch, there will be issues. Some issues that can arise are dropped calls and entire system outages due to call flow paths, incomplete switch communication with the application resulting in incomplete data, and security issues due to lowered integration integrity. These are just a few of the issues that service providers experience when they try to take the easy way out and add an application that has not been sufficiently integrated at the switch level.

By layering applications that are integrated with the switch, the service provider is able to provide the applications that their customers need to run their business while also maintaining the security and service integrity that they are so well known for. Applications offerings is quickly becoming the real differentiator in the VoIP service provider market. Since the VoIP architecture provides such a unique and optimal environment for developing applications, these applications are far superior then those provided in the traditional telephony space and therefore make VoIP service far more enticing to the enterprise customer. And this is where the service provider has the chance to provide the top of the line applications to their customers. The quality of applications available in the VoIP market is just so feature-rich and robust that it really does behoove the service provider to provide the best solutions possible.

The long term benefits of integrating feature-rich applications into your VoIP product portfolio are immeasurable. Enterprise customers are hesitant to change systems once they have integrated a system into their work processes, so once the service provider has integrated their applications into the operations of their business customers, they can all but guarantee those customers as long term customers. Once a service provider integrates into a customer's business practices, it can depend on that revenue for years and maybe even decades to come.

By adding robust and feature-rich applications to a VoIP product portfolio, a service provider can instill long term customer loyalty. Since VoIP is such a perfect architecture for creating the best and most robust applications, these applications can be such a differentiator for getting customers to switch to VoIP. Then, once they have switched to the new VoIP service, they are able to integrate these much improved VoIP applications into their operations. These applications become such an integral part of the customer's every day business practices that they are unwilling or unable to move…thus, instilling customer loyalty.