Thursday, May 3, 2012

Is Mobile VoIP More Reliable than Mobile Service Provider Voice?

Most observers would agree that dropped calls are a driver of customer churn. The perhaps-unknown question is whether mobile VoIP offered by over-the-top providers is more reliable than carrier-provided voice. 


Ask yourself whether you ever have seen a study comparing mobile VoIP dropped call rates to mobile carrier voice dropped call rates. It's difficult to impossible. 


Some 39 percent of  mobile users surveyed on behalf of Rebtel experienced more than five dropped calls per month. Perhaps the implication is that over-the-top mobile VoIP can be as reliable, if not more reliable, than carrier-supplied voice. But it is hard to test the assertion. 


Do you believe that mobile over-the-top VoIP will lead to fewer dropped calls than a mobile service provider's own voice service? 


The general rule of thumb is that over-the-top VoIP, in general, is less reliable than landline voice, but good enough to match mobile call quality and reliability. One might argue that service provider or enterprise IP telephony are as reliable as landline voice, though even that claim is hard to test. 


The study also showed that having a clear call connection is very important to 89 percent of respondents, with 84 percent of those claiming they are at least somewhat likely to switch smart phones as a result of poor quality. 


About 78 percent said they would be likely to switch carriers due to poor network performance, according to Rebtel.  


Dropped calls raise the likelihood of customer churn. What is difficult to determine is whether mobile VoIP, over the top, actually provides reliability that is better than what most consumers experience with mobile voice. Try to find any studies on that particular subject. It is virtually impossible. 


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing this info. When my contract runs up I will probably sign up for service at the Bell - Niagara Square store because I know that the service they offer is far better than the service I'm currently getting, I currently drop call all the time.

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