Why "One Talk" Now?

source: Software Advice

One obvious question about the new Verizon “One Talk” service, a unified communications offer that, among other things, forwards landline calls to mobiles, is whether Verizon can take significant share from other existing providers such as 8x8, RingCentral, Vonage or West, for example.  

One other obvious question is why the new offer, and why now. And a high level, the issue is that Verizon now is mostly a mobile services company, with a declining business customer base.

A new business phone service heavily based on the mobile network suits Verizon more than a number of other providers.

At the same time, if hosted PBX is a business Verizon really wants to be in, it has to make moves to gain market share. While Verizon is not an “also ran,” neither is it in the top ranks of the business, based on seat licenses.

To some extent, the offer also aims to provide a solution small businesses say they want. Some 29 percent of small businesses surveyed by Software Advice want a phone system that forwards calls to alternate devices.

That survey also found that small businesses tend to rely more heavily on mobile devices than on other kinds of phone system endpoints such as softphones and traditional desk phones.

The price for One Talk is typically $25 per month per user, but customers also need to buy new IP desk phones.

Of course, there are other potential savings, for any business considering a full installation or replacement of a premises phone system.

source: Software Advice

Factoring in hardware costs (the hardware itself, plus the installation), along with the wiring and the man-hours to run and terminate all those cables, plus the new phones to work with the system you’ve bought, you’re looking at costs between $500 and $800 per user, says John Macrio, Edgewater Networks VP.

For a 25-user installation, that’s between $12,500 and $20,000. With the VOIP option, the phones are all you buy, which will run you between $100 and $250 each.

If much of the cost now is the cost of buying a switch, and wiring or rewiring a location, then the attraction of a mobile-based offer is clear: no switch, no wiring.

Adding the Verizon One Talk dialer to a certified device (e.g., Samsung Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 edge at launch) with no shared endpoints on the same mobile line, costs $15 a month.

The Auto Receptionist and Hunt Group numbers are $20 each month (buyers get one feature free of each) per business account. Each additional number is $20 is month.

The Software Advice survey confirmed that small businesses rely on auto-attendant features, so the auto receptionist feature offered by Verizon is significant.

Verizon One Talk Feature	Description
6-Way Conference	Expand a voice call to include up to 6 participants without dialing in a conference bridge.
Account Codes	Codes that allow you to associate individual calls with a specific code for tracking purposes. The system administrator can later view the calls placed using each code.
Anonymous Call Rejection	Your business will not receive calls unless there is a Caller ID number from the caller.
Automated Receptionist	The Automated Receptionist will answer incoming calls to your business and allow the caller to select which department or person they wish to speak with.
Automatic Callback	Automatically redial a busy number until it is available.
Bridge Line	You can allow your number to ring on one additional desk phone.
Call Forwarding	Keep your business in touch with callers by automatically forwarding incoming calls to the best available resource. There are various options available to best fit your business needs.
Call Waiting	Alerts you and allows you to take a second call while you are on the phone with someone.
Caller ID Blocking	Prevents your number from being sent on outgoing caller ID.
Calling Line ID Delivery	Define a number from your Simple Talk group that will be sent to other callers when you call them.
Calling Plan	You can require authorization codes for dialing outside of the Simple Talk business group; that could include calls to Local/Long Distance and/or International numbers.
Custom Ringback	Use the default or upload a custom audio file that gets played when callers dial a Simple Talk business line. This would replace the standard ringing tone.
Group Forwarding	Quickly forward multiple user lines to the same destination/number; most commonly used for business continuity.
Hunt Group	Set and apply rules for passing incoming calls to the first available line in the pre-defined group of users/lines.
Messaging	Mobile devices associated with either One Talk Dialer or One Talk Mobile App can send and receive SMS messages.
Pre-Alerting Announcement	Play an audio file of your choice while the caller waits to be connected when your number is called.
Remote Call Pickup with Barge In	Allows other members of your business to remotely pick up your line while it is ringing or join your call in progress with or without a warning tone.
Remote Group Pickup	Ensures calls are answered by allowing you to remotely pick up someone else's ringing line in the group from your phone.
Schedule	Allows the company to set office hours of operation and holidays. These scheduled hours can be used for call management features at the user and group level.
Selective Call Acceptance/Rejection	Only accept specific calls based on conditions you define, or reject incoming calls based on pre-defined conditions you set.
Simultaneous Ring Service	Have more than one phone number ring when someone calls your number.
Video Calling	Telephone numbers associated with video capability can receive and send video in a 2-party call.

Looking only at the number of seat licenses sold, in 2016 the market leaders were RingCentral, 8x8 and Vonage.

source: 8x8