Recently I was messaged by a sell side analyst who wanted to know if I cared to speculate who was behind the Belkin CallEverywhere VoIP product. I chose to do some Googling.
First TelecomWeb reported this
which led me to this
No speculating here. Just follow the dots….and you find the answers.
Now, what I heard from a few VOIP carriers may reveal why Belkin had to go this route. Seems they shopped their version of a TA to a couple of carriers, but got no takers. As a result they had to create a market for themselves. Seems the TA wasn’t up to the carriers snuff and may not have made it through the rigorous process for approvals the TA’s need for some of the carriers to say “we’ll license it.”
In the end this may be a better move for Belkin. Why? It lets them develop a service for their customers and reward them. Imagine. Buy this many Belkin products and get so many months of “free” service.
Sometimes out of failure comes success. Look at the Post It note. Maybe for Belkin, failing the carriers test may make them a better brand in VoIP after all. They sure know what they need to do, and they have distribution and marketing. They also get some pretty good press and positioning at retail on the shelves.