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Suzanne Bowen: Welcome to DIDX podcast media channel where we bring you the expertise of global IP communications leaders from around the world. I’m your host Suzanne Bowen and today we have Michael Bibelman, CEO of VoiceServe, Inc. who we met at ITEXPO in 2009.

Michael Bibelman: Hi Suzanne. Thank you very much for inviting me for this interview. It was a year ago that we met.

Suzanne Bowen: And a lot has happened since then. I can’t believe the phenomenal growth of VoiceServe and VoipSwitch. It’s no wonder. Every time I meet you guys, all of you exude confidence. That’s my sincere compliment.

Michael Bibelman: Thank you very much.

Suzanne Bowen: So I know that you have answered this quesion many times, but what is the relationship between VoipSwitch and VoiceServe?

Michael Bibelman: VoiceServe was incorporated in March 2002 as a wholesale carrier and as a PC to phone retailer. We used VoipSwitch as our backend soft switch. In 2006, VoiceServe decided to go public on the American stock market. In 2007, we signed an LOI to buy over VoipSwitch. It is now still a part of the family of VoiceServe group of companies.

Suzanne Bowen: I know that VoipSwitch has deployed over 14,000 of your systems. That is pretty impressive. But I think what will be very interesting is to find out the most difficult issues that you have had to overcome in this business?

Michael Bibelman: Earlier this year, we deployed a cluster of servers for a client in South America with over 20,000 concurrent calls. At the time, we were a bit hesitant. We put together 15 servers for him which enabled him to have 20,000 + concurrent calls. At the time we had quite a few requests for this system. Since that successful implementation, we’ve completed another four of the same size.

Suzanne Bowen: This is very encouraging to hear, commands quite a bit of respect. I did a survey of some DIDX members and those on Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook networks to find out what they would like to know about your company. With all your success, they want to know your opinion on trends you are seeing, any specific increase in inquiries for certain solutions, or from certain geographical areas?

Michael Bibelman: Each region has its own specific requirements. For instance, in the USA and Canada, the main orders are for IP PBX. In the Middle East and Asia, the majority are for mobile dialers. In Europe, we receive more inquiries for a complete solution.

Suzanne Bowen: Your answer makes sense especially when you mention mobile dialers in the Middle East and Asia, but I think also probably in Africa. Mobile is more commonplace because of infrastructure; whereas, in USA, companies are more interested in something that feels like a traditional business system but gives them flexible features and cost-savings.

Michael Bibelman: Correct, especially in Africa. Many places do not have proper PSTN phone lines, but they are ahead of the curve in cellular networks. Obviously the penetration will be much higher in those countries for mobile dialers.

Suzanne Bowen: What is the name of your mobile dialer?

Michael Bibelman: Vippie.

Suzanne Bowen: I know that many African telco-related companies listen to this podcast. Next question, VoiceServe’s VoipSwitch Android dialer application was released commercially during Gitex 2009. Would you describe the response to that?

Michael Bibelman: Interesting question and hard to answer. Tremendous amount of interest with many demos carried out … in fact, the orders have been far behind three other dialers, namely, Windows Mobile, iPhone, and the Symbian. But the popularity of the Android is increasing, where the demand for Vippie Android will increase in the near future.

Suzanne Bowen: What would you say are the main benefits for joining the Symbian Foundation as VoiceServe has?

Michael Bibelman: For one it’s credibility. Customers want to know they are buying a dialer from a reputable market leader which belong to the leading Symbian Foundation. It has enabled us to stay ahead of the market. Thus, being, we always get the latest technology from them.

Suzanne Bowen: Are the VoipSwitch solutions hosted by you and rebranded by your wholesale clients?

Michael Bibelman: No. A client will buy from us a VoipSwitch. We will then download it on their server in their premises at their call center or data center. We don’t actually host it for them. We can, and it might happen in the near future that we will be hosting, but at the present, we don’t do any hosting for clients.

Suzanne Bowen: I don’t think it will cause any problems as far as requests coming in because I hear all the time that you guys are super busy. What is the advantage to these clients of yours to connect their solution from you with DIDX?

Michael Bibelman: We see the main advantage is the one stop shopping. Before DIDX, our clients had to buy DIDs and DDIs from individual companies. USA for one, UK for another, Africa from another, and Middle East from another. DIDX is the place to buy phone numbers wholesale. The user-friendly website helps clients from around the world to know exactly what they want.

Suzanne Bowen: I appreciate that. We are always looking to improve. If you get any complaints, point them to us.

Michael Bibleman: I will do that. Don’t worry, Suzanne.

Suzanne Bowen: Wow, with an annual revenue of 107% on July 15, 2009, many want to know your secret of success.

Michael Bibelman: We are dedicated, hardworking team with complete support back office, R&D and sales channels. We have grown in each of these areas in the past 12 months, staying ahead of our competitors by adding new features to our software. These are features our clients have asked of us that we never thought of ourselves. If it will help other clients in the future, we will always implement it. Mobile dialers, IP PBX, and our goal in 2010 is IPTV.

Suzanne Bowen: You pay attention to what the industry needs. You’re not only paying attention now, but also thinking of the future and preparing for that.

Suzanne Bowen: Please share with us anything else you would like and also how the podcast listeners can get in touch with VoiceServe and VoipSwitch to do business and perhaps start their own IP communications company?

Michael Bibelman: In 2010, we hope to have on the doorstep IPTV. We’re going to have in one stop billing in our softswitch. The media part of it being IPTV. This can be found on our website at http://www.voipswitch.com.

Suzanne Bowen: This is perfect to scale and expand in exciting ways. Thank you for giving us these few moments to learn from you. Everyone enjoys talking with guys as a team. We are looking forward to hearing the comments back from the listeners.

Michael Bibelman: Thank you very much, too, Suzanne.