Press Room: 2007
VoIP and Packet Cable Service Quality Increasingly Competitive, Says New Study
from Keynote Systems
SAN MATEO, CALIF., — September 18, 2007 — Keynote Competitive Research, the industry analysis group of Keynote Systems (Nasdaq: KEYN), today announced the top-line results of its newest study of voice quality including VoIP, packet cable and traditional phone service (PSTN). The new study reveals that while packet cable digital voice and Voice over IP offerings still lag in quality, they are proving to be highly competitive with traditional PSTN service providers. This finding is of great significance to VoIP providers who are under increasing market pressure to understand and prevent high rates of customer attrition and churn in a rapidly changing market. To find out more information about purchasing the complete Keynote voice competitive research study including detailed rankings, please visit: www.keynote.com/keynote_competitive_research/industry_studies/voice.html
“As VoIP catches up to traditional phone service and reaches new business sectors, it is important that studies like Keynote’s are available to potential and existing VoIP customers so they can make informed choices regarding service providers. It also encourages healthy competition among the providers, catalyzing competition that ultimately benefits the industry overall,” said Jessy Cavazos, industry manager of Frost & Sullivan’s Test & Measurement practice.
The benchmark study examines voice services from leading providers including AT&T CallVantage (NYSE: T), AT&T PSTN (NYSE: T), Comcast Digital Voice (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Primus Lingo (OTCBB: PRTL), Packet 8 (Nasdaq EGHT), Sun Rocket (Closed 8/07), Digital Phone from TimeWarner Cable (NYSE: TWX), EarthLink trueVoice (Nasdaq: ELNK), Verizon VoiceWing (NYSE: VZ), Verizon PSTN (NYZE: VZ), Vonage (NYSE: VG) and Vonics Digital. The data for the study was collected over a one month period, from June 1 through June 30, 2007.
In order to benchmark and rank the quality of consumer voice services, Keynote measured the relative performance of the leading voice providers in the New York and San Francisco markets, including digital cable voice services, adapter-based Voice over IP services, and PSTN service in those cities. Keynote then rated the leading voice service providers on critical performance factors that influence the end-user experience using Keynote’s commercially available Voice Perspective®, an on-demand voice quality test and measurement service.
Study Focuses on End-User Experience
The fourth Keynote voice service providers’ competitive research study rates the relative performance of PSTN, PacketCable, and VoIP hard phones in the New York and San Francisco metropolitan areas. It compares VoIP service providers based on reliability and audio clarity over consumer cable modem and DSL network connections and then evaluates network carrier performance on end user perceived call quality. The study evaluates the range of performance between the best voice service providers and the worst. The study also examines variations between prime-time performance and non-prime-time performance of the voice providers and pinpoints the strengths and weaknesses of each service provider and the voice service technology.
“As VoIP continues to make inroads into business and residential users, customers expect no less than a “toll quality” voice call. In order to achieve that, service providers will have to continuously monitor the quality of the calls and examine and isolate bottlenecks before they affect customers,” said Rajeev Kutty, VoIP product manager at Keynote.
How the Study Was Conducted
The Keynote Voice Competitive Research Study was conducted using Keynote’s commercially-available Voice Perspective service to evaluate critical performance factors that affect the consumer’s experience with telephone service.
Keynote placed local and long distance VoIP calls to destination phone numbers on standard (PSTN) phone service. Calls were placed from San Francisco and New York once every 30 minutes for each voice provider and network carrier combination. A total of 125,000 calls were placed over a month-long period. Test calls were compared to traditional phone “toll quality” standards to determine what residential customers can expect when switching from traditional phone lines to VoIP.
To reflect the very latest trends in VoIP technology, the new study implements updated voice quality test and measurement methodologies and protocols. This captures more comprehensive and granular data and strengthens Keynote’s ability to assess overall VoIP quality. The result is an accurate representation of the current state of VoIP service quality as perceived by the average consumer of a VoIP service provider.
The full study, which is available for purchase from Keynote, includes detailed results, custom analysis of the data and all raw measurement data. For information, please visit: www.keynote.com/keynote_competitive_research/industry_studies/voice.html
About Keynote Voice Perspective
Voice service providers can leverage the competitive insight provided through Keynote’s Voice Perspective for Service Providers for on-going real time monitoring of voice quality from representative locations to improve their call performance in target markets. Combining Keynote’s voice monitoring services and competitive insights with internal network monitoring tools will allow providers to adopt an outbound focus and assure a quality experience for the end user. Keynote can design an ongoing voice quality measurement and monitoring implementation for multiple markets including multiple competitors. Service providers can leverage Keynote’s independent assessment to align their resources and infrastructure investments with customer acquisition and retention goals.
In addition, Keynote can provide custom analysis to help align operations teams with customer experience enhancement goals. To learn more about Voice Perspective for Service Providers view: www.keynote.com/products/voip_and_streaming/voip_quality/voice_perspective_sp.html
Availability and Pricing
Keynote’s Voice Perspective for Service Providers is available immediately. Pricing is customized based on the number of cities, providers and network carriers to be included in the ongoing measurements.
About Keynote
Keynote Systems (Nasdaq “KEYN”) is the global leader in on-demand test & measurement solutions for continuously improving the online experience. As an independent and trusted third-party, Keynote provides IT and marketing executives with an unbiased view into their Internet services from around the world. For over a decade, Keynote has been providing measurement data and testing capabilities that allow companies to understand and improve their customer’s online and mobile experience. Keynote has four test and measurement businesses: Web performance, mobile quality, streaming & VoIP, and customer experience/UX. In addition, Keynote’s industry analysis group called Keynote Competitive Research publishes proprietary studies measuring customer experience and service levels across a wide range of industries.
Known as The Mobile and Internet Performance Authority™, Keynote has a market-leading infrastructure of 2,400 measurement computers and mobile devices in over 240 locations around the world. Keynote also maintains one of the most representative panels of online users consisting of 160,000 consumers. Keynote’s on-demand, hassle-free infrastructure allows businesses to access services they need, when they need them to pinpoint and fix mobile quality and Internet problems before they impact customers.
Keynote helps over 2,600 corporate customers become “the best of the best” by helping them improve online business performance and mobile communications quality. Keynote’s customers represent top Internet and mobile companies including American Express, BP, Caterpillar, Dell, Disney, eBay, ESPN Mobile, E*TRADE, Expedia, FedEx, Microsoft, SonyEricsson, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone.
Keynote Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Mateo, California and can be reached at www.keynote.com or by phone in the U.S. at (650) 403-2400.
Keynote, The Internet Performance Authority and Perspective are registered trademarks and The Mobile and Internet Performance Authority and True Experience are trademarks of Keynote Systems, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © 2007 Keynote Systems, Inc.
Editorial Contact:
Dan Berkowitz, Keynote Systems, (650) 403-3305, dan.berkowitz@keynote.com
