Fonality (News - Alert) recently announced the availability of an online calculator for determining if a business has adequate bandwidth to move to a cloud-based phone system. Users follow a short step-by-step process to determine if they can use their current service or need to upgrade.  

After clicking a button on the calculator webpage to begin the process, users are provided a link to Speedtest.net (News - Alert) to determine their download and upload speeds. After performing the test, the user enters the information into the Fonality bandwidth calculator. Of course, users must provide their contact information before getting the results.

The mathematics behind Fonality’s calculator is not likely to be part of MIT’s (News - Alert) curriculum. All it does is compare both the upload and download speeds to 0.9 Mbps, the minimum download speed recommended by Fonality. Any prospect with speeds below this minimum is advised to get faster service before considering going with Fonality’s cloud-based phone service.

The National Bandwidth (News - Alert) Map (NBM) suggests that finding the bandwidth needed for Fonality’s service should not be a problem in the U.S. Developed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a U.S. Department of Commerce agency, the NBM is the result of data collected by State Broadband Data and Development (SBDD) grant recipients.

As of June 30, 2014, the availability of at least 3 Mbps download speeds for wired and wireless connections is well over 90 percent. For upload speeds of at least 1.5 Mbps, the availability is also well over 90 percent for both wired and wireless connections. These levels are well above the minimum 0.9 Mbps threshold recommended by Fonality. With most prospects, it would appear safe to assume that they have the needed bandwidth without using the calculator.

Obviously Fonality’s bandwidth calculator is a lead-generating tool also likely designed as a pre-emptive measure against ‘not enough bandwidth’ objections by prospects. Assuming that the NBM data is accurate, there are few areas in the U.S. where adequate bandwidth is not available. This also makes the calculator a great tool for qualifying customers. If a prospect’s service is below Fonality’s recommended levels and they are not willing to upgrade their Internet service to a faster level, then Fonality knows right away that such a customer is not a solid prospect and that selling the usual benefits of cloud phone service would be a waste of time.