What makes a top Asia-Pacific telecom carrier for Contact Centre providers?

The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has emerged as a vibrant hotspot for Contact Center (CCaaS) software and Communication Platforms (CPaaS).  

As CCaaS and CPaaS vendors expand into this market, they often find that global aggregators and wholesale suppliers cannot scale with them.  

Instead, many service providers are turning to top Asia-Pacific telecom carriers – like Symbio – to power their voice and messaging within the region.

Here’s 5 reasons why communication service providers choose Symbio:

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1. Multi-regional coverage

Network coverage is the cornerstone of expanding voice and messaging into a new region.  

While many communication suppliers promise ‘global’ coverage, often the reality is different.  

Service providers may discover that their global aggregator is US or Euro-centric, with just one or two Points of Presence (PoP) to cover all of Asia and Oceania.  

For example, we recently heard of a wholesale supplier that routed all Australian traffic to and from Hong Kong (where their PoP was located). Unsurprisingly, their customers experienced high latency and reduced call quality because of the long round-trip each call had to make.  

Moreover, without a local, in-country presence your supplier may not have access to local numbers and number porting capability. Without a full suite of numbers, you’re limited in which products you can sell, falling short of  true PSTN replacement.  

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In-country infrastructure

The solution is to choose an Asia-Pacific telecom carrier, one with in-country infrastructure that is managed and maintained by in-country technicians. Few global telecom aggregators can offer this level of service, especially in the APAC region.

Local carriers, like Symbio, can often deliver superior call quality, reduced latency, and greater messaging reliability, which are critical for maintaining customer experience.  

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Responsive support

Working with a local Asia-Pacific telecom can also improve the responsiveness of customer support and number porting. Technical roadblocks or process issues can be addressed swifty and managed within a local time-zone.  

Symbio is unique among APAC telecom carriers in that our network extends across four major markets: Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia, plus 220+ global interconnects for worldwide routing. Multi-regional coverage with the convenience of a single supplier.

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2. Single supplier for voice and messaging

Local phone numbers are another aspect that CCaaS providers need to get right if they want to win market share in the APAC region.  

Service providers cannot simply re-use their US or European number inventory in Asia-Pacific. Local customers want to see (and call) local-area numbers.  

Your supplier should offer a wide range of local geographic and toll-free numbers. Ideally, they will also offer Virtual Mobile Numbers.

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Virtual Mobile Numbers

Virtual Mobile Numbers  confer the ability to call and text from the same local mobile number, both inbound and outbound.  

Traditional geographic and toll-free numbers cannot handle text messaging. But SMS is a growing part of how customers expect to interact with brands.  

Virtual Mobile Numbers exist in the cloud, without any requirement for a SIM card, making them easier to use within Contact Center and Customer Experience (CX) platforms. Moreover, these numbers support two-way communication, and preserve messaging history, which is ideal for customer service conversations.  

The benefit of Virtual Mobile Numbers is that CCaaS and CPaaS providers can have a single supplier for both voice and messaging. This not only reduces costs, but it alleviates the headache of managing multiple carriers and interconnects.

Symbio offers Virtual Mobile Numbers, as well as a wide range of Geographic and Toll-Free numbers in major Asia-Pacific regions.

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3. Network quality & scalability

Service outages can have significant repercussions for CCaaS and CPaaS providers.  

To mitigate the risk of outage, Contact Center providers should seek out an Asia-Pacific telecom carrier that can deliver ‘elastic’ scalability and the ability to failover to alternative carriers in the event of an outage. This means they can dynamically adjust routing and resources, without compromising service quality.  

When delivering international voice and message services, outages are often due to factors outside of your control. It can be as simple as a sudden surge in inbound calls following a local weather event or seasonal holiday. This is why it is critical that your wholesale telecom supplier has the network scalability and flexibility to manage the unexpected.  

Not all voice and messaging providers are prepared. Just as some ‘global’ providers are really US or Euro-centric, some aggregators purposely under-provision SIP trunks and local carrier interconnects in what they consider to be ‘secondary’ regions like Southeast Asia or Oceania. This may save money in the short term – but will cost you in the long term.

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Engineered for the unexpected

Network quality and scalability is what sets apart the top Asia-Pacific telecom carriers. The Symbio network is outstanding in this regard.  

Our network is geo-redundant and engineered for high capacity. In 2024 we terminated over 6 billion domestic voice calls and hosted more than 5.5 million phone numbers on behalf of our customers.  

For over 20 years, our carrier network has been the backbone for major CPaaS and Contact Center providers in the Asia-Pacific region.

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4. Compliance expertise

Managing compliance at global scale is a constant challenge. International CCaaS and CPaaS providers often struggle to navigate telecom regulations outside of their home market. For US and European providers especially, Asia-Pacific can seem like another universe.

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Navigating APAC regulations

For one thing, the APAC region is very diverse. In Southeast Asia, Pacific and Oceania, local laws and carrier practices can vary from what you might expect in the US or Europe. For example, geographic Number Portability may not be available; and there may be different rules for how VoIP and PSTN numbers can be used.  

Plus, industry codes and regulations are constantly evolving – such as new requirements for an SMS Sender ID register being considered in Australia.

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Don’t risk your reputation

Regulation means ‘risk’ for CCaaS and CPaaS providers. Even inadvertent violations can result in hefty fines or reputational damage.

Working with local carriers facilitates compliance with regional regulations such as maintaining Emergency Call database information, or timely reporting of scam calls. Local carriers can also help to streamline your entry into a region, familiarising you with local carrier processes.

Local carrier presence may also be necessary to meet Data Sovereignty requirements. Symbio, for example, maintains physical network infrastructure and Data Center presence in all domestic coverage regions.  

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5. International routing & termination

The final piece in the puzzle for CCaaS and CPaaS providers is international call termination and SMS routing. Cross-border communication is essential for modern enterprise.  

For example, a stranded corporate traveller calling their home airline; a global logistics manager checking a delayed delivery; or an offshore support team dialling-in to a weekly meeting.

The challenge for many providers is that local numbers and international routing don’t always mix. In fact, this combination can be a red flag to many domestic carriers.

Telecom carriers often use pattern recognition to identify and restrict scam traffic. But the technology is not perfect – and can tangle up legitimate traffic too.  If calls and messages are restricted, your end customers suddenly can’t communicate freely. This not only disrupts their business, but also damages your reputation.

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Enterprise traffic routing

To mitigate this risk to your traffic, you need to engage with the local mobile and fixed networks that are (mistakenly) throttling your calls and SMS - and educate them about your use case. In Asia-Pacific, Symbio can help you engage with the right carriers and ensure the free flow of your international enterprise traffic.

Symbio works closely with CCaaS and CPaaS providers to ensure that international calls and messages can be reliably terminated. We collaborate with other local carriers to validate your use case, understand your traffic profile, and make sure it does not get misclassified as scam.

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Next steps: Finding a top Asia-Pacific telecom carrier

The contact center market is booming in Southeast Asia. The broader Asia-Pacific region is a hotspot for growth, and many global service providers are keen to enter this region.

But scaling into Asia-Pacific requires more than ‘global’ coverage. Often a local Tier 1 carrier is a better choice. Look for a carrier that can supply both voice and SMS (ideally Virtual Mobile Numbers), with a modern, scalable network built on in-country infrastructure. Compliance expertise matters, as does international reach and reputation.

Your choice of wholesale voice and SMS carrier will have an outsized impact on the nature and quality of the services you can deliver in APAC. Choose wisely.

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