In Australia, the overall VoIP market, spanning both software and hardware, is expected to grow 70 per cent this year. A little over 50 per cent of this growth is expected to be in the SMB market. According to Senior IDC Telecommunication analyst, Susana Vidal Little, the transition of what has been traditional enterprise technology into previously ignored SMB solutions, will lead to the growth.
VoIP has already left the early-adopters stage and is entering an early-majority stage, especially for medium and large businesses. For the small and residential segment it’s still in the early stages of growth, but offerings like Engin and Freshtel will probably accelerate the adoption.
“The main equipment vendors have been focusing on the medium/large enterprise and/or their prices are too high for small businesses. I don’t think the problem is quality but right price and size. There are vendors like Zultys and Mitel, who have products that address this segment (below 50 users),” says Vidal Little.
Traditionally, systems integrator Dimension Data has focused on selling to the enterprise level government and corporate organisations. However, it recently set up a commercial sales and service delivery team with the objective to deliver on its plans to build and support solutions and services to a broader client base.
Gerard Florian, chief technology officer at Dimensions Data says: “In terms of business IP telephony, it’s not just the technology and products that are critical – integration and support of the environment is also key to successful operation. Dimension Data developed its Managed IP Telephony Service to cater for the different needs of this broader client group, bringing guaranteed service levels and quality, at a foreseeable and fixed cost to organisations. We are also working closely with Cisco in tailoring and marketing our solutions to this broader market.”
SMB Advantage
The VoIP market can be broken down into several segments; first into services and equipment, equipment then being broken into enterprise and carrier equipment. There is another split between residential and business markets, each of which has vastly different needs.
Large enterprises, when electing to deploy internet telephony, need to examine all aspects of the market; they will have to look at equipment, outsourcing the management of the system or retaining it in-house with the need to examine the stresses such technology will place on their network. However small to medium businesses have an advantage – easier installation and management of SMB VoIP products allows them to use cutting-edge technology once only available to large companies.
According to Michael Boland, Cisco Systems Distinguished Engineer, VoIP call agents are leading the displacement of legacy TDM-based PABX and private voice trunking in enterprise customers, while SMB customers will have the choice between direct capital purchase VoIP systems or managed/hosted VoIP systems from a VoIP service provider. “Integrated VoIP solutions, at new price points, are now allowing these same enterprise features to be offered for SMB customers,” he says. “They are seeking reduced operations costs, increased services (via the integration of Voice with Data systems, e.g. Outlook integrated with their VoIP PABXs for conference calls and messaging) and business productivity that VoIP systems can offer over traditional systems.”
Colin MacDougall, national sales manager for Mitel Networks, South Pacific agrees: “Many SMBs both globally and here in Australia are making the move towards IP telephony because making that transition for a smaller organisation can be less disruptive than it is for bigger organisations. In many cases the old infrastructure can be replaced quickly allowing the organisation to benefit from the new technologies and applications very quickly. With many smaller Mitel systems, we also sell Teleworker applications, effectively extending the office via broadband to either home or laptop in a hotel room,” he says.
Mitel comes from a traditional voice background, but 75 per cent of its new system sales are IP-based. Traditional sales are forecast to fall over the next two years. “IP telephony will give SMB owners a platform and solution set that will allow them to differentiate themselves from other organisations. SMBs certainly need to think about the solutions and
how they would be applicable to their businesses,” MacDougall warns.
The Opportunity
With all this going on in the market, small resellers need to be aware they now have the same opportunities and resources as large resellers to have highly trained engineers selling and deploying VoIP PBX’s.
SMB resellers can quickly get up to speed on the deployment of small business VoIP, but must be able to educate customers on the importance of understanding how to use these tools to enhance their business.
Tony Warhurst, director of business development Oceania for Zultys Technologies, says resellers from varied backgrounds no longer have to send away customers looking to deploy VoIP. “In the past you had large organisation retailers for an organisation like Cisco selling VoIP products, but they didn’t have the skill set to install or deploy the product. Large organisation resellers would have to send engineers to America and get them trained up to install IP PBX. But it’s all simplified now and more products have simplified interfaces that can be installed within minutes. This is where resellers can take advantage.
“At Zultys we offer a three day course, which was once only available to engineers from large organisations with money and time to spend.
We have resellers with varied backgrounds, some from a traditional PABX background, others from a software and server background and all have had customers make enquiries about VoIP,” he says.
SMB resellers need to educate their customers and help them understand the cost savings of IP PBX (VoIP) not just toll bypass. Warhurst believes resellers need to “physically show customers how they can integrate many other applications that can increase productivity onto their phone system with IP PBX. They need to also show customers how it allows flexibility in where employees can work.”
Warhurst told SmartOffice Reseller that although companies such as Cisco and Avaya have the branding advantage over lesser known names like Zultys, the company is rapidly building an installed base of reference sites. As it continues to win competitive pitches, resellers and customers are showing greater willingness to go with Zultys’ solutions based on price performance and feature set, especially in the SMB arena.
Though Zultys has attracted start-up resellers eager to make a name for themselves in the VoIP business, it is resellers with an established IT clientele and database of existing customers that are getting the most wins. Warhurst adds that these resellers can now go to their existing customers and say, ‘you know we have looked after you before and we’d like to show you a solution that we think will work well for you.’