Small telephone solutions (or when small really means big)

It is some while since we reviewed the market for telephone solutions with 1-10 extensions.  In an earlier blog "Selling into the SMB market"  we focused on the small business market and suggested that end user market is not homogenous and could be thought of as splitting into three niches;

• basic
• value
• professional

What we said then still holds true.  Here we take another look at the market and give you an update on our experiences but now look at small telephone solutions used by big and small business.  

Small solutions:  In the 1-10 extension niche ICON distributes the TalkSwitch small business telephone solution and the Wave IP solution. 

TalkSwitch is a product for the value market niche.  Enquiries for TalkSwitch come in almost equal measure from dealers looking for a low cost solution and from end users themselves.  Many of the end users are looking for a self service solution with no dealer/reseller involvement and want an out of the box plug and play fully featured IP-PBX solutions for a start up / small business

We are of the impression that in this market there is more willingness to use VoIP – it seems that the small business with less legacy or no legacy solutions are prepared to invest in more cutting edge technology quicker than mid range sized business.

Small solutions for big business:  Nowadays, a “large” business can need only a few employees to manage it and it is important to bear in mind that few extensions does not necessarily mean a small or unsophisticated business model.  Advanced solutions such as the Wave IP offer very sophisticated out of the box UC and telephony services in the sub 10 extension market space. 

This solution is typically required by a business which, because of financial structure and/or the complexity and sophistication of its business model, requires a sophisticated UC and telephone solution. 

Examples of such businesses are healthcare surgeries and companies in the financial sector.  These businesses typically need a solution with call centre capability, remote (home) working, call recording and UC productivity features.  

A increasing key requirement of many of these small company’s with large sophisticated business models is remote working and on-site mobility and many are integrating the all in out of the box solutions such as Wave with the small business VoIP mobility solutions from Polycom – typically the KWS300 DECT solution.

Value for the Channel Partner:  With a customer base which is cost conscious and a product line such as the TalkSwitch (which is as close to out of the box as you can possible get) the value for the dealer is in providing the supporting services.

Products in this market such as TalkSwitch and more so the Wave IP are ideal value solutions for the telecoms reseller channel.  IT and data  resellers who are managing a company’s IT and LAN can quickly get up to speed with the skills required to install and set up the TalkSwitch or Wave solution and because they are already maintaining the IT the sale is 100% marginal profit.