The channel and the 2012 market for IP-PBX telephone solutions

UC sales up

The market in 2012: ICON sales team are seeing increasing demand for PBX solutions in the small to medium solutions category compared with a year ago.  It is not clear if this trend is across the board or only the niches in which ICON is active. However, in the UC and integrated applications PBX sub-category demand in 2011 was up on that in 2010 and ICON saw unprecedented growth in its sales of the Wave IP-PBX solution and a healthy demand for the small business PBX TalkSwitch.

Growth expected in 2012

We believe that growth in this category is fuelled by the market moving more and more to value for money solutions as the recession begins to bite and because Channel Partners are being forced to look for an edge when in competitive bids in what is effectively a buyers market.  There is no sign that growth in this category will slow in 2012 and ICON is anticipating good growth for its Channel Partners throughout 2012. 

Microsoft Lync:  ICON account managers report that despite the hype around the launch of Lync not many customers in this category are taking it on-board.  The view is that Lync is a good UC solution but there are other IP-PBX solutions available such as Wave-IP that also offer UC capability.  

Wave IP changes the channel

Disruptive influences: In 2011, the launch of Microsoft Lync was the big news in the product space.  In 2012 ICON believes that changes to the manufacturer’s offered warranty will be the main disruptive influence in this market changing the way the channel sells and supports the advanced IP-PBX solutions. Vertical Communications, manufacturer of the Wave IP is expected to announce in the first half of 2012 changes to its reliability and warranty that will radically change the way the channel operates its support and warranty.  We expect this will open up opportunities in the customer space as well as making it easier for a reseller to take on a new solution.  

Channel changes: A significant change brought about by the recession is a rethinking by some channel resellers in the way solutions are sold in this market.  Solution selling has regularly been touted as the way forward and there is no doubt that at enterprise level this is the case but in the small to medium sized market channel resellers have been slow to take this on-board.  ICON is now seeing more and more of its Channel Partners using solution selling in the sub 50-extension category.  We attribute this to the impact of customers looking for more business-focused solutions and the need for Channel Partners to win every deal in a recession led market.  More and more resellers are finding that to survive they need to compete in the business applications space and not on price.  This means selling an advanced IP-PBX such as Wave IP and getting much closer to the customer’s business processes.

Contact & call centre solutions are winners

Market needs: Usability and the solutions ability to deliver business efficiencies are becoming key requirements in this market and the customer’s emphasis is increasingly on the role the PBX can play in streamlining the business’s communications with customers.  In 2011, integrated contact centre solutions were a big selling point with customers but the price had to be right.  

Paul Pyatt, ICON account manager for the Midlands and London, who has supported many of our Channel Partners selling the Wave IP-PBX with the integrated contact centre says,  “The market is very price conscious when buying contact centre capability and many solutions out there don’t hit the customer’s price point.” 

He added “Another feature that figures highly in this market is call recording.  The recession is making companies streamline their business processes and call recording is seen as a key tool for managing and training the sales teams” 

Price competition:   Price does not seem to be a major issue in this market.  Customers are not spending any less on a solution but they are demanding more bang for their buck. The recession has not changed the market’s total spend. Customers are prepared to spend the same on a solution today as they where a year ago, they just want more for their money. 

Customers demand more for their investment

Product requirements: Customers are demanding more applications to be included at the same cost and because it is a buyers market, they can afford to be picky.  Channel resellers with PBX solutions with highly integrated applications such as the Wave IP have an edge in this buyers market.  In competitive scenarios, ICON is seeing channel resellers of basic telephony solutions loosing sales because they need to add applications such as call recording, auto attendant and management software to their bid price.