Unified Communications - an Interview with Paul Pyatt, regional account manager at ICON

Are customers initiating the UC conversation and how much of what your typical SME needs is dominated by mobile technology?

“There is still a huge educational exercise needed both in the market, and in the channel, before UC is sufficiently understood to be requested by the user.

Many users are still ignorant of what UC means and how it relates to a modern day telephone system.  The message that UC is affordable and can have a marked impact on bottom line has been slow to permeate through the channel to the end user.  In some cases, resellers do not fully understand UC and are not confident about talking about UC to the customer.  In other cases, resellers prefer to stick to the traditional sales model of proposing extensions and lines rather than business solutions.  

Nowadays business is mobile. Not only do the classic road warriors need access to their messages and calls but so do the site-based employees whose jobs take them away from their desks.  In such an environment, a UC solution with its focus on mobility will help a small or medium sized business work more effectively.  

However, instead of getting a UC solution often the customer ends up with a simple mobile phone twinning solution.  A good UC solution such as Vertical Communications Wave-IP provides close integration of the mobile phone with the UC solution.  This means the road warrior and mobile employee get the same functionality that their desk bound colleagues enjoy"

Why if a UC solution can offer mobile workers so many benefits is mobile phone twinning more often proposed?

Except for the keynote vendors such as Vertical Communications with its Viewpoint mobile app there are few vendors who have a workable and reliable UC app for android and IOS phones.  Put this together with some reseller’s unfamiliarity with UC business solutions it is easy to see why customers are often sold a twinning solution rather than a UC solution such as Viewpoint mobile.
 

Paul went on to say.  Mobile technology in and of itself is not a UC feature. Mobile access to the features of a UC solution is what it is all about and it is probably true to say that, if an IP-PBX solution does not provide mobile access to its features it is not a UC solution.    Solutions such as the Wave IP-PBX from Vertical Communications are a UC solution that provides mobile access to its UC capabilities for both android and iOS handsets with its Viewpoint mobile app.  

Where are the opportunities for the Channel and how can resellers differentiate in this market?

For the reseller who is willing to embrace UC fully the opportunities are numerous but,  says Paul, the reseller must adopt a different selling model to the traditional extensions and lines approach.  It’s all about solutions when you are selling UC

UC is about business processes and productivity.  A UC solution links in with the work processes of your company and enhances the way you work.  

The reseller who is prepared to spend just that little more time to understand the customers’ business and how they work is able to offer a solution customised for the company.  Setting themselves apart from the traditional resellers in this way is a brave step for many to take. But by doing so they are able to out run the competition and differentiate themselves from the traditional reseller whose offer focuses on extensions and lines.

Is there such a thing as killer UC app that is going to drive sales of UC CPE or hosted solutions?   

 No, says Paul. There are plenty of must have apps but at the moment there is no one app which is universally desirable by all businesses.

The true mobile UC applications such as Viewpoint come close but the SME market still has a long way to go before UC solutions have a 100% penetration into business and businesses understand the power UC can bring to the bottom line.  Until this happens, the universality of Viewpoint mobile type applications will not take off.   

 

With the plethora of end user apps aimed at the consumer market available does this make the UC a hard sell?

Selling a UC solution is about selling productivity at the bushiness level.  Get that right then the arguments for investing in a UC solution become self-evident and the need to “hard sell” the solution does not arise.   

Do you think that end users are better served by single vendor solutions or by a best of breed mix of third party applications?

A single UC vendor cannot be expert in all technologies needed to deploy a UC solution.  This has given rise to a number of alliances.  Microsoft have partnered with Spectralink who are providing the endpoints for messaging, data capture and the like for Lync, Vertical Communications has also partnered with Spectralink who it relies on to provide on-site mobility endpoints for its UC solution Wave IP.    

Vertical has also opened up its UC solution Wave IP to third party developers.   

In addition to its android and IOS mobile Viewpoint app for smart phone and tablets, Vertical is encouraging third parties to develop UC apps to run on the UC Wave –IP platform. 

The available apps include CRM integration solutions and, mobility, reporting and utility applications.

Wireless Solutions and how to sell them

Expanding into the wireless market and building new revenue streams

In some cases WiFi networking and public Internet access is a peripheral requirement to a main requirement for a telephone solution.  In such situations, the traditional comms reseller with little knowledge of wireless can walk away from the opportunity or work with one of the WiFi infrastructure distributors such as ICON who can ease their transition into this lucrative market.  

As a value added distributor, ICON’s raison d’etre is to provide the field technical expertise needed for vendors to sell into the channel.  ICON’s purpose is to ease the introduction of new solutions into the channel through transfer of the new technology understanding into the reseller chain by providing support, training, and backup for the solutions at all stages of the business transaction - sales, deployment and after sales. 

The Digital Economy Act

The digital economy act is a minefield of confusion.  If you provide a hotspot service, you may be required to maintain records and you may be liable for misuse. However, this can depend upon the business model you use to offer the hotspot service.  

Compliance with the act is not something that it is easy to add after the hotspot has been deployed.  To ensure that the customer is able to meet its compliance requirements channel partners, when installing the hotspot infrastructure, need to deploy a solution such as the Nomadix gateways that includes the ability to record and track logons and usage.  

The Future of Communications Platforms - a review by ICON

Hosted versus CPE

The days of the plain old CPE IP-PBX are numbered.  CPE PBX solutions that support cell phone mobility, smartphones & tablets, third party UC apps and have the capability to be deployed as a traditional CPE, in the cloud, or a distributed solution are the future.  

FortiVoice works with IP and analogue handsets

In the medium term the flexibility to work with either analogue or IP will be needed if vendors want to capture the legacy as well as the IP sites, but long term this capability is likely to become less important.  FortiNet with its FortiVoice solution offers one of the best examples of a CPE PBX that can work with IP phones, analogue phones or both. 

On the issue of cloud versus CPE, versus centralised, Mark Shane, ICON Sales Director commented,

“The demarcation between the CPE PBX, cloud, or centralised versus distributed solutions markets is very grey." 

"Let’s not forget that if a customer has multiple sites and wants a cloud based solution this does not rule out a CPE PBX sale. Vendors such as Vertical Communications with its Wave IP-PBX can deliver a CPE solution which can be deployed anywhere in the network - on-site or in the cloud”

Thje Wave IP-PBX offers built in applications and cell phone mobility

Microsoft Lync and UC

Mark Shane observed,

“Microsoft Lync is making an impact in the telephony and UC market and ICON with its vendor partner are looking at this market as one of the few growth opportunities available for the channel”

In terms of delivering UC capability Lync is one of many solutions available.  However, in its target niche it is a strong contender with an almost unassailable position.  Mark Shane, Sales Director at ICON, explains

“ICON distributes a range of UC solutions as well as MS Lync approved mobility solutions and it is the Microsoft tag, pedigree and connections that hold sway in its target niche.  This means that in those business and enterprises which are committed users of Microsoft solutions Lync is the natural solution and a contender has to be able to exceed the performance of the Microsoft brand for delivering reliably. There are very few UC solutions which have the brand credentials to do this.”

That is not to say that MS Lync will dominate the entire UC market.  Outside of its target niche where the emphasis shifts from brand credentials to features, functionality, and price, MS Lync competes on a more level playing field with other UC solutions.   Mark explained

 

“In niches which are brand agnostic and the focus is more on features, functionality and price than on brand there are other UC solutions that can stand up tall against Lync.  Solutions, such as Wave from Vertical Communications, which are continually stretching the envelop by offering novel business apps in a very advantages commercial package can often be a strong contender against Lync especially in vertical sectors needing specialist solutions.”

Mark added

Lync is unquestionably a force to be reckoned with in the market and it has to be a strong and confident brand to take it head on in its target niche.  ICON and our partner vendors who provide MS Lync approved mobility solutions are betting that there are very few who can do this successfully in its target niche.

The future CPE PBX

The concept of the CPE PBX is changing. Vendors or now delivering highly functional communications platforms capable of supporting third party apps. Mark explained,

“The notion that a CPE PBX is a platform for third party UC apps, just like the cell phone is a platform for apps, is a novel trend but one that long term will provide businesses with many more solution options and the capability to customise and add to the functionality of the PBX platform throughout its life. "

"Vertical Communications is pioneering this with its Wave IP solution which provides a platform to run applications traded on the VerticalAppMarket”

 

Investing in a CPE PBX platform that allows you to add functionality at will means your communications platform can change, develop, and be customised to suit the needs of the business throughout its working life unlike the monolithic CPE PBX solutions that, perforce, deliver the same functionality at the end of their life as on day one.

Leading the change in communications platforms are the Vertical IP-PBX solutions 

CPE PBX integrated applications fall into one of two categories.  There are the core UC feature set applications which vendors such as Vertical Communications include as standard on its Wave series of PBX and the traditional and not so traditional call management applications such as such as contact centre, call recording, IVR, fax plus a host of others. Mark commented,

“A few years ago integrated applications were the novel differentiators in the CPE PBX market.  Now they have become de facto standard necessary features.  Presence and instant messaging are the UC applications many UC PBX vendors package as UC standard features."

"However, true UC PBX solutions, such as Vertical’s Wave IP, provide a host of other UC applications such as visual voicemail, conferencing, document sharing, and screen based call management for mobiles.”

The UK telecoms market in 2013

Will the market ever recover to the 2008 pre-recession sales volumes?

Mark Shane, Sales Director at ICON, is bullish about the future of the CPE PBX market.  When asked about the medium term outlook for the channel Mark commented;

“Will the CPE PBX sales volumes reach and exceed 2008 levels? Yes, most certainly they will. Will the future CPE market be the same as the pre-recession 2008 market? No it won’t” 

Growth in the market is expected

ICON is confident that the CPE PBX market will recover to its pre-recession levels.  That much is certain.  What is unknown is how long it will be before it reaches its pre-recession levels and what the market will look like in the future. The future CPE PBX market will be completely different to the market pre-recession.   

Powerful trends

There are powerful trends in the environment which are shaping the future business environment.  BYOD, mobility, and UC are all positive drives shaping and driving the future CPE PBX market forward. Mark commented;

“The consequence of these trends will be that we will see a realignment of sales volumes within the CPE PBX market resulting in some niches declining, others growing, and new ones appearing.”  

 “New product and application niches will appear and niches which existed in 2008 will either no longer exist or be as large. But the CPE market, on the whole, will recover”.  

 “We do not believe that the growth in hosted UC solutions will be sufficient to noticeably depress the CPE UC PBX market.   Published figures suggest that hosted UC solutions are currently around 5% of the total market and are suggested to grow to no more than 10% by 2014. Although this represents high growth the percentage share of the hosted market is too small to significantly impact the levels of business seen by the channel in the CPE PBX market.” 

“We expect to see hosted solutions continue to show high growth rates until the niche matures. The CPE PBX market niche will maintain its dominate market share supported by innovations in the PBX platform and applications.”

Where is the market is going

The days of the plain old CPE IP-PBX are numbered.  CPE PBX solutions which support cell phone mobility, smartphones & tablets, third party UC apps and have the capability to be deployed as a traditional CPE, in the cloud, or a distributed solution are the future.  

In the medium term the flexibility to work with either analogue or IP will be needed if vendors want to capture the legacy as well as the IP sites, but long term this capability is likely to become less important.  FortiNet with its FortiVoice solution offers one of the best examples of a CPE PBX which can work with IP phones, analogue phones or both.

Cloud or CPE  

On the issue of cloud versus CPE, versus centralised, Mark said;

Cloud or CPE PBX?

“The demarcation between the CPE PBX, cloud, or centralised versus distributed solutions markets is very grey."

"Let’s not forget that if a customer has multiple sites and wants a cloud based solution this does not rule out a CPE PBX sale. Vendors such as Vertical Communications with its Wave IP-PBX can deliver a CPE solution which can be deployed anywhere in the network - on-site or in the cloud”

The impact of Smartphones and Tablets  

 Smartphones and tablets will be one of the key driving forces shaping CPE PBX solutions over the next few years.   Mark explained;

“In themselves smartphones and tablets are not the primary market driver.  It is the UC apps which run on these devices and which impact workplace productivity which are the front line drivers for the move to smartphone and tablet friendly CPE PBX solutions."

 

"Most leading edge vendors are already integrating smartphone and tablet support into their solutions.  A prime example is the feature rich mobility friendly solution Wave IP from Vertical Communications.  This delivers all the normal mobility features needed to support cell phone users but also supports the call management solution ViewPoint Mobile for Android and Apple IOS phones.”

The changing CPE PBX  

 The concept of the CPE PBX is changing. Vendors or now delivering highly functional communications platforms capable of supporting third party apps. Mark explained;

“The notion that a CPE PBX is a platform for third party UC apps, just like the cell phone is a platform for apps, is a novel trend but one that long term will provide businesses with many more solution options and the capability to customise and add to the functionality of the PBX platform throughout its life. "

"Vertical Communications is pioneering this with its Wave IP solution which provides a platform to run applications traded on the Vertical AppMarket”

Investing in a CPE PBX platform which allows you to add functionality at will means your communications platform can change, develop, and be customised to suit the needs of the business throughout its working life unlike the monolithic CPE PBX solutions which, perforce, deliver the same functionality at the end of their life as on day one.

AppMarkets for the PBX  

The concept of the CPE PBX as a versatile customisable communications platform allows users to update and change their investment throughout the life of the asset. Mark explained;

“Innovations in the delivery of these CPE IP-PBX applications means customers have the option to enable the integrated applications built into the platform or purchase applications from on-line markets.  For example Vertical Communications in its Wave IP solution offers built in applications which can be licenced at any time but is also providing a market place where apps can be sold and bought.”

Mobile and UC

Mobile friendly CPE PBX solutions have become important in recent years as businesses look to support their mobile workforce. 

UC and BYOD is a potent force

The ViewPoint screen based call management solution for cell phones from Vertical Communications is one of the few examples of such an application.  

 

Mark ended by saying; 

 

“The driving force underpinning all of these trends is the increasing adoption of UC solutions.  But it is the combination of UC with the BYOD that is the motivation behind many of the developments in the CPE PBX product niche."  

"It is when you link UC solutions with smartphones and tablets that the power of UC and mobility begins to be appreciated by businesses from all sectors and that is what the CPE PBX vendor will be looking to harness over the coming years.”

Integrated application

CPE PBX integrated applications fall into one of two categories.  There are the core UC feature set applications which vendors such as Vertical Communications include as standard on its Wave series of PBX and the traditional and not so traditional call management applications such as such as contact centre, call recording, IVR, fax plus a host of others. Mark commented;

“A few years ago integrated applications were the novel differentiators in the CPE PBX market.  Now they have become de facto standard necessary features.  Presence and instant messaging are the UC applications many UC PBX vendors package as UC standard features."

"However, true UC PBX solutions, such as Vertical’s Wave IP, provide a host of other UC applications such as visual voicemail, conferencing, document sharing, and screen based call management for mobiles.”