Telecoms distribution opportunities in 2013

ICON is the UK leader in voice mobility wireless infrastructure solutions (VoWLAN), wireless handsets and specialist IP-PBX solutions and in 2012 it consolidated this position by extending its portfolio to include Wi-Fi infrastructure from the technology leader Extricom.  

The brands it now distributes include the SpectraLink, KIRK, Extricom VoWLAN solutions, and the specialist IP_PBX solutions Wave IP from Vertical Communications and FortiVoice from Fortinet.

Hot products and applications

Hot for 2013 will be WLAN solutions for voice and other triple play applications such as available from vendors SpectraLink and Extricom.  

Growth in BYOD is fuelling an explosion of demand for 4^th generation Wi-Fi infrastructure which can handle high bandwidth voice, video, and data applications and at the same time support a secure and robust BYOD policy.  Mark Shane, Sales Director for ICON commented,

“With its unique channel Blanket technology we expect the Extricom solution to win increasing penetration as a result of its ability to deliver a wide coverage area, guaranteed bandwidth with easy deployment in Triple Play and VoWLAN environments.”

Market Trends

 In 2013 the biggest driver in the market is expected to be the increasing use of BYOD in the enterprise and public space.  People are increasing expecting organisations and venues to provide Wi-Fi access and in educational establishments the development of IT teaching based on tablets is fuelling demand for robust Wi-Fi infrastructure.  These BYOD’s are stretching the capability of traditional Wi-Fi infrastructure especially in situations such as schools and stadiums where simultaneous logons en-masse can cripple a network.  Mark commented,

 “Since partnering with Extricom we have seen a number of enquiries from our channel partners for WLAN solutions in large public spaces and I am confident that we will see a growing demand for 4^th generation VoWLAN solutions throughout 2013 and into 2014 as institutions and public places look for and deploy high bandwidth VoWLAN and BYOD access Wi-Fi networks.”

BYOB and Enterprise Wi-Fi solutions

BYOD - a headache for IT departments.

With over 90 million iPhones and 40 million iPads sold in 2011, there is no doubt that these and other mobile devices are changing the workplace dramatically. Employees want to use their own devices at work – and companies are starting to see the value in letting them do that. The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend has become a way of life.  

As most of these devices do not have LAN ports, the only way to connect them to the company network is by using the WLAN.  This is where the problems start.  Mark Shane, ICON Sales Director explained,

“Organisations need to address the technical demands that the BYOD trend brings. Some key challenges being security architecture designed to support these devices and the risk of losing infrastructure control as private devices connect to the organisation's network.” 

 “The issue,” says Mark, “is that in large-scale WLANs traditional microcell WLAN architectures are struggling to meet the reliability, capacity, manageability and security dynamics of BYOD devices that require high mobility.”

 “The only safe way for an organisation to do this is to use a 4^th generation Wi-Fi infrastructure solution designed specifically for BYOD and Triple Play (voice, video, data).  The problem is that most Wi-Fi infrastructure available today are not 4^th generation."

"The Extricom Channel Blanket solution, supplied by ICON, is one of the few 4^th generation solutions available and only a few years ago, according to Gartner, Extricom was one of only two vendors supplying 4^th generation solutions in the market.”

ICON has been in this space for several years providing SpectraLink Wi-Fi handsets into the enterprise and regularly comes across the problems caused by enterprise Wi-Fi infrastructure which is just not up to the job.  Mark explains,

“The problem is that most of the installed Wi-Fi is 3^rd generation micro-cell technology which is just not adequate when it comes to BYOD and other Triple Play applications."

"When you start using your WLAN for BYOD and telecoms the WLAN takes on a completely different perspective.  It needs to be much more robust and becomes a strategic investment and, in those cases where there is a commercial imperative behind the WLAN it needs to be much more reliable”

How can the channel embrace this opportunity

In general, the traditional telecoms channel has not embraced the opportunity of BYOD and Triple Play or voice mobility.  This is due partly to not having access to a suitable solution or to the specialist knowledge which is needed to deploy a large scale WLAN using traditional microcell WLAN technology.  Mark commented,

“There is a need in the channel market space for a WLAN infrastructure solution which is Triple Play capable (voice, video & data) and which can be deployed and set up without complex surveys and advanced technology tweaking."

"Traditional microcell Wi-Fi infrastructure solutions struggle to deliver against customer needs and the complex deployment surveys and fine tuning needed to deploy them successfully means they are not suited to distribution through the traditional telecoms channel."

"The fourth generation solutions from Extricom overcome these issues and because they do not need complex surveying or fine tuning they are an ideal solution for the telecoms distribution channel.” 

Download a fact sheet

How future mobile technology & the influx of new devices will shape the enterprise space.

Mark believes that there is a mismatch between the trend to use BYOD, the enterprise’s desire to deploy and manage Wi-Fi infrastructure which is Triple Play capable and the traditional telecoms distribution channel’s ability to deliver robust WLAN solutions.  Mark says,

“This will only get worse with the increasing use of 5Ghz Wi-Fi devices.  At 5Ghz all the problems of a traditional microcell Wi-Fi deployment are magnified.”  

With the increasing use of BYOD and the growing trend for public spaces to deploy WLAN for commercial purposes Mark sees an increasingly frustrated end user unless the sector moves to 4th generation solutions such as the Extricom solution.  

For those enterprise organisation’s which have already invested in the earlier generation WLAN technologies the only solution may be a rip and replace if they want to benefit from the BYOD trend.

 “But,” says Mark, “for those in the channel which pick the 4th generation solutions such as Extricom Channel Blanket technology the opportunities seem to be boundless.” 

ICON grows with Extricom Wi-Fi WLAN

In November 2012 was ICON appointed distributor for the Extricom Wi-Fi WLAN solutions.

The Extricom Wi-Fi WLAN infrastructure solutions are designed for voice mobility and other enterprise Wi-Fi applications and from November will be available to our channel partners.

The Extricom Wi-Fi infrastructure solution is the necessary solution for Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWLAN).  It overcomes the deficiencies and limits in traditional Wi-Fi deployments which are the cause of the poor voice mobility performance commonly seen when the Wi-Fi infrastructure uses the cell based technologies from the traditional vendors.

Uses include Education, Health, Stadiums, Manufacturing, Government and Retail

The Extricom infrastructure solution is a ground breaking advance for ICON channel partners who can now quote for complete voice mobility solutions and deploy both the Wi-Fi infrastructure and handsets.  The solution is compliant with all Wi-Fi standards. 

ICON’s dominant position in the UK market as specialist provider of voice mobility solutions means that for the first time the market can source a robust and reliable Wi-Fi voice mobility solution (infrastructure and the handsets) from a single knowledgeable source. 

Mark Shane, Sales Director, ICON, commented,

“Extricom is an established and proven product around the world and is the necessary infrastructure if you want to deploy a robust Wi-Fi handset solution.  It is the natural partner for our range of Polycom Spectralink Wi-Fi handsets.  We see this solution opening up many new opportunities for our partners in the voice mobility Wi-Fi market.  We are pleased to have been chosen by Extricom as its strategic partner in the voice market.”

Charles Burns, Sales Director UK and Ireland, Extricom, commented,

“This is an exciting step for us.   ICON has a pedigree in voice mobility wireless solutions and distributes Wi-Fi handsets from the leading global player.  With the advantages in VoWLAN infrastructure that Extricom has over the traditional Wi-Fi vendors I believe that ICON and its Channel Partners have the potential to dominate the VoWLAN market in the UK.  Our relationship with ICON means that we have a partner in the key strategic position of being one of the few UK distributors able to supply both the Wi-Fi infrastructure and Wi-Fi handsets needed for an enterprise VoWLAN solution and support it technically.”

The UK PBX market - a review in 2012

Where is the market is going?

Full UC trend continues

The structural trend towards full UC is continuing with vendors packaging more UC features into their standard offering.  The Vertical Communications Wave and Microsoft Lync CPE solutions both offer a mobility solution for mobile phones.    

Downwards for price

However, a key trend to emerge in this market since the start of the year is the downward pressure on the price performance curve.  In the last quarter vendors have launched CPE solutions with increased functionality and higher connectivity at price points which drive the solution down the price performance curve.   

The new FortiVoice IP-PBX

Vertical Communications has bundled 5 years warranty and a free BYOD app with its CPE Wave IP, Fortinet has rebundled and renamed the TalkSwitch CPE solution in a new offering called FortiVoice with offers a substantially lower cost per line for the end user.

Longterm this downwards pressure on the price performance curve will have the effect of tightening the market those in the channel with solutions which are not value competitive.

 

Integrated application- BYOD functionality

True Out-of-the-Box integration is rare in the CPE market but a few vendors are beginning to bundle applications with their solution.

The focus seems to be on BYOD functionality and UC capability for BYOD.  The top vendors are Microsoft with its Lync platform and Vertical Communications with tis Wave solution.  Both offer free mobile apps which extend the capability of the CPE PBX to the mobile phone. 

The Wave BYOD solution is so integrated with the CPE that a call made by a mobile phone user is indistinguishable from one originating from a desk handset.

Hosted telephony & its impact on CPE solutions

CPE business to continue

Hosted solutions have not traditionally competed with the CPE solutions distributed by ICON and long-term the impact on of hosted solutions our Channel Partner CPE business is not expected to change radically from what it is today.    

ICON has always acknowledged the importance of hosted solution in the marketplace but is of the view that this is not a disruptive technology.  Longterm it is unlikely that the market will migrate to hosted solutions.  

The reasons to buy hosted

The motivation for hosted as opposed a CPE solution is driven by the financial imperatives of the firm not its communications requirements.  Hosted or not hosted decision is firmly based in the firms need to manage Capex by using Opex.  The only scenario in which hosted solutions will displace CPE equipment is as a result of some financial imperative which makes investment in non Capex solutions attractive.  A fiscal policy which favoured Opex solutions would have this impact but in the medium term is not likely.

Accreditations costs - slipping out of control?

As distributor for a range of global brands ICON has always recognised that the cost of accreditation can be a formidable barrier to the Channel taking up a solution. When you need to guarantee a certain percentage of staff skilled in the solution and hold stock this can be a significant capital expense even for an established firm.   

High accreditation costs have the effect of tying a reseller into a vendor restricting the options for growth.   

In the UK ICON has provided one of the most open accreditation schemes available.  Its solution training and accreditation for its Vertical, and Fortinet IP-PBX solutions have always been delivered at subsidised cost. 

Cloud based hosted telephony and Lync

Cloud based hosted telephony

“Cloud based hosted telephony will not displace CPE PBX telephone solutions in the short, medium or long term” 

says Mark Shane, Sales Director at ICON.   

"ICON supplies the channel with the Wave CPE IP-PBX and the FortiVoice small business IP and analogue PBX solution,  but”  says Mark  “we are not talking up the market just because we supply CPE solutions.  It’s because of our of experience in supplying the endpoints market and our own hosted messaging solution that we are convinced that CPE solutions are here to stay”  

ICON provides endpoint solutions which can be deployed in traditional CPE environments or as a voice mobility upgrade for the basic endpoint provided by the hosted supplier.   Few of these KIRK solutions are being installed on a hosted solution.  The majority, if not all, are going onto CPE equipment.  These KIRK handset solutions can also be deployed in remote offices in a quasi-hosted solution by connecting then remotely to the CPE IP-PBX at head office. However, most companies opt to provide remote office communications using the multi-site capability of the IP-PBX solutions such as the Wave and FortiVoice IP-PBX solutions.

“In the channel the popularity of hosted telephony does not to seem to be as great as the hype would suggest” says Mark

Microsoft Lync

In the case of Microsoft Lync Mark believes that it is early days with regard to claiming it a success in the channel.   

ICON distribute the only Microsoft approved voice mobility endpoint solution for Lync solutions and although pundits claim that Microsoft is one of the top 3 suppliers next to Cisco and Avaya ICON is not seeing this reflected in its sales of KIRK handsets for Lync.   

“However,” says Mark “in our view Lync is due to be the next big thing in the market and the fact the channel has not yet embraced this solution as fully as it should does not mean that it will not become one of the top channel solutions.  ICON is already gearing up for Lync’s success and can provide and support channel partners with KIRK handset solutions needed by Lync”

Butterfly Competition

To mark the launch of the Butterfly ICON, is promoting a competition to organisations to win a Butterfly voice mobility solution .

Competition Prize

In February, Polycom, also known for its video conferencing solutions, launched its newest wireless handset series: the KIRK Butterfly.  The Butterfly is the latest in a line of handsets designed to give mobility to staff ranging from shop floor employees to boardroom executives and at the same time support the latest Unified Communications solutions from Microsoft and others. 

A voice mobility solution from Polycom integrates with an organisations telephone solution and work processes to help staff at all levels to,

•         Manage on the move

•         Get crucial information immediately

•         Build closer more effective teams

•         Eliminate delays, kick start work

In short, a voice mobility solution makes business run smoother (to learn more about how these solutions can benefit the workplace check out our  “Benefits of a mobility solution” web page.

A Polycom voice mobility solution can integrate with other on-premises applications, such as nurse call systems, location-based services, and voice recognition systems to streamline everyday business processes.  Polycom voice mobility solutions are used in organisations ranging from small offices to large process plants where the environment can be hazardous and potentially explosive and the handset range includes speciality handsets for medical, industrial and office use.   

The new Polycom Butterfly solution is aimed at carpeted type environments (offices, retail floors, schools, hotels and similar).  The Butterfly voice mobility solution is supported on the Microsoft Lync Server 2010.  It can be used to connect to Microsoft UC environments and with hosted IP telephone solutions. 

The Butterfly handset is available in a range of fashionable colours - white, black, green, red, and blue. This wide colour palette has been provided to enable the handset to be used to underline business identity or to distinguish employee groups.

Mark Shane, Sales Director at importer and distributor ICON says,

“Butterfly delivers a handset for public workspaces and offices where the accent is on style image and brand.  Until now business handsets have been strictly utilitarian but with Butterfly the handset becomes part of the company image.  It says modern, forward looking and leading edge and delivers this at a very competitive price and without compromising the Polycom KIRK brand values for performance, build quality and toughness. “

The competition closes at 11.55pm on the 30 June 2012.  To find out how to win a Butterfly Voice mobility solution for your business visit www.icon-plc.co.uk./Butterfly where you can learn more about the new handset and submit an entry.