TMCnet News
Taking a risk or finding the goldmine?OPINION PIECE Taking a risk or finding the goldmine? By Russell Whitlock, RW Communications We have been selling IP  Telephony solutions for 10 months now and have seen a huge amount of interest in the benefits it can bring, both from our existing customer base in the Freight Forwarding market and also in the wider business community. We realised early on that this was going to be big, so before we jumped straight in, we took a look at the way our business was structured and what changes we might need to make. As an company that is experienced in installing and managing complex IT systems and networks, IP Telephony fitted neatly into our existing product offering and the solutions we chose to offer from Gamma Telecom are perfectly suited to the needs of our customers. Offering IP telephony has opened up an extra revenue stream that we could never have tapped into before. On the other side of the coin, I think the traditional PBX resellers may find moving into this market difficult, as it is a completely different setup and selling model to what they are used to. We are used to working on a retainer base rather than our whole business depending on a massive, one off, up-front equipment sale.That’s not to say this is just an ‘add on’. We’re viewing IP Telephony as a serious part of our business and we wouldn’t be selling it if it didn’t make us money. It is, again, a part of what IT companies and support companies do. Our existing clients like the fact they have to make just one call to a trusted partner for their IT support issues and now that trusted partner is able to manage their phone systems as well. IP Telephony has not only revolutionised the way our clients work, it has quickly and easily become an important part of our business and we are glad that the risk of being an early adopter of this long-awaited technology has really paid off. ENDS |