Join us September 10-12 in Los Angeles and experience our invaluable
conference sessions yourself!
Small and medium businesses have a bewildering array of products and services to choose from allowing them to appear the outside world as a large enterprise with a state of the art communications system. But how do you find out which products and services are best for you? By attending a summit focused on your growing business and making sure you know all the amazing choices available to this space. The SMB market has been identified by many as where the next surge in VoIP revenue will come from. You will want to come to this session to see which vendors make most sense to work with. In an SMB, you money is even more valuable than a large company. Spend it wisely by learning what to do in this session. (resellers are welcome)
Track: VoIP for SMBs (tp)
Selecting an Open Source VoIP Solution for the SMB (OS-02)
Tuesday - 09/11/07, 1:30-2:15pm
Enterprise-grade business phone systems have long been out of reach of small and medium-size businesses. Traditionally provided by giants in the space, prices for hardware and services are often well above the price that a small business owner can afford. Once installed, they are difficult to use and expensive to expand. Previously ignored by the larger companies, new entrants to the market realized that the small and medium-size business market responds well to complete systems that are easy to set-up and use. Further, with the growth of open source players in the market, SMBs are finally gaining access to the technology they want and need. Price, rather than need and functionality, has been the biggest barrier for acceptance of sophisticated VoIP services in the SMB. The session will address changes in the market that are making VoIP more accessible and practical for businesses allowing them to reach their communications goals.
Presented by:
Chad Agate Co-Founder & CEO NeoPhonetics
Martin J. Steinmann Vice President of Product Management Bluesocket
Chris Vuillaume VP BusDev/Channel Fonality
Avery Glasser Director of Product Junction Networks
Tom Keating (Moderator) VP of TMC/CTO/Executive Technology Editor TMC
Small to Medium sized businesses represent the largest potential market for VoIP solutions. These organizations, not only within the U.S. but globally, have the most to gain from enhanced features and functions while lowering costs. Traditionally, large PBX systems were relegated to organizations that could afford the lease or purchase as well as the personnel required to manage, monitor and maintain them. VoIP has created an entirely new paradigm whereby physical location of personnel becomes much less relevant, and sophisticated systems delivered by “virtual” service providers makes them truly affordable to businesses of all sizes. This presentation will discuss several models that are available to small and medium organizations. These include the value of hosted IP PBX systems, the use of IP trunking, disaster recovery implications, and the importance of network security.
Presented by:
George Daddis President and co-founder Allworx
Greg O. Welch Chief Executive Officer GlobalTouch Telecom
Applications that are optimized in IP environments, like as presence management, Web conferencing and document sharing and other collaboration tools, have started to gain more traction among businesses that see these solutions as powerful tools that can help a company increase revenue, improve operations, and reduce costs.
Unfortunately, many small- and mid-size businesses are under the misconception that these tools are too complicated or costly for their use. In fact, smaller companies, who often have the same challenges as an enterprise, can cost-effectively leverage these tools to meet their needs. This session will define IP-powered applications for small businesses, and explain how the requirements needed to support these tools. In addition, the presentation would include various examples of how these solutions can be easily leveraged by workgroups, departments, or individuals to improve both productivity and efficiency.
Presented by:
Joe Adams Vice President and Chief Technology Evangelist Interactive Intelligence
Performance and TCO Advantages of Hosted IP-PBX Phone Services for SMBs (SMB-03)
Wednesday - 09/12/07, 10:15-11:00am
Hosted IP PBX phone services offer small businesses unparalleled performance and TCO advantages. With no on-premise equipment needed, capital expenditure is avoided, maintenance contracts are unnecessary, and management is fully outsourced to a secure, central location. Furthermore, businesses are assured of instant access to the latest service and feature upgrades. Learn how your small business can benefit from this rapidly growing VoIP business phone service offering.
Small and medium sized businesses must maintain a high standard of customer service and reliability in order to compete with their large enterprise counterparts. And, in a business arena where every customer counts, the SMB must always be available to their customers and respond to customer requests immediately. But, how can small business staff support their customers with the limited resources available to them?
Thankfully with the advancements in communications convergence technology, small businesses have the ability to stay connected to their customers no matter where they are. Voice and data and wireless and wireline convergence allow SMBs the ability to transfer all incoming calls to cell phones or other remote locations, ensuring maximum efficiency and reliability. Yet, small businesses have a different set of standards to evaluate when considering the adoption of these solutions.
This session will address the considerations SMBs need to be aware of when transitioning to IP as well as provide an update of the latest convergence technologies available, specifically areas relating to IP telephony. The speaker will also discuss best practices and other strategies for small businesses to consider when utilizing communications convergence technology.
Small and medium businesses have unique needs that aren’t currently being met through traditional communication solutions. Hosted VoIP is uniquely suited for the SMB market. It provides them with a distinct advantage by allowing them to have big business capabilities while eliminating the high costs and stressful maintenance that normally go along with them.
For small businesses, VoIP technology opens doors that have never been open before. Even on a tight budget, companies can enjoy a complete communications system with productivity and mobility features like never before. And with the increasing convergence of media and software applications, VoIP is rapidly becoming the essential foundation for a future-focused business. This session will give SMBs a better understanding of the basics, benefits, and efficiencies that can be gained through a Hosted VoIP solution.
Selecting SMB VoIP: Cut Through The Confusion (SMB-06)
Wednesday - 09/12/07, 2:45-3:30pm
VoIP marketers are failing to properly educate consumers. According to a recent report by AMI-Partners, the SMB is confused by the amount of choice in solutions presented to them when considering the switch to a VoIP solution.
One of the primary reasons for all of the confusion is — instead of delivering solutions that the small medium business needs, we are trying to deliver what we think the customer wants. We have, as an industry, focused on delivering next-generation features, bleeding edge applications, and other “advanced” technologies to a marketplace that really only wants one thing: something that works.
There really is no such thing as the “average” small medium business. They are all unique. But there is a simple, basic set of functional elements they need to phone system to perform. After this set, it is really a coin-flip, as to whether or not the “extra” features will help or hinder the productivity of the business. Come to this session and cut through the confusion!
Presented by:
Jim Heising President and CEO Telephony2
David Mandelstam Founder/President/CEO Sangoma
Jason Talley Founder & CEO Nuvio
Jay McCall (Moderator) VoIP and Wireless Editor Business Solutions magazine
