Open source telephony company Fonality (News - Alert) has announced that Matrix Business Technologies, a U.S.-based telecom services provider, is the first adopt the Fonality Managed Services Partner (MSP) model by selecting Fonality's PBXtra solution.
This Matrix-managed PBX phone system, is reportedly the first of its kind to complement the existing portfolio of voice and data services employed by Matrix's small to medium business (SMB) customers. Fonality's PBXtra business phone system gives MSPs a managed voice offering to complement their existing network services (Analog, Digital PRI or SIP).
PBXtra phone system, coupled with Matrix's current T-1 Velocity voice and data offering, is Matrix's only managed IP PBX (News - Alert) solution and is supported 24x7, thus fulfilling the request of SMBs to only have one support line. Matrix customers will be able to choose from all of Fonality's PBXtra offerings: PBXtra, PBXtra Professional or PBXtra Call Center Edition, as well as its Heads Up Display (HUD(R)) application.
"More and more SMBs are clamoring to get their hands on a high-quality, value-priced phone system," said Chris Vuillaume (News - Alert), vice president of business development and channel at Fonality, in a statement. "By partnering with Matrix we are making it even easier for businesses throughout the U.S. to have access to just that. Now Matrix customers only have to make one stop for everything related to their communication needs, from the T-1 line to the phone; plus everything is under one monthly bill with a single point of contact."
Fonality's Managed Services Program (FMSP) targets both telecom and IT/data service providers and addresses the growing demand for managed turnkey solutions in the SMB market. PBXtra's hybrid-hosted architecture allows for easy integration into current managed service models while providing enterprise class IP PBX features and a low total cost of ownership. Fonality's three-tier program scales easily depending on the goals and operational capabilities of the MSP, and PBXtra integrates into their infrastructure with no impact on existing network components.
"Money in the bank matters most to SMB decision makers," said Russ Lambert, CEO of Matrix Business Technologies, in a statement. "Typically, our customers expect to pay a significant upfront fee for servers, handsets, configuration and circuit installs, plus fees to a VAR to coordinate all of it. The Matrix-Managed/Fonality-powered phone system eliminates the need to empty the vault in order to have a voice- and data-connected, fully managed, easily installed, feature-rich, on-premises phone system.”
PBXtra complements a MSP's voice and data services with its improved ease-of-use for an enterprise-class product at 40 to 80 percent less than the cost of comparable systems from established PBX vendors, said the company. Out of the box, PBXtra supports advanced auto-attendant features, telecommuters, branch offices, drag and drop call controls, conferencing and cross-office intercoms, as well as a host of other easy-to-use advanced features.
The Matrix managed PBX system will be available for limited distribution in June 2007, with general availability in early Q3.
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Spencer Chin is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
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