June 2004

In the CEO Spotlight section in Internet Telephony� magazine, we recognize the outstanding work performed by exemplary companies. Each month we bring you the opinions of the heads of companies leading the Internet telephony industry now and helping to shape the future of the industry. This month we spoke with Iain Milnes, President of Zultys Technologies.

 IT: What is Zultys� mission?

IM: Zultys will add tremendous value to a customer�s operation by the application of technology to solve their communications needs. We will continue to offer the best technology in order to provide important competitive advantages to our customers.

IT: What is your vision for Zultys and how is the company positioned in the next-generation telecom market?

IM: Zultys already has a head start on much of our competition and will become a leading player in the VoIP market. We will accomplish this by offering features and functions demanded by customers and continue to lead our competitors with superior products. Zultys will continue to offer value through business communications solutions rather than just sell technology.

IT: Describe some of the key decisions that you have made as CEO to steer your company through the recent challenging financial straits.

IM: We firmly believe that we started this company at exactly the right time. Other companies have been scaling back their R&D. We took the time to review the market needs, identify where the market was headed, and build products to directly meet those needs. Existing suppliers in our market have done exactly the opposite. They have cut back marketing and development and have attempted to create products that are based on internal needs rather than customer requirements.We have also determined that we must become a global player in order to service today�s businesses. Companies today might have offices in the USA and Canada, with branch offices (or even HQ) in other countries around the world. It�s one thing to deliver communications products that support a global organization, but it is something else entirely to be able to provide global support to that organization. We have invested significant time, energy, and effort, in building our worldwide presence. Today, we have distribution in 58 countries and our products are available in 19 languages.We are continuing to expand in all areas of our business. We have recently hired senior personnel to expand sales and provide channel support in Europe, Asia, USA, and Latin America.
 

IT: Now that it appears that growth and opportunity are the trends in the VoIP industry, what possible hurdles do you see that might upset this momentum?
 

IM: The biggest hurdle is the worldwide economy. Right or wrong, the perception is that investing in VoIP technology is expensive and risky. The reality is that IP telephony doesn�t need to be expensive or difficult to implement. When selling to a new customer, we are often faced with an educational process that culminates in a product demonstration. After they have seen exactly how it works and how easy it is to deploy, they begin to understand what we are promoting and how it can benefit them.
 

IT: What makes Zultys� services unique and how can a client benefit from using them?

IM: Our products are based on open standards. We are the only company to offer this today, end to end. All our products use the SIP protocol and we guarantee interoperability with certain devices from many other suppliers. Customers can add conference systems, video systems, IVR systems, recording systems, and databases to a system that uses SIP. In short, customers now have a lot more choices.Our products are expandable, so customers pay only for what they need. You expand by adding software licenses. With most of our competitors, you must add another box to accommodate more users.We offer integration of converged tools that offer immense productivity for users and administrators. We have presence, instant messaging, and call handling. Also, we provide integrated user interfaces for users and administrators, greatly simplifying use and maintenance.Finally, our products are easy to install and use. Systems, even across countries, can be installed and provisioned in a single day. Administrators can easily add users to the main office, a branch office, or to their home office in literally seconds.

IT: Describe your view of the future of the IP telephony industry?

IM: There is no doubt that the legacy PBX is dead. Certainly, there will continue to be sales of legacy TDM equipment for some time to come. However, all indicators show that those sales are rapidly declining and VoIP is coming into its own. Why would any organization want to purchase new communications equipment that was based on old technology? All companies should be deploying IP telephony for new installations. The benefits are overwhelming. VoIP will enable companies of all sizes to easily become worldwide contenders in their markets. Not only does this technology facilitate the pervasiveness of voice over the Internet, but it will open the doors to applications that were never before considered necessary and mainstream business practices like standard video calls, instant messaging, and presence. To repeat what the industry analysts are saying, �2004 is the year for VoIP.�

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