How does a long-standing data networking vendor get into the voice space, and win the hearts and minds of businesses that might be nervous about dealing with a 'network integrator?'
According to 3Com Australia and NZ managing director Archie Wilson, you partner with the organisation that dominates the market and deliver technology that he claims is about 12 months ahead of its competition.
In announcing an alliance with phone system supplier PlesTel, 3Com expects to snare a significant chunk of the voice over IP market, and with a compelling case.
The arrangement will see PlesTel become the exclusive distributor and reseller for NBX, 3Com's LAN-based telephony offering targeted at the SME market. It is a market that PlesTel (the joint venture between Plessey and Telstra's small business group) dominates with an estimated 60 percent share of the existing market for PBX.
PlesTel will co-brand, sell and support 3Com's NBX product range under its well-established Commander brand.
"PlesTel's Commander range is clearly the market leader in traditional voice technologies. This position will be enhanced by the addition of the NBX telecommunications platform," Wilson said.
While there is no local history of the take-up of combined voice and data networks, Wilson reported that 3Com's NBX technology already accounts for six percent of the total key phone market in the US. He predicted that the penetration (of the PBX market) in Australia will be higher, and is looking to a 10 percent take-up in the first year.
PlesTel managing director, John Dougall, said that PlesTel has a successful history of providing Australia's small and medium-sized businesses with "best of breed" communications solutions through its Commander brand.
"Today those needs have evolved from only voice to include data, video, and a host of converged technologies. We are proud to be introducing one of the first LAN-based telephony solutions to the Australian market," Dougall said.
According to Wilson, the business benefit for integrating telephony and computer networks is that it makes better use of an existing LAN.
"It will happen in waves," he said. "Customers will want to integrate their systems, update their existing PBX, and we will see progressively richer users of the technology."
