Business Connect, as the new offering is known, will see line rentals fall as low as AU$20 for business customers. That drop, says the company's general manager for business marketing Mark Frederikson, is expected to make the product a magnet for new SME customers.
"We expect AU$102 million in revenue from SMEs this financial year," he said. "That's up from AU$50 million last financial year." The company's confidence this target is achievable comes from the accuracy of its previous forecasts: the AU$50 million figure was projected last financial year, a period during which the carrier doubled the size of its SME customer base, more than doubled the number of those customers buying bundled services and halved its churn rate.
Optimism about the product also comes from executives' belief that the company feels it is genuinely first to market with the Business Connect offering.
"In the past AAPT has been a follower," said VoIP solutions manager Steve McGrory. "But we believe we are first to market with this kind of solution. Customers are telling us they cannot see another carrier offering this kind of product at this price."
VoIP will not be emphasised in marketing, however. AAPT's research suggests that SMEs are aware of the technology but are wary of the capital and operational costs associated with making a move from conventional telephony to VoIP. The company will instead emphasise lower cost and greater features, these benefits arriving courtesy of a router and analogue telephony adapters installed alongside existing PABX or other telephony equipment. The addition of these devices allows calls to be routed through AAPT's private IP network, while calls to PSTN numbers travel over AAPT's conventional networks for as long as possible to enable reduced tolling for other calls. Internet access can be added to the product, as can an IP VPN.
Installation will be performed by third parties as part of a provisioning service for which the company allows 25 business days, the lengthy wait attributed in part to complications surrounding number porting.
Other services to be offered with the product include Voice Mail to E-Mail and Simultaneous Ring, a system whereby an end-user's landline and mobile will ring simultaneously.
The company currently has 10 sales people from its SME team promoting the product, and has secured five customers. Only one is live, but the carrier says it is ready for full-scale promotion of the product and any demand that follows.
"I'm so confident about this product and its potential to acquire customers that I'm happy to muck in with the sales team" Frederikson concluded. "Business Connect is what will grow our SME business this financial year," a statement underlined by the fact the company has also greatly simplified its product lines. "Last year we had something like 80 calling plans," McGrory said. "Now we have 10."
