Business opportunities

IBC helps resellers attract new customers, expand their service offerings and take advantage of emerging communications capabilities

As voice and data communications converge, the role of resellers and distributors is changing dramatically. It is no longer enough simply to offer-or understand-voice or data communications. Customers are attracted to "one-stop shopping" for both their data and telephony needs.

Fortunately, the emerging field of Integrated Business Communications (IBC) offers resellers and distributors a prime opportunity to meet the "onestop shopping" challenge. IBC enables resellers to expand their product offerings and become more competitive, especially among the growing small to medium-sized business market.

Today most of these businesses already have basic telecommunications services and possibly a host of other, disparate technologies such as e-mail, data networking, and Internet access. Unfortunately, these systems are typically not coordinated. Resources are usually not shared; features and capabilities are often limited; management may be difficult; and the entire system may be costly. Additionally, the traditional arrangement does not provide a platform for taking advantage of new communications capabilities.

Enter IBC, which integrates the functionality of otherwise separate communications devices (such as a PBX and networking hardware) into an easy-touse, cost-effective modular product. Specifically, IBC integrates the four major communications functions needed by successful businesses today: voice, data networking, Internet access, and messaging.

VOICE

As a fully featured, state-of-the-art PBX, an IBC solution efficiently uses a single phone number for both voice and fax calls, reducing costs. Capabilities include an automated attendant, caller ID, personalized greetings, and departmental phone groups. Users can control and manage their calls through the telephone keypads or through the unified-messaging mailbox. Employees can use cordless phones, allowing them to answer their phones virtually anywhere. Automatic dialing from a contact database (such as ACT!, Microsoft Outlook or Goldmine) speeds up telephone calls.

DATA NETWORKING

IBC offers standard Ethernet local area network (LAN) capabilities that do not require separate LAN hardware or software. Users can easily share documents and peripherals, thus improving productivity and reducing costs. Employees can use their browsers to quickly and simply access common documents such as schedules or expense-report forms.

Secure remote-access capabilities allow users to send or retrieve messages or other data from their homes, hotel rooms, or virtually anyplace with telephone access. This capability improves support for field sales and service, expands work-at-home options, and generally improves company efficiency.

INTERNET AcCESS

The IBC solution offers users several options for high-speed Internet access ranging from standard analog lines (modems), more sophisticated communications capabilities such as Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) lines, Ti access lines, or digital subscriber lines (DSL). A firewall protects the company from unwanted intrusions via the Internet.

MESSAGING

IBC solutions support leading e-mail programs such as Eudora, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Netscape Communicator. Internal e-mail can be sent to staffers without being routed through an outside source, increasing speed and efficiency. Users can develop distribution lists to easily send messages to groups of people. Individual domain names (".com") mean that the firm does not need to use the domain name of an Internet Service Provider.

Unified-messaging capabilities give users access to voice and e-mail messages from a single location. Where they can be selectively reviewed based on priority instead of by the order received. Users see a list of messages on a single screen with icons that indicate the type of message. Messages are opened and listened to over the computer's speakers or on the telephone. Users can also dial out and retrieve messages as usual from the phone, or from the console on their computer screen. This ability lets a single line phone operate like an expensive multi-line phone.

ADMINISTRATION

Non-technical people can easily administer the system. Typically, an office manager can set up a user configuration in less than a minute. Wizards prompt the user through setup and other administrative chores.

END-USER BENEFITS

IBC technology reduces the total costof-ownership and provides a far richer set of useful features than traditional stand-alone solutions. Specifically, an IBC solution provides the following benefits:

COST EFFECTIVE.

The IBC solution typically pays for itself within one year because of reduced telephone and equipment costs. The one-time cost for a full IBC system ranges from $300 to $425 per station. This compares favorably to other products that cost more than $1,500 per user for voice features alone.

Existing legacy equipment, including computers and LANs, can be incorporated into the IBC solution. Printers and other peripherals can be shared. Better IBC solutions use standard desktop telephones, which eliminate the need for expensive specialized phones.

Ongoing telephone expenses can be reduced because of the use of a PBX (instead of Centrex) and because voice and data functions share the same phone lines.

REDUCED NEED FOR TECHNICAL STAFF

IBC solutions are easy to use and simple to manage, reducing or eliminating the need for technical staff. Better products can typically be configured in ten minutes, locally or from a remote site.

EXPANDED COMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITIES

As described earlier, the IBC solution provides a broad range of integrated communications functions, allowing staff and clients to easily communicate. Users control the product's capabilities; they can use all the system's features or just the tools with which they are comfor-table.

INCREASED PRODUCT

Employees become much more effective in interfacing with customers. For example, salespeople can have all calls forwarded to their cell phones when they are on the road. Users can view all their e-mail and voice mail messages on their PC screen, and deal with matters on the basis of priority, not on expediency. In fields where prices fluctuate rapidly, employees have up-to-themoment prices; everyone sees the same set of data. Applications can share data, to support better business decisions.

A MORE PROFESSIONAL IMAGE

Regardless of size, businesses partially establish their professional image by their communications capabilities. A comprehensive feature set reinforces an image of competence and professionalism and helps these organizations compete.

"FUTURE-PROOFED" INVESTMENT

The scaleable IBC product can accommodate organizational growth and future technologies. Users can "mix and match" capabilities by selecting the appropriate telephony, LAN, and wide area connectivity modules.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESELLERS

Integrated Business Communications represents a tremendous opportunity for VARs, distributors, system integrators, and other resellers. Specifically, an IBC solution offers resellers the opportunity to do the following:

CULTIVATE ADDITIONAL TELEPHONY AND/OR DATA-EXPERTISE

Historically, the sales channel has been divided between data and telephony resellers. Each group had its own area of expertise and rarely ventured onto the other side. However, as local area networks became increasingly pervasive in smaller companies, customers became interested in getting their data and telephony needs met by a single provider.

Integrated Business Communications solutions offer resellers a solid opportunity to easily cross the voice/data line with a straightforward approach that addresses the complexity of integration within the product itself. The reseller only needs to be trained on a single platform that meets a long list of communications objectives.

EXPAND THEIR MARKET

Resellers find it easy to market the IBC solution because it helps level the playing field for companies at a time when competitors - from across the street or across the world - can steal their customers. It is easy to deploy IBC solutions because they primarily leverage mature, well-defined technologies. These components are specifically designed to work together, making it easy for customers to use them and resellers to deploy them. All the difficulties associated with integration are addressed long before the sales cycle. There are no difficulties with mixing and matching products, and no finger pointing if customers' needs are not met.

ATTRACT NEW CUSTOMERS

There are already more than three million small to mid-sized businesses (with between five and 250 employees) in North America. By all accounts, that number is growing at a phenomenal rate. Together with autonomous remote offices of larger institutions (another IBC candidate), this represents a burgeoning and very promising marketplace. Since these organizations focus primarily on their own businesses and have limited time and resources for technology matters, they will be attracted to the efficiency and effectiveness of Integrated Business Communications.

GENERATE ONGOING SALES

The modular architecture of IBC solutions assures maximum flexibility and scalability. The reseller can configure the system to meet the specific needs of the particular site. If, for example needs change due to company growth or the emergence of new technologies, the reseller can upgrade the customer simply by swapping out a module. This scalability gives resellers the opportunity for ongoing sales as they open their customer base to upcoming technological advances.

DEVELOP AN ONGOING SERVICE BUSINESS

Since they are designed for small and mid-sized businesses without internal technical staffs, IBC solutions emphasize remote management. This makes servicing the account very efficient and dramatically reduces customer-support issues.

TAn ADVANTAGE OF EMERGING COMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITIES

One interesting effect of the modular architecture is its impact on the adoption of emerging technologies. IBC makes it easy for resellers to stay in the forefront of new technologies (such as unified messaging, DSL or voice over IP) because all they need to do is to swap out a module. Customers will be more willing to adopt new technologies because they will not require expensive "forklift" upgrades.

BECOME A "COMMUNICATIONS PARTNER"

Using IBC solutions, resellers can more easily become strategic partners with their customers, rather than simply faceless, one-time providers, Being considered an advanced communications provider, up to date on current technologies, is a much richer value proposition than today's typical situation in which price is often the primary differentiator between vendors.

Integrated Business Communications has tremendous benefits for small to medium-sized businesses. It receives an impressive array of communications features that improve productivity, increase efficiency, lower costs, and enhance images.

In turn, IBC helps resellers attract new customers, expand their service offerings, and take advantage of emerging communications capabilities. IBC offers resellers a promising and timely opportunity to differentiate themselves.

In short, Integrated Business Communications helps resellers develop and solidify a strategic partnership relationship with their customers, making both more competitive, productive and profitable.

Praxon, Inc. develops and markets solutions for the integrated Business Communications market worldwide. The Praxon Phone Data eXchange (PDX) system, the flagship product, integrates four essential business communications functions: voice, data networking, messaging and Internet access capabilities into one seamless, all-inclusive system solution. The product is designed for the small and medium businesses, as well as remote offices.

For more information on Praxon, call 408/871-1600, sales department. or visit Praxon's website located at http://www.praxon.com.

EDITOR'S NOTES: With more than 30 years of computer industry experience, Praxon president and CEO Tom Williams specializes in start-up, turnaround and quick-growth companies. Prior to starting Praxon in December 1996, Williams was the president and CEO of Combinet, a pioneer in the ISDN LAN remote access space, which he founded in 1988. In 1995, Combinet was acquired by Cisco Systems. Prior to his experience at Combinet and Cisco, Williams worked with a variety of technology companies, including Novell's Communications Products Division (formerly CU), where he served as vice president of sales, vice president of marketing and director of business development during his four-year tenure. Williams serves on Boards of Directors of Release Software, JTEC PTY Ltd., and Sprint Technologies. He is also a widely sought-after consultant to the venture capitalist comin unity.

Copyright B U S Publishing Group, Inc. Feb 2000
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