TRENT GOODALL, MOBILE PHONE SERVICE CENTRE, (TG): The biggest opportunity I have found is customers relocating.
MSM: If they are moving premises, why are you telling a customer to go to an IP handset rather than a digital handset?
TG: We haven't gone to IP handsets yet. We have been putting in converged systems with a digital handset so the customer knows they won't have to replace the whole system further down the track.
MSM: What do they want though? Why do they want convergence? What are the advantages of switching from digital to VoIP?
BB: I find it very difficult to sell on future advantages. You need to be offering tangible benefits today and future considerations can only be a small percentage of the uplift. If people don't have a need to do something now, how much can you sell them on promises for the future?
RH: There are real business benefits today in the key features. We went from a digital key system to a converged solution because we wanted to try the product before we started flogging it. It brings things like voicemail.
MSM: I will sell VoIP because people have heard of it and are willing to pay a little bit more but I feel guilty doing that because there is no really clear benefit.
MH: It's about business intelligence, skills-based routing, auto attendant. Many small businesses are run by husband and wife teams and half the management is then out of action during the school holidays. Using VoIP they can be securely connected to the system from home and there is a cost benefit to that.
MSM: We run a hosted PABX for that exact benefit. If I was going to put a converged system in there are some serious complexities around people working from home.
RB: You refresh desktops every three years but phone systems last much longer. With hybrid and IP systems it is nice to know you have a few things in your tool kit for the future.
BB: The rate of churn in the data world has been much greater than in voice. You still pick up a phone and talk to people and that doesn't change whether it's IP, digital or analogue. There are additional benefits in using digital but are these features relevant to SMB? Some of them are and some of them are not. In a five-man company you don't need corporate directory because you know everybody.
SC: What about mid-market SMB?
BB: It is a case-by-case basis because some can see benefit but others couldn't care less about IP.
SC: Organisations like law firms with 100 users are where convergence comes into its own.
BB: We have a couple of law firms in our portfolio with 20-50 users and they have the latest whiz-bang systems.
AA: VoIP has promised so much for so long but larger companies often build solutions to a budget rather than meeting customer requirements. Suddenly the system doesn't work as well as it should and that bad news is hurting the VoIP market.
BB: The first question I ask when people enquire about IP telephony is whether they are prepared to spend $1500 per user. If not, they shouldn't even consider it.
MSA: From a vendor perspective, what was the notion behind introducing this technology into the SMB market? Is it to save money in the long term or to integrate devices so there is consolidation of equipment and maintenance is more effective? If you tackle it from a business perspective, voice is voice. Data networks are the same and we are dealing with commodities. We are telling people VoIP is the best thing since sliced bread but we have never told them why.
