The telecom research firm In-Stat projects over 3 million Hosted IP seats will be in service by 2010, up from 373,000 in 2006. Hosted IP will command over $2 billion in revenues by that time as well. What share of this lucrative market will be yours?
Whether you operate your own Hosted IP network, lease, or serve as an agent for a wholesale Hosted IP provider, time-to-revenue is key to growing your business. If any component of your offer lengthens the time it takes for an enterprise customer to make a purchase decision, it leaves room for a competitor to come in with another offer. Either the customer becomes confused, or your sale is lost altogether.
Sell the Value of Hosted IP, Secure the Customer
The fastest way to secure Hosted IP customers while maintaining sustainable value for the service provider is to reduce or eliminate objections. Utilizing Citel’s Portico™ TVA™ as part of your Hosted IP solution does just this. Enterprise customers connect directly to your platform utilizing existing PBX handsets and wiring infrastructure, and the LAN is avoided completely. Now your customers can focus on the benefits of IP telephony, not the obstacles to obtaining them.
Imagine having these answers to your customers’ commonly asked questions:
What should I do with my existing PBX handsets? Throw them away?
“If you migrate to our Hosted IP platform, our high-value features are pushed directly to the handsets already on your desks. They essentially become new IP handsets. Features can be the same as before, or different. Use your laptop or desktop for new graphical applications, such as directory or browser services.”
How will adding a voice application to my LAN affect data performance and voice quality?
“For most users, our Hosted IP platform doesn’t utilize the LAN, so no LAN assessment or LAN upgrade is necessary. Voice quality is dependent instead on your WAN connection, which we provide directly.”
How do the economics of your offer change when new equipment investments are factored in?
“Since we connect your existing PBX handsets directly to our Hosted IP network, only a minimal equipment investment is necessary, which just adds value to the cost savings you’ll realize on our network.”
What are all the extra costs I can expect with my installation? New handsets? New wiring? Power over Ethernet?
“None of those are necessary. To install your new Hosted IP service we simply unplug the cables from your existing PBX box in the phone closet and attach them to ports on the Portico TVA, which connects directly to our network through a router. You’ll continue to use your existing handsets and wiring.”
What kind of downtime can I expect with the cutover?
“Cutover to your new Hosted IP service can take place in as little as five minutes.”
What training is involved?
“Minimal phone training is necessary unless you choose to program the phone buttons differently. Either way, employees are using the same handsets, and they will continue to use them in basically the same way. Applications training is straightforward; new applications are offered on the laptop or desktop computer, and users will naturally already be familiar with their computer’s functionality.”