Acclaimed US firm shakes up markets, outshines big-name vendors

 

Tellumat Telecoms, the converged communications specialist in the Tellumat Group, has been awarded the exclusive South African distribution rights of the IP communications range from US-based rising star ShoreTel.

 

Since inception in 1998, ShoreTel has taken the US market by storm and is now enjoying rapid global growth – out-pacing the mushrooming IP comms market and doubling in size every year. The company has won critical acclaim from respected research firm Frost & Sullivan, which puts its “explosive growth” down to a “clean-sheet approach”. (ShoreTel designed its pure IP systems from the ground up, evading the baggage of TDM technology whilst not compromising on carrier-class reliability and quality.)

 

Independent research by Nemertes further gives ShoreTel’s extensive IP range top honours in every one of four categories (features, customer service, value and ease of use), and places it first among a veritable ‘who’s who’ of telecoms vendors*.

 

Bennie Langenhoven, Managing Executive of Tellumat Telecoms, says two years ago they began looking for communications technology with the potential to disrupt the market – “something in the unified (IP-centric) communication space with a strong and unique value proposition and proven reliability. ShoreTel’s range was very attractive in all these respects, and organisationally the company is also very impressive. We believe the SA market will embrace ShoreTel too.”

 

Langenhoven notes the following attributes of ShoreTel’s technology as the most impressive:

• Unique distributed architecture allowing simple integration into many business applications, failover reliability, scalability and cost-effective manageability
• Independently audited customer satisfaction programme (bonuses at all levels of the organisation are mapped to a customer satisfaction index)
• Lowest cost of ownership for VOIP solutions and
• Ease-of-use

 

ShoreTel's VOIP system includes state-of-the-art switches, feature-rich software and ergonomically designed phones for enterprise-class functionality at a low total cost of ownership.

 

Mark Swendsen, ShoreTel MD in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, says the company delivers its solutions exclusively through a two-tier channel composed of in-country distributors and resellers. “ShoreTel has developed an innovative channel partner programme, and will be running a series of educational seminars, vendor showcases and regional exhibitions, to recruit a lean, forward-thinking channel of VARs.”

 

“We are delighted to be launching our presence officially in South Africa with this new distribution agreement with Tellumat,” he adds. “We have secured a major position in VOIP sales in the US and are very much looking forward to bringing the many benefits of our system, including reliability, scalability and ease of use, to organisations there.”

 

Langenhoven says, “Tellumat took its time to come up with a potential partner whose portfolio and organisational ethos would serve its own customers well in the long run. “We generally select a product range on the basis of tangible value – quality at a low total cost of ownership and a good return on investment. All these metrics are answered convincingly by ShoreTel.”

 

* The Nemertes report is available at: http://www.shoretel.com/resources/industry_research/downloads/shoretel_nemertes_executive_summary.pdf

 

Ends.

About Tellumat

Tellumat is an innovative, black empowered, South African technology company that has achieved a BBBEE Status Level 4 rating, defined as “Superior Contributor to BEE” in terms of the DTI’s Codes of Good Practice. It consists of three major trading divisions; Communications, Defence and Contract Manufacturing, and three partly owned companies; Sia Solutions (Pty) Ltd, Encee Engineering (Pty) Ltd and SIMpill (Pty) Ltd. Tellumat services three primary market areas, namely wireless voice and data communications, defence communication systems and high precision electronic and mechanical manufacturing. Tellumat is a world-class business focused on innovation, offering our customers dynamic and competitive technology products and services. We focus on understanding our customers' needs and forming long-term strategic alliances with likeminded enterprises worldwide.

www.tellumat.com

 

 

About ShoreTel, Inc.

ShoreTel, Inc., (NASDAQ: SHOR) is a leading provider of Pure IP Unified Communications solutions. ShoreTel enables companies of any size to seamlessly integrate all communications-voice, video, messaging and data -with their business processes. Independent of device or location, ShoreTel's distributed software architecture eliminates the traditional costs, complexity and reliability issues typically associated with other solutions. ShoreTel continues to deliver the highest levels of customer satisfaction, ease of use and manageability while driving down the overall total cost of ownership. ShoreTel is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has regional offices in the United Kingdom, Sydney, Australia and Munich, Germany. For more information, visit http://www.shoretel.com or call T: +44 (0) 800 652 8645.

 

By: Dominik Schulte-Zurhausen, Marketing Manager, Tellumat Telecoms

The business and social environments are changing rapidly. More importantly, the way we, as individuals, can and choose to communicate is evolving constantly. Competition is fierce, technology is moving at an ever more rapid pace and communication can no longer be served through a telephone on a desk, a mobile phone in a pocket, a fax machine in an office or even a full featured PBX in a basement.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect to the evolving communication landscape is the fact that the line between people`s business and personal lives is eroding. This is especially true in respect to how people and businesses choose and wish to communicate with each other. Personalized, intuitive, always on, any time, any place service is the order of the day. As business leaders and decision makers we need to be aware of these changes and capitalize on these so that any possible positive benefits have a constructive impact on the bottom line while at the same we are able to minimize any inherent negative impacts that these changes may bring to the surface.

How an organization communicates and empowers its stakeholders to communicate with it is, in today’s environment, a key differentiator and business driver to operational success or failure.

In order to maintain operations and gain a competitive advantage; business decision makers are required to make more precise, effective and faster decisions with regards to their communication platforms while ensuring flexibility in the platform and guaranteeing ROI.

Our world has changed. Technology has changed and is continually changing the way we work, live and play. If you are like me, ‘Generation X’ bordering on ‘Generation Y’, then you may identify with this article. If not then this article may be of even greater importance to you.

While technology has impacted and changed every facet of our personal lives, businesses have to a large extend failed to react accordingly. 9 to 5 is still the modus operandi with regard to the general workforce. Businesses that adhere to this rhetoric do not harvest the full benefits that their payroll has to offer. It’s actually quite simple, you give someone a hammer and that person can drive in nails, give that same person a toolbox and he will create. The type of workforce you employ is by and large not defined or constrained by their willingness or ability, but by the tools you, the business, have made available to them.

This has the effect that employers are not leveraging ICT advances to their full potential and employees are experiencing an ever widening rift between their work place and personal lives.

My working day starts at 8:00 and ends at 16:30. However, if you are in the services industries and in any way working within the connected community then I hope you join me in saying that the static notion of a 9 to 5 idea of a job is archaic at best and should be relegated to the attic right along side with Taylorism.

A typical modern lifestyle requires flexibility. Being physically in the office when presence is required and/or when it makes economic and social sense to you, the employer and/or customers. In my case: I hold down a full time job. I study at night. I have friends and family spread across multiple time zones all over the world. My web presence is a part of my life. I am always connected. It defines me. I am my networks and my associated presence defines me. 24 hours a day. I do not switch off or change my presence between 9 and 5.

How do I do this? While you sit in the traffic so that you can get to the office by 8 I have already scanned my mails, read the latest news, listened to last nights market indicators, reviewed my voicemail, scanned my faxes, updated my presence and made various content contributions through various media channels.

When I drive to work it is after rush hour, saving me an hour and a half of frustration and burning petrol. I am efficiently cruising to work having peace of mind that I am up-to-date on all fronts. Everyone on my network knows exactly where I am, how I am, what I am doing and how to get hold of me. Phone me, skype me, fax me, SMS me, twitter me, comment on my blog, email me, find me on Facebook, leave me a message on MySpace, send me an instant message or interrogate my linked in profile anytime anywhere. I will know that you are trying to contact me and who you are where you are and how you are.

But that is me. I don’t consider myself at the forefront of what is possible. If you really want to know what is possible at the bleeding edge then go to the schools and watch your kids. That is where next generation services will be defined. That is your window into the future. Not a trade show. Not a magazine, but right here with our kids. Watch, learn, apply and enjoy your competitive edge.

Product Overview

The Sigma is akin to an ICT ‘Swiss-army-knife’ for the SOHO market, combining all of your home/office data and voice requirements into a smart, efficient, single appliance platform.

Can you imagine still requiring separate appliances for your scanning, copying, faxing and printing requirements? Surely not, the world has moved on to smarter, more efficient and more integrated devices.

Steven Ambrose, from gadget.co.za had this to say, “The Sigma integrates all your home, and small office communication needs, into one small box. The Sigma is truly the sum of all your communication needs in your small office and at home.” You can read his full report here.

Features

I could list every single feature that relate to enterprise class telephony systems and every feature of bleeding edge broadband access routers and still not give this little big beast the justice it deserves. Instead I will highlight to you a couple of key attributes of the Sigma. At the end of this article I will provide you with the links to download the complete feature list at your leisure.

• Full featured and integrated PBX that supports, 4 wired extensions, 4 wireless (DECT) extensions, Voicemail, Music on hold and many more telephony features. On the access side you can connect 2 PSTN lines and up to 2 VoIP lines giving you a total of 4 trunks on only 2 wires. This offers end user the security and reliability of PSTN for emergency and local calls and the cost advantages of VoIP for long distance calls.

• Broadband Access through an on-board ADSL 2+ router, firewall LAN network switch, WiFi (802.11 b/g) router and WAN port allowing you to connect any 3^rd party access device. This appliance, the Sigma, gives you the capability to download at up to 24Mb/s, connect 4 wired PC`s to your network and share one internet access account. You can also extend your network natively through 32 802.11 b/g WiFi devices giving you a total network capacity of 36 high speed LAN network ports.

• Price sensitivity is proven time and time again by comparing the standalone devices required to give you the same baseline functionality that the Sigma provides. A full featured ADSL router, a 4 port DECT solution, a small hybrid PBX and all the cables, power adapters and peripherals you would need for a similar integrated system will set you back considerably more then a Sigma integrated solution in terms of CAPEX. In terms of OPEX you will be spending significantly less on energy costs, real estate costs (desk space), setup time costs, and maintenance and configuration change costs.

• The Sigma is environmentally friendly. You can now have a clear conscience that when running your business or home solution that you are operating in the most energy efficient way possible.

To Sum Up

“Our customers’ offices are slick, energy efficient, always on and rely on only a single appliance. Whether our customers are at their desks, on the couch, in the garden, on the road or surfing the web, they are an effective, professional and contactable presence. Always. It is actually quite simple. Sigma run SOHOs are simply better. Period”- Dominik S-Z, Marketing Manager, Tellumat Telecoms.

The term ‘Green Computing’ addresses the efficient use of computer resources by business and individuals alike. As natural persons I like to think that we are all aware of the criticality that our personal and business decisions have on the environment.

However, a business, in the sense of being an entity which has no such innate prerogatives as to be concerned about the environmental impacts that its operations have on the environment can not by itself be expected to factor in the long-term value and importance of initiatives such as ‘Green Computing’.

‘Green Computing’, from a technology point of view, is effective and has the potential to dramatically redress the environmental impact that our business creates. What is needed is not more hype around these technologies, but rather an educated and demanding shareholder base that expects of its executives quantifiable returns on multiple bottom lines.

I.e. the triple bottom line: Planet, Profit, People

By: Dominik Schulte-Zurhausen, Marketing Manager, Tellumat Telecoms

In light of the fact that UC`s low level purpose is to present all communication media channels in an integrated manner to the end user, UC products can then be defined to be those technology artifacts (hardware, software and processes) which support the underlying media and allows for integration into a single user interface that allows for enhanced collaboration and improved business process structures. UC solutions are then not stand alone products, but rather suites of incorporated tools that enable the business and the individual to integrate their communication requirements.

• The proliferation of IP networking throughout the enterprise and telecommunication carriers.
• The capability of software applications to provide all communication requirements via off-the-shelf (OTS) computing hardware and delivery of data via IP packets to the end user device.

Of course in South Africa and many other developing nations around the world, the constantly reducing cost of bandwidth has also given a dramatic rise to the demand and interest for UC solutions based on IP networking.

• Real-time transactions such as voice and video calls via fixed, mobile or soft phones
• Live collaboration using voice, video and web conferencing with options for application sharing
• Instant messaging (IM) based communication for peers and groups alike
• Delayed messaging such as e-mail, voice-mail, sms/mms, fax based communication
• Multi-endpoint (endpoint agnostic) support such as desktops, laptops, phones and mobile phones
• Value added applications that allow for presence management, directory services, skills based routing, personal assistants, CEBP (through API and/or service interfaces and tools that facilitate the integration of business application with communication)
• Wireless technologies supporting voice and data mobility (DECT, IP-DECT, WiFi, WiMax, GSM, UMTS, Pico-Cell etc) with options for transparent handover
• Least cost routing over a variety of media channels

What is not Unified Communications?
To wrap up

Business communications (voice minutes as well as bandwidth) generally rates among a business's top three costs, across all industries and geographies. It shares this dubious honour with the monthly salary bill and capital expenses. So how can you bring about savings? In South Africa the cost of telecoms is traditionally higher than the global norm. In fact, it has often acted as a deterrent to foreign investment in the country, a huge loss especially to the call centre outsourcing industry. Add the current global economic downturn to these factors, and the call to contain the cost of telecoms becomes deafening, says Langenhoven, managing executive, Tellumat Telecoms.

Return on technology
Langenhoven says one of the surest ways to achieve communications savings is through the judicious use of technology. While some vendors market their technology as boosters of top- or bottom-line earnings, the real strength of communications technology is in its potential to save money. “In fact, return on investment in technology purchases is measured almost solely in terms of cost - the costs incurred versus the costs saved by virtue of owning technology. If the cost incurred is less than the cost saved, and the quantum of the saving is high enough, you've made a sound purchase,” he says.

The case for efficiency
In this way, a very good case can still be made for communications technology that increases efficiencies and saves money - even or perhaps especially in troubled times. “Here are two simple examples: rather than make a series of phone calls to track someone down, well-integrated communications technologies will bring the search down significantly and dramatically enhance efficiencies. And powerful modern collaboration tools easily beat being physically present at a meeting in another town for sheer value. It is almost unthinkable to burn money in a period that some commentators are already calling the Great Recession,” says Langenhoven.

What savings are and are not
“The true savings of converged communications and applications like unified communications are not so much the lower cost of voice minutes and bandwidth, as often claimed. Most of the savings lie in improved efficiencies,” he says. Businesses realise they can effectively do the same things and achieve the same outcomes more efficiently, more quickly or more cost-effectively. In some cases the re-engineering of business processes together with integrated voice technologies makes the critical difference to an organisation. “If businesses integrate communications technology effectively and manage technologies like presence well, they optimise their external interaction and become more effective. Once they reach their customers, suppliers and partners without incurring great cost, they realise cost benefits and achieve an edge over less clear-thinking competitors. Some of these savings are measurable; others, like saved opportunity costs, less so,” he says.

Take care
It would serve companies well to remember that total cost of ownership of a technology goes far beyond its upfront price. Maintenance is an oft-forgotten invisible cost that sometimes blind-sides technology buyers. For instance, least-cost routing is often embraced without considering the high cost of maintaining it. “In short, be sure to look at both sides of the deal - costs saved versus costs incurred. Does the right side pull the scale down?” asks Langenhoven.

While some vendors continue to market voice over Internet Protocol(VOIP), it is time to move on from this misleading term in the quality conscious arena of enterprise communications. “VOIP will find it hard to live down its association with cheap Internet calls,” says Bennie Langenhoven, Managing Executive of Tellumat Telecoms, the communications specialist in the Tellumat Group. “But IP-based communication is so much more than that. When done right, it enables efficient, productive communications through convergence, or what has come to be known as ‘unified communication’.”Unified communications benefits
The benefits of unified comms (UC) include:

• Increased productivity – for instance the ability to do e-mail on the run, work seamlessly from home or collaborate on a wide range of platforms, internally or externally (combining instant messaging, e-mail, white-boarding, application sharing and conferencing with voice calls);
• Customer satisfaction – presence management allows customers to find a representative wherever he or she may be. Staff interaction with customers need never be unprofessional, as communication is always front-ended with a company number;
• Reduced costs – one needs fewer resources (including skills) and less infrastructure to handle unified communications than one does to handle separate voice and IT comms. Presence management also allows optimal routing of calls via the cheapest channel;
• UC can even be environmentally friendly: conferencing tools reduce travel carbon emissions,
• Automation – integrated with business processes, companies can auto-generate meaningful communications. For example, a debtors clerk can be reminded of a specific customer’s due date though integration with the company’s ERP system.

Business process end-game
The magic of UC is IP or Internet Protocol, the common fabric that weaves together traditional computer communications (e-mail, IM and Web-conferencing) with voice (fixed and mobile), video and new Web 2.0 communications tools. Where will UC lead us? To an end-game of communications driven business processes, Langenhoven says. “In the future, voice will be driven by business processes. There won’t be a dedicated voice switch that is integrated into the enterprise back-end. Voice will be an application like any other on the network, built into business processes from the ground up. Voice switching will be driven by business rules, not by the number dialled.”

Place your bets
The technology battle around unified comms is still intensifying, and is waged by traditional IP stalwarts including Cisco and Microsoft on the one end, and telecoms vendors like Siemens and Alcatel-Lucent on the other. Two years ago Tellumat went in search of UC technology that would heavily impact the market. Recently it won the distribution rights for Shore-Tel, a North American rising star that has both critical acclaim and excellent growth figures. Frost & Sullivan recognises ShoreTel’s “explosive growth” (its sales have doubled each year since inception in 1998, outpacing the bustling IP comms market). The research firm notes that ShoreTel has an edge over other players, in that it had started “from a clean sheet of paper”, an approach that solves the integration conundrum in a way that the other camps are finding hard to emulate. Langenhoven says among others, ShoreTel’s pure IP focus and distributed architecture attracted Tellumat. “We were looking for something to compete well in the new (unified) technology space, something that offers both a strong differentiation and a high degree of reliability. To us as long-time manufacturer-distributors of PBXs, the need for reliability is a non-negotiable. At the same time, we appreciate the IT mindset of a network that easily supports multiple sites. In ShoreTel we found the best combination of those qualities.” He says the following attributes of the vendor and its range are the most impressive:

• Unique architecture and simple integration into many business applications
• Independently audited customer satisfaction programme (bonuses at all levels of the organisation are mapped to a customer satisfaction index)
• Lowest cost of ownership for VOIP solutions
• Ease-of-use, and
• Cost-effective manageability, thanks to the distributed IP architecture

Independent praise
Langenhoven and Frost are not alone in their praise. A second independent research organisation, Nemertes, rated ShoreTel’s portfolio against those of Avaya, Cisco, Nortel, Siemens, 3Com and Alcatel-Lucent. Unbelievably, it awarded the newcomer top honours in every category (features, customer service, value and ease of use). Overall, ShoreTel rated as follows against its peers: While the results are highly favourable to ShoreTel, notes Nemertes, the report was conducted solely by it, and was not sponsored by any company, including ShoreTel. Langenhoven’s take on the vendor’s winning qualities is that Tellumat generally selects a product range on the basis of tangible value, which translates into quality at a low total cost of ownership and a good return on investment. “All these metrics are answered convincingly by ShoreTel. One can scarcely imagine a better value proposition than this.” * The Nemertes report is available here: http://www.shoretel.com/resources/industry_research/downloads/shoretel_nemertes_executive_summary.pdf

Tellumat Telecoms, the communications technology specialist in the Tellumat Group, will boost its formidable business communication offering this year with some of the lessons it learned selling to smaller customers in 2008. Bennie Langenhoven, managing executive of the business unit, reports signing many new small and medium enterprise (SME) customers last year, having aligned itself in that market segment with sought-after telco partners including Telkom, iBurst, Orion Telecom and Vox Telecom. “Several of them are doing really well for us, and we want to add to their portfolios,” says Langenhoven. Tellumat further expects to sign more partners in the SME space this year, but more importantly, it wants to extend its offering with some of the existing partners, to use them in its larger enterprise channel too. “We already have a good reputation as a business comms supplier,” Langenhoven says. “It is this strength that attracted these great partners to us in the first place – telcos, service providers, ISPs and the bigger resellers and distributors. Now it makes sense to use them to reinforce our enterprise proposition.”

Tellumat enterprise credentials

• Importation, warehousing and logistics experience to support customers and partners
• Pre- and post-implementation service portfolio, including project management, systems integration, support and training
• A strong research and development capability within the Tellumat Group, which enables Telecoms to customise products or easily integrate them into customer infrastructure
• Solid experience in various core and access technologies, including ADSL, wireless, leased line, microwave, WiMAX and satellite
• Long-standing voice experience (two decades in which it sold two million ports)
• Leading brands (Lake Communications’ all-in-one Sigma small business comms unit; Inter-Tel’s hybrid and pure Internet Protocol platforms, as well as its management platform and collaboration apps; KIRK DECT and Wi-Fi telephony; and Polycom’s IP and conferencing solutions). Tellumat will soon be launching a leading enterprise IP communication solution
• Local intellectual property (locally-manufactured PBXs, GSM payphones, microwave links and more)
• Premier case studies (microwave backhaul links for Neotel and the SA National Defence Force, as well as many enterprise networks, call centres and cordless installations)
• Global clout (since Inter-Tel’s merger with Mitel, Tellumat has access to the brand, technologies and close presence of Mitel)
• Local identity and empowerment (Tellumat is a Level 4 BBBEE Superior Contributor in terms of the dti’s Codes of good Practice)
Langenhoven says he is confident that Tellumat can continue its success, which he says is based on contributing to the success of its customers. “Despite a global economic downturn and some fall-out in traditional telco supplier circles, we’ve grown our turnover by 30% last year,” he says. “Our partners andcustomers can expect the Tellumat they know and trust to continue to provide great technology and service to them in years to come.”