MARKET REVIEW
Taking the soft option I
ntegration is the top driver for buying soft PBXs because more and more organisations want to combine their telephone with virtually any other app on the network. “Pretty much every vendor is now introducing some kind of soft switch which is indicative of how the market is changing and how demand for unified communications has really gone through the roof,” stated Marco Crueger, Sales Director at Swyx. “End users finally understand what the benefits are and why going for a soft option will enable them to future proof their investment and satisfy the modern way that businesses want to work.”
Marco Crueger
Many argue that a comms landscape dominated by software-based communication systems is the only version of the future. Here, we examine the hard facts about the soft option and reveal a business case that is difficult to dismiss.
According to Crueger the soft PBX opportunity for resellers is ‘immense’. “Companies are now working differently,” he pointed out. “For example, they are now more aware of the benefits that a distributed workforce can bring in the shape of increased productivity and reduced office costs. Products such as Swyx can make it possible to support remote, home-based and mobile workers so they are simply just another extension on the network. The arrival of rich presence means that employees can see on-screen who is available or what is the best way of contacting them, whether they’re physically in the same office or at another site or location.”
Swyx is currently running a number of campaigns to educate potential partners about the benefits of unified communications and aims to have a further 50 on its books by the end of this year. “In parallel we are working closely with our existing partners on providing them with marketing and end user lead generation support,” commented Crueger. “This is helping to boost revenues for ourselves and the channel.”
The greatest demand for soft PBX solutions has come from SMB customers looking for a quick and effective VoIP solution, observes Mike Ballantine, Business Development Manager, Aastra Telecom (UK). He said: “A soft PBX can often be the
ideal solution for small businesses looking to provide telephone service to a number of internal users, because the PBX can be set up and run on a single desktop computer without the need for a large capital investment or space for traditional hardware. This ease of installation and deployment is what makes a soft PBX such a popular solution.”
Customers with in-house technical resources are more likely to prefer a soft solution that they can customise and configure. Other customers may prefer a standard call control manager that provides a robust and reliable solution to meet their needs. “The market is dynamic and constantly evolving,” said Ballantine. “The big opportunities lie in applications around remote working multi-site operation and new technologies such as presence. Resellers must also be alert to customer needs for fixed mobile convergence and unified communications solutions.”
Flexibility
Resellers must be also be flexible and not hide behind convention. “Adaptability is the key to success in a technology intensive market and resellers need to constantly be sensitive to new opportunities to meet customer needs,” Ballantine added.
Aastra’s soft PBX solution, the Aastra 800, has been designed to be straightforward. According to Ballantine it is easy to install, no programming is required, just download and install the software, then configure it using an intuitive web browser interface. “Once
configured users can then begin using the Aastra 800 straight away with functionality that is exactly the same as its hardware- based counterpart,” he said.
Soft PBXs are reshaping the comms landscape, reckons Nick Galea, CEO at 3CX. “Companies are wanting to manage a PBX just like any other enterprise software and not as a black box over which they have no control and with which they cannot integrate,” he said. “The market is not just moving away from proprietary boxes but also away from appliances that run Linux. The market is moving towards Windows soft PBX simply because that is what customers run on their servers and network. A Windows-based PBX is easier to integrate with Windows apps and easier to both monitor and manage since customers already have Windows Servers. We are seeing serious demand from health and government sectors, as well as SMEs and corporates. The 3CX soft PBX is becoming seen as a business app that does away with unnecessarily complicated hardware.”
For comms resellers there is still a reliance on hardware, however, education and training are helping to advance the soft PBX option, along with market demand and the realisation of margin potential. “All PBXs will move to a soft PBX sooner or later,” claims Galea “It’s just a question of how long companies will hang on to make the change. The next 12-24 months will see significant growth, and the big opportunity lies in the Windows market.”
Soft PBX case study – page 19 Customers Nick Galea
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are wanting to manage a PBX just like any other software
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