IT Expo 2011

I spent the day today at IT Expo at the Miami Beach (just across town from our headquarters) and here are some observations and thoughts.

Concern About the Channel

More than one person today has asked me my opinion on the future of the channel, meaning the telecom agent channel. The concern is that channel programs appear to (again) be threatened with major carriers, like – most recently – Verizon, dramatically shortening the list of products the channel can sell and others – like AT&T – insisting that agents bundle mobile phones and plans into sales to qualify for commissions, looking to push the channel in ways that may not be beneficial to its health. But the more profound threat – and to me the more interesting one – is whether the decided shift to complex, cloud-delivered solutions is one to which the channel will successfully adapt.

There is no question that the stereotypical telecom agent – who knocks on doors, learns what a company buys today, and returns tomorrow with several quotes for comparable service for less – faces a challenging transformation. Those that will thrive, in my view, are the agents and agencies that understand their customers – and perhaps are vertical or even niche-focused – and that view the glass as at least half full. Yes, it’s true that the old way of doing business is going away but the new way actually offers tremendous opportunity. Instead of selling Internet access for perhaps $20 per user per month you can sell hosted applications that could amount to $100 per user or more. Agents that spend the next year clinging to the old way will fail. Those that embrace the new opportunities can prosper.

Knowing your customers and having a narrow focus could be a real key. Here are a couple interesting examples. Did you know that in the US alone there are 350,000 dentist offices? Focusing on just dentists – by developing a suite of applications that meets their specific needs – could result in a huge business. If you assembled a bundle of hosted applications – PBX, CRM/Practice Management, HIPAA-compliant storage/backup, and a few other apps – you could offer dentists a differentiated choice to the generic offerings of the leading telco providers. And if 10% of all dentist offices became your customer for $500 each per month that would be a $200 million business. It’s just an example – but it does illustrate that there are types of opportunity available today that didn’t exist a few years ago.

Clouds, Clouds Everywhere

Walking the exhibit hall floor it is clear that “cloud” is a term that is nearly-universally embraced – in the industry. Most booths and collateral display the term prominently. The challenge with this – and any industry-darling buzzword – is to make it relevant to customers. “Cloud”, in my view, has a ways to go on that front. The real benefits of cloud-based application delivery depends on customers changing how they operate too. A business that still runs mostly conventional installed software and stores much of their data locally is not going to fully benefit from the potential of the cloud. How many businesses are really ready for a cloud-centric methodology? Who will educate them to the wisdom of this approach? The answer is likely circular: whoever does will be successful at selling them a bunch of cloud-based services.

Now I’m off to Startup Camp – one of my favorite features of IT Expo.

Press Release - InPhonex, Ringio Join Forces to Deliver Intelligent, Virtual PBX Functionality to SMB Market

October 5, 2010

InPhonex, Ringio Join Forces to Deliver Intelligent, Virtual PBX Functionality to SMB Market
Ringio On InPhonex (ROI) Reseller Offering Provides Advanced Telephony Features at Reduced Cost

MIAMI and HERNDON, Va., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- A new partnership between InPhonex and Ringio is giving small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) access to PBX features and functionality previously only available for large enterprises. Both companies will introduce the new service at ITEXPO, which runs Oct. 4-6 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Ringio On InPhonex (ROI) incorporates features from Ringio, a cloud-based Rich Calling Service, and InPhonex, a telephony platform service provider, to create a unique offering for SMBs, including:

• Server-free advanced call center functions designed for SMB users, including personalized greetings; the ability to intelligently route and forward calls based on the caller's history; a learning knowledge base about callers and other advanced collaboration features, such as presence, notes and contact sharing.
• A fully featured mobile application.
• Intelligent screen-pop capability, which presents CRM data in the context of calls.
• The ability to use existing soft phones and VoIP phones with Ringio.
• Local number portability (LNP) in 15 countries.
• Integrating all PBX and telephony services from one provider, eliminating the need for multiple vendors and lowering costs.
• Designing customized managed calling plans, including bulk calling, worldwide calling and personalized calling plans.
• A global telecommunications footprint that includes 75 countries.

"Unlike most hosted PBX providers, which take existing on-premise PBX platforms and move them to the cloud, Ringio was developed from the beginning as an intelligent, cloud-based PBX to address the unique needs of SMBs," said Ringio Co-Founder and Chairman Michael Zirngibl. "Ringio On InPhonex builds upon that goal by giving SMB customers a single provider for their telephony, call center and PBX needs."

InPhonex is recruiting and selling ROI through channel partners, which can white-label the service and resell it to SMBs, while Ringio is selling the service directly to SMB customers.

"ROI is an attractive addition to the offerings we provide our thousands of value-added reseller partners," said InPhonex Chief Marketing Officer Matt Bramson. "Not only does ROI enrich resellers' opportunity to target SMBs – the largest segment of the enterprise market – but it also gives them a set of features unlike any other in the market."

Ringio On InPhonex has an average cost per user of about $40 per month for unlimited calling and an end-to-end solution.

Now in beta release, Ringio On InPhonex is expected to become generally available by the end of 2010. For more about becoming a channel partner for Ringio On InPhonex, visit www.inphonex.com/ROI.

About InPhonex

InPhonex is a global meta-carrier providing a comprehensive range of high-quality, feature-rich telephony services in more than 150 countries. Leveraging its flexible, high-capacity telephony platform, Miami-based InPhonex serves communications service providers, businesses of all sizes, value-added resellers (VARs) and consumers, under its own and other brands.

Offerings include multiple applications, services and utilities, such as VolP, hosted PBX, SIP trunking, product creation and provisioning. Easy to implement, InPhonex solutions help businesses round out their portfolios to attract more customers, manage more efficiently and generate more revenue per customer. For more information, please visit www.inphonex.com.

About Ringio

Located in Herndon, Va., Ringio is the first cloud-based Rich Calling Service to intelligently route calls to any phone in the world along with relevant information about the caller – making conversations more meaningful and productive. Integrating intelligent call routing and CRM data, Ringio provides capabilities previously available only through call centers and proprietary customizations – bringing Rich Calling Services down market to small and medium-size businesses for the first time. By enhancing conversations with context about the caller, Ringio enables companies to significantly improve their interaction and service with the people that matter to their business. For more information, please visit www.ringio.com.