Zultys Reseller Update

I received a call from a Zultys reseller today who was discussing the fact that Zultys has filed for Chapter 11. The VAR requested to stay anonymous.

According to this reseller the entire channel is very dedicated to the company and the customers. Apparently the VARS are having trouble finding a Zultys replacement — they love the native SIP support and built-in redundancy. According to this reseller, many dealers have lots of sales pending in the pipeline

"The channel got caught by surprise as sales were doing very well," this reseller told me.

The irony in the story is that according to this reseller, "There is enough money in the pipeline to pay for the purchase the company!" I am not sure how he would know this but perhaps the point s sales are doing extremely well — better than ever it seems.

According to my source, Zultys is trying to come up with a management buyout and other PBX vendors are looking to buy the company as well. What is upsetting to the channel is the fact the company has just released the 3.0 firmware edition as well as WiFi and other phones. The channel was very pumped until they heard the bad news.

My source had a quarter million dollars in pipeline to close the week of the Chapter 11 announcement. Others had huge opportunities that were taking place right at this time as well.

I asked if they are still selling Zultys systems and was told by the caller that they are not selling systems to new users until they know what is happening with the company.

Even still they have done $50k in the last week and a half to existing customers and not on a fire sale basis.

The Chapter 11 auction takes place in mid-October. A group of VARS are looking to buy the company as well. The VARs are approaching Zultys customers and venture capitalists to not let the company go away.

This VAR feels that other perspective bidders should know how strong the channel is. He wants to make sure that prospective bidders are aware of this. His concern is that the resellers don’t have a voice on the matter. He thinks it is an important story to be told. I agree.

I plan on meeting with a number of resellers at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo to see if I can assist in any way but as this reseller said, the whole matter may be resolved by then. We will be sure to keep you informed on the matter. Please check my blog frequently for updates and also set a Zultys TMCnet News Alert to be notified of any pending Zultys stories.

 
Update: (Oct 2, 2006) Please check out Zultys Restructuring Documents

  • Former employee
    September 28, 2006 at 2:32 am

    This is just more hype. Sales last 12 months were only $6M worldwide. This is nothing. So stories about $250K pipelines from one reseller are just simply hot-air promoted by Sunnyvale and swallowed by naive journalists. Milnes himself has said last 2 months sales were 40% of previous months, hardly enough to keep the lights on

  • Former employee
    September 28, 2006 at 2:38 am

    This is just more hype. Sales last 12 months were only $6M worldwide. This is nothing. So stories about $250K pipelines from one reseller are just simply hot-air promoted by Sunnyvale and swallowed by naive journalists. Milnes himself has said last 2 months sales were 40% of previous months. That is $250K a month WORLDWIDE hardly enough to keep the lights on. So dump the bullshit guys.

  • Not Buying It
    September 28, 2006 at 1:48 pm

    Obviously TMC is interested in advancing VoIP industry participants, but this promotion of an obviously over hyped company is disgraceful. Not naming the source essentially points to the source as being Zultys, and likely Iain Milnes in particular. It is the same kind of unsubstantiated bragging we have heard from him before. If the Zultys sales channel is “so strong” with sales “in the pipeline”, why go through bankruptcy at all. There are many alternatives to Zultys and VARs who have real customers will have no trouble filling demand with another vendors product. Do you really think your readers are so dumb as to believe this company is viable?

  • Rich Tehrani
    September 28, 2006 at 4:50 pm

    Thanks for the candid comments. The source of this conversation is not Iain Milnes. It is a real reseller and I verified the person is real and living and breathing. I spoke with him and unless Iain is great at disguising his voice we are Ok here.
    But I cannot understand how my posting of a conversation assumes anyone is dumb. Is this really what you meant to imply?
    Whether the company is viable remains to be seen over time. I have no bias. My goal in writing this blog was to ensure the little-guy has a voice. Is this reseller BSing me? It is possible. So we will have to see what happens here. I am just an objective observer.

  • Former Employee
    September 28, 2006 at 6:19 pm

    Yes he is. And he’s probably from Oregon!

  • California Reseller
    September 28, 2006 at 6:24 pm

    I can confirm we still have a pipeline of $150K (cost of goods) of Zultys. Although most of that is likely to go to Shoretel or Nortel or vanish into thin air unless we hear some good news soon.
    Additionally, we purchased at least $50K in the last few weeks primarily because of discounted software offered by Zultys. I even just installed a new MX250 with 20 phones and PRI.
    We are just a drop in the bucket, so I can only guess what the total pipeline for all resellers might be right now. Whatever it is, it is shrinking everyday for sure.
    I do agree that I was surprised to hear Zultys was only a 6M company. We had been led to believe they were much bigger than that..
    That said, I _really_ believe in the product. It can compete with *anyone* in the market and win hands down with both features and price at almost any size. I see no good reason Zultys couldn’t become a 100 million dollar company in a few years except for the fact that they are filing chapter 11 and all their employees have found new jobs…
    That never stopped Donald Trump though..
    I think there are three possibilities of what could happen in the next few weeks. I’ll list them in the order I think they might happen.
    1. Iain, purchases the company back, hires back some key players and makes another go at it. Afterall, he has $65 million of his own in this.
    2. Someone else purchases it and kills it or rebrands it as their own. Seeing as they are only a 6M company and currently in chapter 11, this might not even be necessary..
    3. Someone else purchases it and tries to get back on track with new management. This might be nice if you want to see Iain out of the picture, but chances are it would take so much efort to get things back together that Zultys would lose its competive advantage by the time it was back and running at full steam.

  • Rich Tehrani
    September 28, 2006 at 6:56 pm

    I agree that the sales are shrinking fast so it would seem the longer Zultys waits to do something the worse off the company, its customers and resellers are. Let’s hope for the sake of the remaining employees, resellers and customers this gets wrapped up rather quickly.

  • Sean P. Robertson
    September 28, 2006 at 10:59 pm

    My crystal ball has been in the shop for a while now so I haven’t got any more of a clue than anyone else what is really going to happen here.
    I can tell you that, as a technical support person for CTD, a distributor that has been with Zultys for two and a half years, I have seen the good and the bad.
    Through it all, two things have always been true:
    1. The features of Zultys’ core PBX product are far ahead of the other VoIP offerings out there.
    2. Zultys’ resellers know this and are true to the product despite the times when the company has failed them.
    I know these things because we have, with all of the cards on the table, continued to do BOTH post-sales installation support and pre-sales engineering support throughout this entire ordeal.
    During a pre-sales call yesterday, I was told by a reseller that his end user, “knows the situation with Zultys but has decided to go ahead with this purchase anyway because the Zultys system does so much more than anything else out there.” Its a quote. I did not make that up.
    This product line, scaled back to it core components and focused on expanding the solid enterprise features that it already has, is more than viable. In fact, it could devastating to the competition – that is why they are speaking out so loudly against it.
    BTW: I know the reseller who did this interview. I helped his people with the pre-sales on many of their quotes and a number of large ones were in the signing stage when things fell apart in Sunnyvale. Attacking him, or me, will not change the truth of that.

  • east coast resller
    September 29, 2006 at 12:41 am

    For the record: just the other day we tallied that we have $265,000 (our cost from the distributor) of Zultys sales held up by the present chapter 11 situation.
    The unfortunate thing is that we just started this summer to do the type of high value business we know the Zultys platform is capable of delivering & now we’ve lost momentum or possibly worse.
    In the end we’re in favor of any outcome that allows us to continue to sell this unique product in a VAR friendly environment…

  • Neil Darling
    September 29, 2006 at 12:44 am

    Hi Rich:
    As a fellow reseller, I can confirm the authenticity of the reseller interview and his comments. There is a bottleneck of pipeline. I think he is right on the money with his comments and sentiment.
    Best regards,
    Neil D

  • east coast resller
    September 29, 2006 at 12:48 am

    For the record: just the other day we tallied that we have $265,000 (our cost from the distributor) of Zultys sales held up by the present chapter 11 situation.
    The unfortunate thing is that we just started this summer to do the type of high value business we know the Zultys platform is capable of delivering & now we’ve lost momentum or possibly worse.
    In the end we’re in favor of any outcome that allows us to continue to sell this unique product in a VAR friendly environment…

  • Neil Darling
    September 29, 2006 at 12:48 am

    Hi Rich:
    As a fellow reseller, I can confirm the authenticity of the reseller interview and his comments. There is a bottleneck of pipeline. I think he is right on the money with his comments and sentiment.
    Best regards,
    Neil D

  • Former Employee
    September 29, 2006 at 3:32 am

    I spent my whole career listening to talk of orders in the pipeline which never came. I usually figured maybe 25% would come to a sale … at VERY best! Contrary to some of the enthusiasts above I think it is the LACK of unique features which has been the downfall of the Zultys offering. Instead of a concise elevator speech of why it is unique, Zultys gives you pages and pages of trivia. They never did marketing 101. Anyway it is now a busted flush so it is all academic.

  • Former Employee
    September 29, 2006 at 3:38 am

    O.K. then Rich give us the elevator speech. In a SHORT paragraph (not the many pages of trivia that Zultys promote), give us the UNIQUE features of the Zultys product. What a load of nonsense you talkk!

  • east coast resller
    September 29, 2006 at 8:26 am

    Unique:
    1)Unlike some solutions it is not based on Bill Gates’ super reliable/secure OS
    & certainly not MULTIPLE boxes running his legendary OS….hmmm a couple of Units of rack space for a hardened appliance or a whole pile of Bill’s magic boxes, tough decision.
    2)Mac native end user client
    3)Well suited to application integration & development…preserves value, resists commoditization just what a Value Added Reseller needs & exactly where we can help our clients (end users of the product) make more money in their businesses!
    I can make a whole pile of money on the last item while delivering a ton of value to the end user & I can rest assured because of the 1st item!!!
    PS the 2nd point is nice in certain competitive situations

  • Rich Tehrani
    September 29, 2006 at 9:34 am

    As an FYI — once again I am an objective observer on this matter. I never claimed Zultys has or does not have unique features. Regardless, companies with the most unique features can fail. In my experience companies with average features and great PR and marketing can do better than companies who focus on features.
    I do believe Zultys did a good job with PR and marketing and they have a solid brand in the mind of enterprise customers. Most people think the company is much bigger than it really is which is generally a sign of a strong brand.

  • Former Emloyee
    September 29, 2006 at 9:40 am

    I said UNIQUE. You’ve described points that apply to most of its competitors. O.K. I realize that you have lots of stock of these products and have missed the opportunity to return it, so you need to make a big effort. Good luck with that, but sorry I’m not convinced by all the geeky stuff. I get terribly tired of the fashionable Gates bashing. I’ve been involved with many me-too products during my career and this one SCREAMS me-too!

  • A Midwest Reseller
    September 29, 2006 at 10:13 am

    When the news hit we had $5.6 million in potential Zultys sales projected over the next 18 months. Some of that we would not have won but much of it was with customers that saw how advanced the zultys product was.(And cost wise we were always less then Cisco, Avaya, or Shoretel)
    If Zultys is picked up by a big name like Avaya, Inter-tel, 3COM, or somebody else with a good name and some marketing capital it will put them at least 18 months ahead of the other major vendors in regard to SIP, ITSP support, EASY MANAGEMENT, and Presence.
    Looking at the Zultys paperwork there were some big names looking…Avaya, Dell, Foundry networks, Inter-tel, Acatel, and others.
    Lets hope that somebody that see the value of a good reseller channel picks them up and get the product back on the street.

  • east coast reseller
    September 29, 2006 at 10:13 am

    Actually other than our demo systems we have no Zultys product in stock, just a quarter million in pending Zultys sales……also we sell a ton of MS products to our clients, I just wouldn’t want what was a previously reliable application (Voice) to be moved over to a less than reliable platform (Windows).
    Zultys (& some other systems on the market) allow the Voice application to be moved over alongside the rest of the Applications within the Enterprise in a more reliable manner than any Windows box can provide, so not bashing just the reality of the matter.
    With voice residing amongst the other Applications on the Network that’s where real value can be derived extending the Voice application & integrating it w/ the other Applications (line of business, CRM, et al) & Databases.
    Except for this the Zultys just becomes another “Our PBX feature vs. Your PBX feature” race to the lowest price
    aka commoditization
    And commoditization is best left to big boys not little guys like Zultys. So one key to continued success for Zultys is to build out the high value non-commodity aspects of the platform. This is important as SIP tears down the walls of proprietary systems & forces the PBX feature set to become even more commoditized.

  • Midwest Reseller
    September 29, 2006 at 11:15 am

    I think “Former Employee” needs to change his name to “Bitter Former Employee”.
    He attakcs Rich, Who is very vendor neutral
    Then he atttacks the resellers that like the product
    Bitter ex-employee is either still sitting at home watching Oprah or has taken a job at a competitor (or MacDonalds). Either way he has everything to gain and nothing to lose from the slams and attacks

  • David Lee
    September 29, 2006 at 11:39 am

    As a Canadian reseller, we too are disappointed in recent events. We didn’t have a huge pipe, but saw lots of potential.
    Under the right banner, Zultys would have great success.

  • Norman Landerman
    September 29, 2006 at 2:08 pm

    As the reseller initially presented in this dialogue, I would like to thank my fellow resellers and distribution partners who know me and my business for verifying the accuracy of my statements.
    I would like to thank Rich for his initially maintaining my anonymity until other channel VARs joined my ranks to verify the realities experienced by my business as being shared by their own.
    It is interesting to have my truthfulness immediately challenged and my namelessness damned by somebody who maintains their name to be “Former Employee” (not even a VAR, now working for whom?).
    As far as why we VARs like the product, particularly being located in South Florida? A totally SIP solution, including PSTN/data media gateway, fax server, instant messaging, chat, powerful call management client and soft-phone with exchange integration, hard drive RAID, dual redundant power infrastructures (120vAC and 48vDC), packaged in a single box with N+1 clustering and total fail-over/redundancy of all components… Please feel free to provide suggestions of alternate products offering ALL of the above at a reasonable price to [email protected]
    Without selling to “new” customers until if/when this is over, we have delivered another $25K in the past week, and we have delivered the second of 14 intended systems to an end-user who knows what is going on and can’t believe the product will go away. We still have over $100K of new business waiting “on hold” in the pipeline.
    As a VAR, I have no agenda or grudge. I just want my company to be able to keep selling a product that stands out to us and current and prospective customers as one that we don’t want to see go away. The marketplace, as well as the industry, should be interested in knowing this particular group of VARs and its shared experience and resultant product loyalty does indeed exist, for whatever it is worth. I keep in touch with more than a dozen active Zultys VARs. We don’t show up in a bankruptcy filing or on any balance sheet, but I can’t allow anybody to assert we don’t exist. And this would be the response to those labeling themselves as “Not Buying It”.
    Norman Landerman

  • Industry Observer
    September 29, 2006 at 2:37 pm

    The passion expressed above for Zultys must have been its best kept secret until now.
    “Former Employee” makes a good point about the absence of a persuasive value proposition for Zultys products in a highly competitive space, reinforced by the shockingly low sales of $6M over the past year. This number is confirmed in the bankruptcy filing.
    Vendor passion and perceived product value to end users has not made Zultys profitable or retained shareholder value. With nearly four years in the market, it is reasonable to expect that Zultys would be able to at least sustain itself with the backing of a motivated sales channel. In the worst case, Zultys should have been an attractive acquisition candidate instead of bankrupt and on the auction block.
    Any prudent investor or customer would have to ask, “with all the good marketing, innumerable business opportunities, and great products, how can it be possible that this company is insolvent?”.

  • Midwest Reseller
    September 29, 2006 at 2:54 pm

    The reason a possible buyer wanted them to go Chap 11 was to dissolve the debt. This makes them MORE ATTRACTIVE to a potential buyer since futre lawsuits have now been avoided.
    Sales were picking up BUT their 35,000,000 in technology investment and research caught up to them.
    The question asked before is valid. Please show us another product with SIP, Presence, Fax to desktop, T1/Pri/FXS/FXO, voice mail, EASY management, ITSP support, Call detail reports, Easy dial plan set-up, Instant messaging… at a price point that is under the big boys. We have spent 60 days looking at 3com, avaya, sphere, vonexus, objectworld, and a few others… Nothing comes close to Zultys MX250
    I hope whoever buys them, changes the managment screen to their name, paints the box, applies a new logo, and gets a quick turn around

  • Rich Tehrani
    September 29, 2006 at 3:37 pm

    This has been quite an emotional ride and I am blown away at how well-liked Zultys systems are. In the end it is all about profit so I seriously hope there is a positive outcome for the resellers, customers and Zultys employees.

  • Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog
    September 29, 2006 at 3:54 pm

    Zultys Soap Opera Plays On

    Sometimes the best part of a blog — and the least visited — is the comments section. Right now, there’s a veritable Zultys SOAP OPERA brewing in the comments section of Rich Tehrani’s recent Zultys posting. I urge you to…

  • VoIP & Gadgets Blog
    September 29, 2006 at 3:56 pm

    Zultsys firestorm brewing

    There is a firestorm of controversy going on in the comments section of Rich’s article title Zultys reseller update. One comment reads, "Obviously TMC is interested in advancing VoIP industry participants, but this promotion of an obviously over h…

  • Anonymous VAR
    September 29, 2006 at 5:25 pm

    In response to the question ‘how can it be possible the company is insolvent’, one only has to look at the top of the pile. Just like a box of corn flakes, the biggest ones are always on top.
    Mr. Milnes, in my opinion, is a classic example of an entrepreneur who made it big with the bubble, and thought he could ride roughshod over everyone in his quest to have another home run.
    Want an example? Ask anyone who’s dealt with the guy. Couldn’t give you the time of day. Sales policies were developed and issued with absolutely no input from the VAR channel or from the regional managers (at least the ones I spoke with). Zultys’ outward marketing looked good, but it’s sales policies & licensing schemes were complex and convoluted, and had little relationship to making it easy for the dealer. Prior to the last change in demo licensing, dealers had to actually PAY for feature licenses to be able to go sell the features with any intelligence.
    Want another? Our company sent 3 people for training for a week in Sunnyvale, plus 2 days travel time, and he didn’t even have the courtesy to drop into the training room to say ‘hello’ (although he walked by the window a few times).
    The best thing that will happen out of this is Mr. Milnes will be gone – and if he’s not, we won’t be a dealer any longer.
    Staying anonymous because if I didn’t, we probably would lose any remaining support (and those in the know, know what I mean).

  • Neil Darling
    September 29, 2006 at 6:53 pm

    Hi Rich:
    I am surprised that anyone would swing such an anonymous bat so wildly. Obviously the former employees are pissed – but should “Mr. or Ms. Anonymous” not hope for the best in this run-up to the auction?
    There are dozens of resellers who have based a good part of their business to making a go with Zultys – despite the obvious problems with Zultys approach to sales, marketing, distribution and developing the channel – all of which have been problematic to say the least.
    I can’t speak for everyone, but I can say there appears to be a clear consensus among everyone I have spoken to (in the Zultys supply chain) that this may turn out to be a great opportunity in the end. That is for all of those who commit to doing whatever they can to keep the platform alive ( with the very real possibility of Iain making every decision in the future). There is no question that the engineering of this lil yellow box (for which you have to give Iain credit) is the top of the heap. I challenge anyone to dispute that fact – dollar for dollar and pound for pound this little Tivo sized monster is amazing.
    So I see it not as a discussion of what will be done – or what will be sold. Rather, despite these chronic problems with brand, sales, marketing, distribution and channel strategy – we have used the the MX250 as a core of a solution that provides tangible value to our customers – in fact we won an Infoworld top 20 award about 10 months ago on behalf of one of our customers.
    So, although the chips may fall as they may – start considering the opportunity that lies ahead. Consider yourself fortunate to have good knowledge about what this technology has done or could do in the right hands. Take a minute to consider what will happen if the chronic problems are resolved with some future owner of the technology that has a handle on branding, sales, marketing, distribution and channel strategy.
    The future could be very bright indeed.
    Best regards,
    Neil D

  • Neil Darling
    September 29, 2006 at 7:01 pm

    Typo and correction: I said ( with the very real possibility of Iain making every decision in the future).
    And I meant to say: ( with the very real possibility of Iain not making every decision in the future).
    Thanks

  • former Reseller
    September 29, 2006 at 9:34 pm

    We have sold Zultys for about a year now and its been a uphill battle the entire way.
    $35M on product development and they can pass CallerID name? I gave up after loosing about $10k on a new MX30 unit we sold, which ZULTYS configured for me. and doesnt have a MAC MXIE interface which was promised. Oops engineering didnt tell the regional sales manager! Who got stuck with the equiptment? ME!
    Right now I have an ASTERISK server sitting between Zultys MX250 and the CO. why? because ZULTYS resets the T1 and doesnt like DMS100(Dropping calls). Support? right…..
    For my company Zultys was about a $20,000 mistake. Great Product. Core function Poor. Cooless factors Great. Phones UGLY.
    Try to a $400 panasonic looking phone? Paging? buy a Zultys phone. Barge? Monitor? buy a Zultys phone.

  • A Realist
    September 29, 2006 at 9:42 pm

    Yes – the reseller is living and breathing and his name starts with N (and, no, its not Mr. Darling). Why doesn’t someone ask him to produce his Zultys Certification? He never bothered to even get trained on the company’s products (yet he now claims to live and die by their enormous market value). Now he is going to buy the company? But, heck, anyone would do a better job than Milnes. To take such incredible technology and flush it down the toilet due to business ineptitude is a real shame. And to then try to drag down a company’s employees down the drain with him? Disgusting. My favorite quote of the last 4 weeks is Milnes telling anyone who listen to him bitch that “the employees drove the company to bankruptcy”
    “Strong” channel of resellers? Strong compared to what? A company that sells direct?? The very fact that this reseller thinks he was part of a strong channel demonstrates his overall unawareness to the market in general and what real players are producing from their strong channels.
    MOVE ON. This ship sank and the captain is a pirate.

  • A Realist
    September 29, 2006 at 10:08 pm

    Norman – Can you post your Zultys certification? Or wait – you didn’t even bother to get trained on this company’s products (yet you now claim to live and die by its enormous market value). Now you are going to buy the company? But, heck, anyone would do a better job than Milnes. To take such incredible technology and flush it down the toilet due to business ineptitude is a real shame. And to then try to drag down a company’s employees down the drain with him? Disgusting. My favorite quote of the last 4 weeks is Milnes telling anyone who listen to him bitch that “the employees drove the company to bankruptcy”
    I love how everyone on here pegs the employees as bitter. You work for free for 2 months (without being asked, you are forced becaue of Milnes lying), you get ripped off of your time and personal expense money – then let us know how happy you are! As employees, we were bullied and lied to for years and years…all for nothing. Milnes and his wife robbed people of their own money in the guise of stock investments, then turned around and took away these employees paychecks. She gets fed up and decides to leave him, so he then uses company funds to pay her off (he calls it a buyout of shares). Ironically, one month later he can’t make his payroll? NOW he has the nerve to be collecting on loans he gave to employees to buy their stock options. He’s steals from them (their time and often their personal money for expenses) and then he swings back around and demands their savings? Anyone reading this who wants to resell the products of a company run by such an unethical human being might consider what will eventually be done to then. Something will happen, its not a matter of what, but when. Old habits don’t die. Shame on him the first time. Shame on you the second.

  • Give Credit Where Its Due
    September 29, 2006 at 10:15 pm

    Iain does not deserve or get credit for the engineering of the little yellow box. Far far far from it. You just insulted a very talented team of engineers who put this product together under a ridiculously bad work environment. This product was designed by a Zultys executive, but not Iain Milnes. Iain just funded the operation. While he likes to take credit for all the good things that happened (and blamed other – namely the employees – for the bad, such as the bankruptcy) Iain is neither a brilliant engineer (as he’d like you to believe) nor a brilliant businessman (obviously, enough said).

  • Give Credit Where Its Due
    September 29, 2006 at 10:17 pm

    Iain does not deserve or get credit for the engineering of the little yellow box. Far far far from it. You just insulted a very talented team of engineers who put this product together under a ridiculously bad work environment. This product was designed by a Zultys executive, but not Iain Milnes. Iain just funded the operation. While he likes to take credit for all the good things that happened (and blamed other – namely the employees – for the bad, such as the bankruptcy) Iain is neither a brilliant engineer (as he’d like you to believe) nor a brilliant businessman (obviously, enough said).

  • As The World Turns
    September 29, 2006 at 10:32 pm

    Its funny – someone called this blog a soap opera.
    The ironic thing is that for a small company that was relatively unheard of in mainstream business, there was a a lot of drama. Such as – Iain Milnes and his wife ran the company like a small sweat shop – the employees were overworked, underpaid peasants. Bonuses came in the form of peanuts. Not kidding! Mrs. Milnes main job function was to snoop through emails, find incriminating comments and to march the offender into Mr. Milnes office for a verbal lashing. Well, Mrs. Milnes found a better pond to fish in earlier this year and exited the scene. Mr. Milnes decided to pay her off with Zultys funds. Ironically, the very next month – oila! there is no money to pay the overworked, underpaid, emotionally beaten, peanut eating employees. The very next month, Mr. Milnes, now running a company with no employees but acting as if nothing is wrong, sends out notices to the very employees he just laid off after making them work for 30 days for free. The notice demands full payment on the loans which Mr. and Mrs. Milnes gave to the employees to purchase their stock options. Thats right! He lays people off, pays his wife a divorce settlement with their paychecks, then comes back around and asks for their savings accounts.
    But, gentle readers and posters: you are right. The employees are just bitter little people who should hope Zultys gets purchased for a lot of money. However. and this is a big HOWEVER: It doesn’t matter how much Zultys sells for. Read how an “Assets Only” Auction works – the unsecured creditors (to which the employees belong) get ZERO. Put that in your Zultys pipe and light it up!

  • Sean P. Robertson
    September 29, 2006 at 10:45 pm

    Finally, an ex-Zultys employee who is proud of what they have done and is willing to say it.
    You all should be proud of what you did. We are all proud of you for it.
    Sean

  • east coast reseller
    September 30, 2006 at 3:15 am

    Well with all the above said the consensus seems to be:
    Drama – far from being just another cold piece of technology there’s certainly a lot passion in all respects surrounding Zultys….
    People got screwed – customers, VARs, distributors, manufacturers & worst of all employees…..
    Substance – there’s something unique & of value here otherwise it would just go quietly into the night…

  • Rich Tehrani
    September 30, 2006 at 11:57 am

    Substance – there’s something unique & of value here otherwise it would just go quietly into the night…

    That is my take as well — I have never seen this sort of enthusiasm for a company having financial problems. This is a new one for me and it reminds me of — excuse the geekiness here — the viewer revolt when the networks took Star Trek off the air.

  • Reviewer Soap Opera
    October 2, 2006 at 3:01 am

    ….pays his wife a divorce settlement with their paychecks,
    Why is it that the investor pulled out in the 11th hour? Does anybody know?
    Was it due to the CEO breaking his fiduciary responsabilities?

  • Former Employee
    October 2, 2006 at 9:33 am

    VCs don’t just pull out without warning as he would have us believe. There was certainly something there they didn’t like. But don’t look for something odd. The following debts would do it for me!
    Silicon Valley Bank $1.8M
    Employees $2.751M
    The manufacturer of the MX $648K
    The manufacturer of the phones $438K
    A credit analyst $278K
    Marketeer $196K
    Arrow Electronic $147K
    Text100 $85K
    Shareholders $40M
    But this company is in great shape! Send him your checks.

  • Midwest Reseller
    October 2, 2006 at 9:47 am

    I am sorry the employees were financial harmed. I am sorry they did not get paid for their last 30 days of work. Heck I am sorry that Iain got divorced. BUT we don’t make partnership agreements based on the company soap opera we make these decisions based on the technology and the go to marketablility of a product. We have 18 years in the networking market place and we ahve not seen any other product that could line up with what the MX product from Zultys would do. You might point to a product and say that a certain product does something better then Zultys on 1 or two point/areas..but no product out there has the overall funcionality of an MX250. Not Cisco, not Avaya, Not 3Com, Not Mitel.
    We will see what happens on the 11th oc Oct. We hope that the products get picked and turned around in a short period of time and we can partner with the new owners.
    Since the Zultys platform with its presence, ease of management, great admin interface, SIP, and the list goes on,, is at lest 18 months ahead of some of the bigger players it would give a boost to anybody with a name and a few dollars to market it

  • JF
    October 2, 2006 at 9:49 am

    Wow!!! What a lively discussion. One thing however that I don’t understand is the nature of some of these comments. Assuming everyone is being honest, why would people attack each other on this post? It seems to me that everyone involved has been hurt by what has happened at Zultys. Resellers are stuck with orders that can not be fullfiled and former the employees of Zultys looks like they got absolutley screwed in the process.
    Therefore, why all the attacking? Sounds like everyone agrees that what has happened with Zultys hurt a lot of people. If what the employees and resellers all say is true, it sounds like you should all be sympathetitc to each others plights and place the blame were it belongs; on the shoulders of Zultys ownership!!!
    One last point, to the person that attacks Rich, all he did was comment on what a reseller told him. To attack him is unjustified. Obviously it sounds like you have a valid reason to be angry and bitter towards Milnes not Rich…

  • Midwest Reseller
    October 2, 2006 at 10:00 am

    Put yourself in the position of a large company CEO or a Venture Capitialist. Do you rush out and buy a company and assume $45,000,000 in debt in order to get a technology or do you wait until those debts are discharged and pick the company up for between $6 – 12 Million,,,,,WITH NO DEBT.
    Lets think about that a minute. Imagine somebody with a used Ford Mustang, they owe $15,950 to the bank for the car. The car is worth $13,287. So WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND would give the owner $13,287 and also assume the debt of $15,950.
    If you answered that you would, Please give me a call..I have a used 2002 Dodge caravan I would like to talk to you about.

  • Former Employee
    October 2, 2006 at 11:48 am

    I think you mean $6 -$12. You slipped an M in by mistake.

  • California Reseller
    October 2, 2006 at 12:16 pm

    This is almost not worth saying (but I have to say it) To: Midwest Reseller, You do understand that the whole point of the Chapter 11 reorginization is that all that unsecured debt (40+ million dollars) is erased, right? This makes this a very attractive looking investment if you believe in the basis of the company (the product).
    Also, I am not understanding your car analogy?.. I have never owned a car that had the potential to earn millions of dollars a year.. Comparing the purchase of a used car to a technology company makes absolutely no sense at all..

  • Sean P. Robertson
    October 2, 2006 at 12:31 pm

    I think that California Reseller and Midwest Reseller are making the same point.
    None of the suitors were willing to buy Zultys prior to the Chapter 11 because they knew that Chapter 11 would wipe some or all of the debt and would allow them to buy the company more cheaply.

  • Sean P. Robertson
    October 2, 2006 at 12:32 pm

    I think that California Reseller and Midwest Reseller are making the same point.
    None of the suitors were willing to buy Zultys prior to the Chapter 11 because they knew that Chapter 11 would wipe some or all of the debt and would allow them to buy the company more cheaply.

  • Sean P. Robertson
    October 2, 2006 at 12:38 pm

    I think that Midwest Reseller and California Reseller are making the same point.
    That is that the pre-bankruptcy suitors were probably not too keen on paying for the company and assuming the debt of the company without the protection of a judge.

  • Former Employee
    October 2, 2006 at 12:57 pm

    I don’t think any of you have dealt with VCs. I have. They don’t buy basket cases and don’t think in the way you are implying. They buy thriving companies with a demonstrable future. Whoever buys this mess, I don’t think it will be a VC. I’m afraid the only suitors will be the ones who created the mess. And for those who think they will have a Zultys without you know who, dream on!

  • Reality Check
    October 2, 2006 at 1:10 pm

    If $65M went into these “awesome” products and $20M came out in the form of sales over the past 4 years, there is something very wrong. Hmmm, what could it be, ohhh maybe… customers don’t want it! They buy from Cisco, Avaya, 3Com, Mitel, and yes, even ShoreTel. It follows that a reseller in his “right mind” would strive to carry products from these companies.
    The source of the emotion here comes from the misdirection of one person. The infuriated victims who placed thier trust in this person are dedicated employees, resellers, and the end users that gave the products a chance.
    Thanks to Mr. Tehrani for the forum to be heard, but don’t mistake the reactions being expressed to be enthusiasm. This is just pent up frustration being vented.

  • Midwest Reseller
    October 2, 2006 at 2:14 pm

    My point was that NOBODY WOULD BUY A COMPANY AND ASSUME $45,000,000 in debt when they could wait a few months and pick it up WITHOUT DEBT.
    Go back and read what I wrote. I was not saying that nobody would want it. I was saying that if you wanted and were a good business man (Person) you would not want to be saddled with teh debt and possible employee lawsuits.
    I think that it will be picked up and hopefully by somebody witht a name that people will want to buy.
    basic questions are this.
    Is it a good technology?
    Would it help a company to gain market share and grow business?
    Would it help Avaya, 3COM, Foundry Networks, DELL?
    If it had the name avaya on it would it sell?
    Look at page 68-72 of the Chap 11 filing and you can see who looked at the company as a possible investment or purchase.
    The MX250 is a greta product and if former employee thinks it is just another VoIP product and an also ran then they could very well be the reason Zultys is at where they are at.
    Piss Poor Employees always hurt a company.

  • Midwest Reseller
    October 2, 2006 at 2:34 pm

    Dear California reseller.
    Please go back and re-read my post to see if it makes sense the second time through. I was not trying to compare buying a car to buying a technology company. The point was about money and debt.
    Company A has $45,000,000 in debt.
    Company B is thinking about buying Company A
    If B purchases A, B now owes $45,000,000
    If B waits until A files Chap 11 then B can buy A and not owe $45,000,000.
    NOW HERE IS THE IMPORTANT THING..
    If A is on a train that leaves boston at 7 PM and is traveling at 80 MPH and B leaves Chicago at 8PM on a training traveling at 110 MPH, which Ford mustang will get a flat tire first the red one or the blue one.

  • a passer-by
    October 2, 2006 at 3:01 pm

    And piss poor CEO’s kill a company and create lawsuits based on thier actions.
    If the technology was desirable, it would have sustained the company. Tha much is clear. So it must be considered either duplicated or uninspired technology by those who count.
    Seems to me that this whole bankruptcy thing is a sham anyway. If the company is bought back by the same people, the only thing that really has changed is the shareholder list. Someone said the owner’s ex-wife was paid off with company funds in his divorce. Maybe she got shares and he’s doing all this to stick to to her! Talk about a soap opera.

  • Midwest Reseller
    October 2, 2006 at 3:57 pm

    I will not defend Iain here that is not my job nor am I trying to sell Iain to any of my customers.
    Desireable technology…lol.
    Zultys has around 3,000 to 5,000 installs
    3com has 30,000
    Avaya has 80,000
    Cisco slightly less then Avaya
    So 10% as much as 3COM and just less the %5 of what Avaya has. That is pretty good for an undesireable product.Most companies would love to have that type of success in the VoIP market place.
    I think most resellers would hope that it is picked up by a large company with great marketing.
    Look at Cisco, their products are at best second class but they are a great marketing company.
    Think about how Zultys would do if they were the Avaya VX250, or the 3COM NMX250, or the Foundry Networks Voiceiron-250.
    Put your facts where your mouth is, Show me another SIP System (the industry standard), that runs on Linux or unix (Security)
    that has presence (productivity
    ITSP Support (Cost Savings)
    an easy management GUI (Management time saving=money)
    Call recording
    Fax to desk top
    DID for voice and FAX
    Auto Attendants
    Voice to EMail
    Call Detail reporting
    That will connect with T1/FXo/FXS without a gateway
    AND PS.. there will be NO lawsuits because the CHAP 11 will wipe them out.. hope you were not holding to much of that stock unless you are running short of toilet paper IT IS WORTHLESS. Be careful of the green ink on the stock paper, itis not hypo allergenic
    Regardless of what happened in the past the future is what we are looking at. Oct 11th will tell us a great deal about the future of the platform.
    And to your point that is the technology was desireable it would have sustained the company.. My guess is that if shut down had not occured that profitablility would have been within 6 months. of course that is just based on our pipeline. I could be wrong. MANY Cmpanies LOSE money starting out some lose money for years.
    Call Shoretel and ask them how many rounds of financing they have and if they are profitably yet!!!

  • Get Your Facts Straight
    October 2, 2006 at 4:37 pm

    Zultys doesn’t have anywhere close to 3000 installs. Who on earth told you that? Try about 5-600. They could only produce about 100 MX250s/quarter (and that was in 2006. Prior, they were only putting in orders to manufacture 10-20 at a time!). They simply couldn’t afford to manufacture any more than that. The MX250 launched in 2004. MX250 installs by year were approx:
    2004: 20
    2005: 200
    2006: 300
    There are about 30 MX30s installed in the world. Most have since been taken out and trashed. If someone at Zultys told you the installs were in the thousands, they were simply passing on the lies that Milnes was spreading.
    The company’s burn rate was $2million a month. Sales peaked at about $750K/month. Debt was and is staggering – the company WAS NOT close to being profitable. If it was, they would have been able to attract venture funding. Doesn’t anyone realize that Milnes shopped the company to the venture community for 6 months and had NOT ONE taker? Not one educated person would sink a dime into this company? all of the companies listed on the BK filing LOOKED at the company, but are not still looking at the company. They came, they were lied to, and they went home. End of story.

  • George Richardson
    October 2, 2006 at 4:56 pm

    I have no knowledge of how many MX250’s were sold by Zultys, but I do have exact knowledge of how many were sold by CTD. Based on my exact knowledge of CTD’s Zultys sales I can tell you that “Get Your Facts Straight” is not even close unless there was limited other distribution.

  • Midwest Reseller
    October 2, 2006 at 5:00 pm

    AGAIN. who in their right mind would purchase a company that owes $45,000,000 when they could wait until after Chapter 11 and get it for much less with all chance for lawsuit wiped out and all debt erased. Is this a hard concept for you to understand.
    The reason they looked was because they were interested in the technology and now that the $45,000,000 dollars is wiped out there will be a few that will come back to the table and sit down.
    OCT 11th WILL TELL US WHO IS RIGHT. Of course I will tell you that if the management buys the company back we will be selling another solution.

  • VoIP Blog - Tehrani.com
    October 2, 2006 at 5:15 pm

    Zultys Restructuring Documents

    Recently I was sent the Zultys restructuring announcement as well as the Chapter 11 filing. If you aren’t following it, there is a very lively debate taking place on my blog about the future of Zultys, what led to its…

  • Reviwer Sopa Opera
    October 2, 2006 at 6:09 pm

    Can someone email me the filing or forward the URL so I may download it?
    (email: [email protected])
    As they say there are 3 sides to a story. I have never personally used or sold any of Zulty’s technology. But, I’ve heard from a few people who claim Zulty’s products offered lots of value.
    Do ya’ll think that Fonality will look to acquire Zulty’s out of Chapter 11? On the surface this looks to make some sense if they can take their box and make it work with Asterisks.
    Thanks

  • Rich Tehrani
    October 2, 2006 at 6:15 pm

    At the bottom of the post — scroll way up in red it says update. There you will find a link to another blog entry with the document you request.

  • Maths Genius
    October 3, 2006 at 5:03 am

    Finally we get someone who can perform simple maths. Midwest reseller is correct in his numbers. Just divide into $6M last year sales guys. It isn’t complicated. A chimp with an Abacus can do it.

  • Maths Genius
    October 3, 2006 at 5:06 am

    Sorry, I should have said “Get you facts Straight” has the correct numbers. Midwest resller is still in fantasy land.

  • Zultys Reseller
    October 3, 2006 at 4:30 pm

    We are a reseller of Zultys along with 3COM and Allworx. I have also been in this business since divestiture. Zultys technology is remarkable. The systems we have installed (and we have some large ones out there with Call Center, archiving, redundancy, call recording, etc.) have been performing excellent and the clients absolutely love them. We have a large client that ha evaluated all the competition and is sitting waitng to see what happens in the courts. The minute the see a path to stability, they would sign immediately.
    It is obviously questionable if the existing management team will be at the helm of this technology however it is no question in my mind that this superior technology will not go away.

  • Zultys
    October 3, 2006 at 4:33 pm

    We are a reseller of Zultys along with 3COM and Allworx. I have also been in this business since divestiture. Zultys technology is remarkable. The systems we have installed (and we have some large ones out there with Call Center, archiving, redundancy, call recording, etc.) have been performing excellent and the clients absolutely love them. We have a large client that ha evaluated all the competition and is sitting waitng to see what happens in the courts. The minute the see a path to stability, they would sign immediately.
    It is obviously questionable if the existing management team will be at the helm of this technology however it is no question in my mind that this superior technology will not go away.

  • Creditor
    October 4, 2006 at 12:00 pm

    I hope your customer is very patient because the auction has been delayed a couple of weeks so the begging bowl can go round another couple of times.

  • Norman Landerman
    October 5, 2006 at 5:01 pm

    I’ve been away from this BLOG for a few days due to a holiday and a death. It is interesting to see that it has largely degraded into a slugfest of name-calling and un-yielding support and/or hostility surrounding Iain, Zultys Corporate, and unresolved personal/personnel issues.
    The name of this discussion is “Zultys RESELLER update” and it evolved from an initial conversation I had with Rich where I described what I perceived to be an interesting situation.
    My concern was that this group of resellers and their opinions, experience, and current realities, were an un-heard and invisible potential commodity with a unique and shared determination to lend support and be an asset to any entity interested in maintaining and promoting the continuance of what we found to be an exceptional product.
    The result is that the RESELLER comments within this discussion are overwhelmingly in support of my assertions. Even distributors have piped up to support some of the RESELLER contentions.
    Former employees and creditors have legitimate issues. Why dispute them? I don’t. Who can? Chapter 11 seems specifically tailored to allow a business to create and then sidestep employee, shareholder and creditor predicaments and leave them behind as “collateral damage”. I find that reality as ugly as anybody else does.
    Iain bashers and financial advisor wannabees have jumped into the fray. They all have their axes to grind and grudges to bear, and yes, I am thankful I did not go through what they have. I can also understand their frustration and anger that Zultys could conceivably be made whole, unlike they, who most likely will not.
    “A Realist” even jumped in, thinking their opinion might somehow be enhanced by taking a personal shot at me and challenging my credentials. For the record: I received Zultys Sales Certification and training via the Web and co-produced numerous WebEx presentations with Patrick Ferriter, Van Do, Brian Denton, Darius Goodall, and various channel managers. In addition, I joined with others from within our company to sponsor, staff, and demonstrate at the last two Miami ITEC’s. Two of our Systems Engineers completed Zultys certification at the California HQ. This is appropriate, as THEY are the ones among our other SE’s who perform the Zultys installs and provide support, not I. They both hold valid MCSE’s as well as Cisco and SonicWall professional certifications. I completed my MCSE training at Florida Atlantic University. We (SDSI) have been a Microsoft and Cisco certified partner since 1996…. and unlike you, I am even using my real name. (Who is being “A Realist” here?)
    My comments and concerns surround the Zultys product, and my only effort is to allow the other Zultys RESELLERS to be heard. Those who remain stubbornly loyal to what they consider an excellent product. Those who wish to continue to have access to that product to enhance their ability to generate revenue for their companies and income for their employees. Those who stubbornly wish to continue to provide ongoing support for what they consider to be a quality solution for their current/future customers. (Read the RESELLER contributions in the discussions above.)
    My goal was simple: to let the world know that those like-minded RESELLERS exist, had/have similar experiences, and share desires similar to ours.
    I believe enough RESELLERS have participated in this discussion to significantly support and provide proof of this point, while gaining some industry notice of this situation. The rest is up to the courts and the bidders with the resources to affect an appropriate resolution of this situation.
    At least we have been heard. Rich gave a forum to what he recognized as a stubborn channel anomaly, unusual in this business and under these circumstances, and more unlikely to be found than the other discussions, issues and emotions which were eventually thrown in.

  • Rich Tehrani
    October 5, 2006 at 7:47 pm

    It has been my pleasure really. Thank you all for contributing to this blog and whether you or disagree with me or others is immaterial. This discussion is a living breathing diary of what has happened in the final tumultuous days of this company. Like I have said all along I hope whatever happens is extremely positive for all involved. I understand many have been and may continue to be hurt by these proceedings. But hopefully this situation will eventually have us saying “things always happen for the best.”

  • Former Employee
    October 6, 2006 at 3:51 am

    What a superbly written article above by Norman Landerman. It is a pleasure to see that the art of good writing has not died out. It almost looks like Milnes himself wrote it. Milnes, as anyone who has dealt with him knows, is a devotee of the written word.
    However I find the sentiments written by “a realist” more compelling.

  • Former Partner now Observer
    October 6, 2006 at 11:38 am

    Gentlemen,
    I have been watching this discussion go on for several days, and have a couple of comments and a question.
    Former Zultys employees, I’m not trying to attack you, but would you please lay off the conspiracy theories? This is not an Indymedia group. The resellers like the technology that you guys created so much, they are willing to fight to keep it. I would think that you would be flattered.
    Mr. Darling and Mr. Landerman, I am not trying to attack you here either, but why are you so intent on shutting up the non-RESELLERS in this conversation? I don’t think you realize that there is still a lot on the table for the former Zultys employees, and, to be perfectly honest, the only way Zultys is going to ever make it, if it ever will, will be because a lot of the employees who got shafted decide to trust the new management (I think we all hope it’s new management) and come back. It really makes me wonder why you would ignore the people who know best what’s really going on. Closing off a yahoo group just because a former sales director gives you some bad news is just shooting yourself in the foot.
    Also, resellers, I have a question for you. What will you do if Mr. Milnes is successful and buying his company back? Will you trust him to do right by you again? He’s shafted employees, distributors, creditors and you once already, do you trust him again? Also, where will new product come from? Do you really think his old manufacturer will actually do business with him again?

  • Former Partner now Observer
    October 6, 2006 at 12:01 pm

    After reading my own comments, I come across as harder on the resellers that I intended. For that I apologize.
    However, I do think my criticisms and questions are valid ones.

  • Chris Romine, Digital Biz
    October 6, 2006 at 2:17 pm

    Norman does write superbly and I agree with all that he says.
    We are a small Zultys reseller in Oklahoma that was formed about two years ago to sell Zultys…..
    I reviewed all available IP-PBX Technolgy and I could find none that offered more value in any area that you might care to consider. I believe that the Zultys Solution is the best available solution for our smb clients today. I also believe that Zultys Technology is at least 18 to 24 months ahead of any competetion that we are aware of.
    Please fell free to advise me of a more competent technology at any price let alone at Zultys price points. [email protected]
    1. We have finally created a pipeline with over $600,000 in proposed Zultys Solutions. The possibilities of closing most of the proposals are being reduced daily.
    2. We just closed a mx250-47 user sale all with mxie. The Zultys Chapter 11 was fully disclosed to our oklahoma client. They thought about the situation a day or so and advised us to move forward as they had reviewed serveral other solutions and none came close to offering the value that we offered with the Zultys solution.
    To the x- employees of zultys- You should be proud of what you helped created and I am sorry for your plight. The management team at Zultys was not perfect, are you? When I was in Sunnyvale for my ZCSE all of the Zultys staff that I had contact with treated me suberbly and I do wish all the very best.
    To the creditors of Zultys business failure (not paid debt) is a normal cost of doing business- you win some and you lose some. You know it and large companies have it budgeted.
    As to Zultys’ ability to have product manufactured- get real, there are numerous worldwide resources for continued development and manufacturing that would be happy to take Zultys as a client regardless of thier management and the CH11. They might negotiate stricter terms but they will do business with Zultys.
    To the competitors of Zultys in this blog- I guess I say good hunting. If you have to sell your product by speaking poorley of Zultys what do you have to sell?
    We stand to lose quite a bit if Zultys “dies” as it will be difficult to find a replacement solution.
    I am a Zultys VAR and I wish to remain one. I would be happy if Ian continued to manage the enterprize (like I said no one is perfect, not you and certainly not me) or happy if someone else steps in and takes over.
    MY NAME IS CHRIS ROMINE, ZCSE! Do You Know Your name?
    PS- thank you Rich for this forum

  • Chris Romine, Digital Biz
    October 6, 2006 at 3:25 pm

    Norman does write superbly and I agree with all that he says.
    We are a small Zultys reseller in Oklahoma that was formed about two years ago to sell Zultys…..
    I reviewed all available IP-PBX Technolgy and I could find none that offered more value in any area that you might care to consider. I believe that the Zultys Solution is the best available solution for our smb clients today. I also believe that Zultys Technology is at least 18 to 24 months ahead of any competetion that we are aware of.
    Please fell free to advise me of a more competent technology at any price let alone at Zultys price points. [email protected]
    1. We have finally created a pipeline with over $600,000 in proposed Zultys Solutions. The possibilities of closing most of the proposals are being reduced daily.
    2. We just closed a mx250-47 user sale all with mxie. The Zultys Chapter 11 was fully disclosed to our oklahoma client. They thought about the situation a day or so and advised us to move forward as they had reviewed serveral other solutions and none came close to offering the value that we offered with the Zultys solution.
    To the x- employees of zultys- You should be proud of what you helped created and I am sorry for your plight. The management team at Zultys was not perfect, are you? When I was in Sunnyvale for my ZCSE all of the Zultys staff that I had contact with treated me suberbly and I do wish all the very best.
    To the creditors of Zultys business failure (not paid debt) is a normal cost of doing business- you win some and you lose some. You know it and large companies have it budgeted.
    As to Zultys’ ability to have product manufactured- get real, there are numerous worldwide resources for continued development and manufacturing that would be happy to take Zultys as a client regardless of thier management and the CH11. They might negotiate stricter terms but they will do business with Zultys.
    To the competitors of Zultys in this blog- I guess I say good hunting. If you have to sell your product by speaking poorley of Zultys what do you have to sell?
    We stand to lose quite a bit if Zultys “dies” as it will be difficult to find a replacement solution.
    I am a Zultys VAR and I wish to remain one. I would be happy if Ian continued to manage the enterprize (like I said no one is perfect, not you and certainly not me) or happy if someone else steps in and takes over.
    MY NAME IS CHRIS ROMINE, ZCSE! Do You Know Your name?
    PS- thank you Rich for this forum

  • Rich Tehrani
    October 6, 2006 at 3:30 pm

    It is my pleasure to be of any assistance. Thanks for writing Chris.

  • Neil Darling
    October 6, 2006 at 3:45 pm

    Dear Former Partner Now Observer:
    You can attack me if you like. I don’t mind. I don’t understand why – but you can. If you do though, I’d appreciate it if you’d sign your name so I may respond in a proper context.
    If your concern is the Zultys Partner Group on Yahoo, please submit a request and we will be glad to approve you. The ONLY requirement is that you are a Zultys VAR. I can assure you though that there is much more content and discussion on this blog now (thanks to Rich) than on the group.
    But let me know if you or any other partner would like to sign up for the group.
    Best regards,
    Neil D

  • Chris Romine, Digital Biz
    October 6, 2006 at 3:47 pm

    Norman does write superbly and I agree with all that he says.
    We are a small Zultys reseller in Oklahoma that was formed about two years ago to sell Zultys…..
    I reviewed all available IP-PBX Technolgy and I could find none that offered more value in any area that you might care to consider. I believe that the Zultys Solution is the best available solution for our smb clients today. I also believe that Zultys Technology is at least 18 to 24 months ahead of any competetion that we are aware of.
    Please fell free to advise me of a more competent technology at any price let alone at Zultys price points. [email protected]
    1. We have finally created a pipeline with over $600,000 in proposed Zultys Solutions. The possibilities of closing most of the proposals are being reduced daily.
    2. We just closed a mx250-47 user sale all with mxie. The Zultys Chapter 11 was fully disclosed to our oklahoma client. They thought about the situation a day or so and advised us to move forward as they had reviewed serveral other solutions and none came close to offering the value that we offered with the Zultys solution.
    To the x- employees of zultys- You should be proud of what you helped created and I am sorry for your plight. The management team at Zultys was not perfect, are you? When I was in Sunnyvale for my ZCSE all of the Zultys staff that I had contact with treated me suberbly and I do wish all the very best.
    To the creditors of Zultys business failure (not paid debt) is a normal cost of doing business- you win some and you lose some. You know it and large companies have it budgeted.
    As to Zultys’ ability to have product manufactured- get real, there are numerous worldwide resources for continued development and manufacturing that would be happy to take Zultys as a client regardless of thier management and the CH11. They might negotiate stricter terms but they will do business with Zultys.
    To the competitors of Zultys in this blog- I guess I say good hunting. If you have to sell your product by speaking poorley of Zultys what do you have to sell?
    We stand to lose quite a bit if Zultys “dies” as it will be difficult to find a replacement solution.
    I am a Zultys VAR and I wish to remain one. I would be happy if Ian continued to manage the enterprize (like I said no one is perfect, not you and certainly not me) or happy if someone else steps in and takes over.
    MY NAME IS CHRIS ROMINE, ZCSE! Do You Know Your name?
    PS- thank you Rich for this forum

  • Former Partner now Observer
    October 6, 2006 at 4:43 pm

    Neil,
    As I said before, I’m not attacking you, and the reason I’m not posting my name is that I like my job, and would like to keep it.
    I’m not upset with anything, I just want to make sure you understand that your fate right now is closely tied to the people you’ve been arguing with. I have no stake in the Zultys wars anymore, but I truly hope all of you are successful.
    The yahoo group I brought up is just a case in point. The person who left the message in question was trying to be helpful and warn you about potential dangers, and you responded by removing all non-VARs from the group. If you wanted it to be VARs only so badly, you could have just denied the memberships in the first place. But I suspect the real reason is just that you didn’t want to hear what she had to say. But when you did that, your really only hurt yourselves, because you cut yourselves off from some potentially powerful allies (not me, I’m just a peon.)
    As I said, that is just a case in point. I see the same behavior here.
    Just let me reiterate, Neil, I’m not attacking you. I want you guys to succeed, because you certainly don’t deserve what is happening right now. I’d love to see Zultys continue on with good and honest management, and you guys getting rich off all the business. I’m just hoping you guys will be smart about this, and use your resources wisely.
    Good luck gentlemen.

  • To Chris Romine
    October 9, 2006 at 6:34 pm

    Chris Romine: Your company sold 1 system in the three years you were a VAR. And that was to yourself as a demo kit. If we count this latest sale to the company you mentioned with 47 seats, you are averaging less than .8 seats per month. I don’t think you are in a place to be all over this forum as a represantative Zultys VAR. Sorry to be harsh, but its ironic that you have been more active on the boards and forums than you ever were as a reseller. There are people making decisions and plans off of the posts on these forums and I think it is only fair that the information be real and useful. You really should be in a position to have sold and (tried to) maintain some systems before espousing the virtues of the products. Selling the systems was usually the easy part of being a Zultys VAR.

  • Neil Darling
    October 9, 2006 at 10:09 pm

    Being anonymous and attacking people is chickensh*t.
    You lack integrity.
    What is your name chicken without a name? Bock, bock and bock.
    My name is Neil.
    Call me to discuss Toll-free 888-260-5235 (cause your undoubtedly the cheap kind of chicken).

  • Chris Romine, Digital Biz
    October 10, 2006 at 5:22 pm

    Thanks Neil……
    To Chris Romine writer: I AM A representative Zultys VAR- I am spending 90% of my resources trying to sell Zultys. I may not have been a successful Zultys VAR, but we are (were) changing that- no thanks to you. I have said in all of my post that we are just learning how to sell Zultys and that our large pipeline is new. I don’t know who you are (I can guess) but what you say is true- we have only sold one system to date, however we have finally developed a meaningful pipe of over $1,200,000 in Zultys based proposals in the past 4 or 5 months which may never close now. So what difference does it make if I only sold 47 seats in the past three years, if I sell 500, 1000, 3000 or 4000~ plus seats in the next 12 months? We developed our current pipeline with very limited sales support in the field from Zultys! I assume we had limited field support from our last channel rep due to what you said in your post. I. E.- We were not going to be a successful VAR.
    We had no telecom history whatsoever- in fact we were formed new to sell Zultys and had or have no other business at all. We have been through 4 or 5 channel reps- we lasted longer than the reps). We had to learn how to sell phone systems in general and then how to sell Zultys in particular. I think most of the small resellers had the same problem we had – staying around long enough to learn how to engage valid prospects, then sell Zultys to those prospects. I have always been committed to Zultys technology regardless of the revolving door at Zultys. I hope that we have a chance to close some of the proposals we have in our pipeline.
    FYI- I makes no difference what you think. We wish to have the continuing opportunity to sell Zultys Technology.
    Chris

  • Neil Darling
    October 13, 2006 at 4:17 pm

    A new investment club is forming. If you are interested in becoming a part of our club – let me know.
    Neil Darling
    [email protected]

  • Another former engineer
    October 14, 2006 at 2:52 am

    My rebuttal here>>
    Products are probably great, potential sales are great too but the capital structure of the company was too much to handle.
    I really mean the financial statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow statement did not appeal to investors. 2004 and 2005
    were great years for VC and private equity funding.
    We have to remember the CEO, Mr Milnes was in engineering managment. He was not in marketing and finance department. I think lack of right people, lack of right corporate background and not able to clean up the financial statement really killed the company.
    Mr Milnes never able to focus on the growth curve of the equation.
    The company was spending too much money on development, having too much inventory and not enough investors equity. In fact, there were no VC equity, but more debt than anything else.
    If Mr Milnes had the foresight and hindsight, let seasonal managment team ran the company for the last 2 years. Keep his orginial founders equity and focused his job in the investment community. I’m sure the result will be totally different.
    Anyway, Iain killed the company and everyone suffer including ex-wife, ex-employees, resellers, and customers.

  • Insider
    October 15, 2006 at 9:30 am

    The letter from “Another Former Engineer”, clearly Russian, says it all. These Russians are smart and, from the above, not just at engineering. Think hard about what he is saying before you join Mr.Darling’s little investment club (do we have to buy stamps?). Milnes epitomized the old Chinese saying “it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive”. He sleepwalked into oblivion. Rather than do a financial analysis of the coming year, he worked on the priciple of “oh, don’t worry, it will be all right”. Why do you think his Chief Financial Officer left months ago? She knew it was a foundation of sand that would finally collapse when his personal piggy bank ran dry. His arrogance to VCs is said to be his undoing. That was only part of it. He never had a business plan. Sounds unbelievable? Well, you’d better believe it. It isn’t that he didn’t have a CREDIBLE business plan. He didn’t have one at all. The result is wasted lives and effort.

  • Insider
    October 15, 2006 at 9:32 am

    The letter from “Another Former Engineer”, clearly Russian, says it all. These Russians are smart and, from the above, not just at engineering. Think hard about what he is saying before you join Mr.Darling’s little investment club (do we have to buy stamps?). Milnes epitomized the old Chinese saying “it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive”. He sleepwalked into oblivion. Rather than do a financial analysis of the coming year, he worked on the priciple of “oh, don’t worry, it will be all right”. Why do you think his Chief Financial Officer left months ago? She knew it was a foundation of sand that would finally collapse when his personal piggy bank ran dry. His arrogance to VCs is said to be his undoing. That was only part of it. He never had a business plan. Sounds unbelievable? Well, you’d better believe it. It isn’t that he didn’t have a CREDIBLE business plan. He didn’t have one at all. The result is wasted lives and effort.

  • Engineer
    October 17, 2006 at 3:48 pm

    This is quote from a post made by Ben Leznik, former Sofware Director at Zultys. Look at the key people list!
    ………………………………
    After 2 months of Zultys collaps I ended up working with the company
    named Pivot. It’s created and financed by the Telrad Connegy, the
    company that initially tried to buy Zultys (remember those misterious
    Israely people?).
    Few other key s/w guys from Zultys joined Pivot as well: Vladimir
    Movshovich, Vladimir Appel, Alex Petrov, Albert Umyarov, etc.
    The intention of Pivot is to place the bid on Zultys and try to buy
    the company when the auction takes place.
    ……………………………

  • Norman D. Landerman
    October 18, 2006 at 1:55 pm

    To: To Chris Romine:
    At the same time you took a shot at Chris’ legitimacy as a representative VAR (as opposed to your own?), you validated the very point attempted. Apparently, your hostility towards whose who would “espouse the virtues of the (Zultys) products”, is even exceeded by your own respect for the product. I would imagine this self-contradiction correctly reveals you to be a self-hating Zultys loyalist.
    May I quote you?
    “Selling the systems was usually the easy part of being a Zultys VAR.”
    I concur. Thank you for helping to make our point.

  • Former Employee
    October 19, 2006 at 2:49 am

    Norman and Chris are really making me begin to feel that Milnes’ rack of respect for resellers is well founded. This argument has now descended into the realms of childishness. You seem to have missed the real important information on this blog that senior engineers have left and joined Pivot. Now we really see what Milnes is frightened of. There is a real possibility that the people who built this product could buy the company and consign Mines to history. You resellers should be rejoicing, not bickering. Send your spare food stamps to Pivot NOT to Sunnyvale!

  • another inside
    October 19, 2006 at 10:32 am

    Mr Milnes wrote a bounce check, and he knew there are no money to cover it. Is this legal? Why dont you guys try it? Mr Milnes preferred to take the risk. There is noting against the product. He defrauds everyone here, suppliers, employees, ex-wife, and resellers. He used the bankruptcy chapter 11 to get out.

  • Norman Landerman
    October 19, 2006 at 10:43 am

    I would respond to your comments, however, that would require me to respond either positively or negatively to your thinly veiled excuse to bash “Milnes”. Oh, and also be trapped into responding to what you consider to be the only acceptable, just, and appropriate end-game. Sorry.
    I thought I had simply made a point while trying to take the heat out of the bickering. Oh well.
    We only have two more days of this. My understanding is “first offers” are due Friday and the auction is over on Monday.
    I look forward to rejoicing with my fellow resellers with an announcement on Monday of the Zultys product line remaining as a viable and marketable opportunity for us all.
    Providing resolution-agnostic support of that one goal has been my sole purpose throughout this conversation.
    I continue to offer that support without stating my personal preferences or reactions about anything that has, might be, or is about to take place. I promise you I have information and strong opinions about all three of those time frames.
    Give me a shout on Tuesday.
    1-561-279-2627, Ext. 110

  • Rich Tehrani
    October 19, 2006 at 4:56 pm

    Expect an excellent article on the Zultys situation from Bob Liu on TMCnet early in the morning. If you want to stay up to date on Zultys happenings, subscribe to a news alert on the company or any person you want to track.
    http://www.tmcnet.com/scripts/newsalerts/

  • Norman Norman Norman
    October 19, 2006 at 6:09 pm

    Norman,
    I’m not a self-hating Zultys loyalist. I really like myself and I have no loyalty left to Zultys. I think the product has some interesting features but does not have mass market appeal. I wish you’d accept that there are people on this planet that know more about Zultys than you might. I am one of those people, and other than this forum, that knowledge does not one thing for me anymore.
    You did not understand my post at all. The point was, selling the system was easy but that was the ONLY easy part. Supporting the system, working with the company, dodging licensing pitfalls, communicating the never ending policy changes, furiously RMAing products, navigating fact from fiction…those were the activities that occupy a busy resellers time. The product simply does not do everything it is advertised to do. It is not purely built on the SIP standard, thus the overwhelming interop issues. The hardware failure rate in 2006 was 18%. This indicates several things, but since you have all the answers…I leave you to figure out what those are.
    Again, I don’t hate anyone. Its frustrating to watch people jump on bandwagons simply because they have nothing better to do (I’m not referring to you). Let me say is as plainly as I can: You don’t have a complete representation of the type of VARs that you should be talking to about how to revive Zultys. You have a few of them, but you also have a lot of people posting who sold 1 or no systems. Why on earth would you fight us on this? I wasted years of my life at Zultys. When the employees were finally cut free, the urge and requirement to keep quiet on all the dirty little secrets was lifted. People are telling you things you don’t want to hear, and it is not because they are bitter. Almost everyone I know is thrilled to be working elsewhere. Other than the money they lost, Zultys employees now generally work in companies where they are respected, paid well, treated like adults, not lied to and supporting products that lots and lots of people buy. Zultys had hundreds of installs globally. It was simply not accepted by the majority of people who saw it. I realize you have a view of what happened with your own business, but at some point man understand that you don’t have an omnipresent view of what happened overall with Zultys. The “self hating” posts are truly, honestly because people are trying to warn you guys from making an enormous mistake. I have no vested interst in any of this, but as someone who was deeply affected by what happened…I do not want to see the Zultys runoff hurt anyone eles or their families.

  • Outside Looking in
    October 19, 2006 at 10:08 pm

    Resellers (of which I am one) do not care about the dirty little secrets, We don’t care if Iain wrote bad checks, we dont care that he is getting divorced, we dont care that you lost money, we dont care care if you were ever lied to…
    In the big picture what we see is a product that is far ahead of anything offered by cisco, avaya, 3com, or the other big players. The only thing that comes close is shoretel and they ain’t SIP.
    The MX250 has build in Voice mail, many others require a secondary server, It has built in auto attendants, call center features, T1 , FXO, FXS conenctions (via add on slots) and lots of other features that place it far and above the rest of the field,SIP TRUNKING, Presence, Fax to the desktop, and a bunch of other stuff
    Monday the technology will belong to Telrad, Toshiba, 3Com or some other group that will invest and market it so it will be MAINSTREAM.
    The biggest problem before was the battle of “who is Zultys”. That will be gone and I would sell Zultys against any manufacturer out there. AND if the decision is made based on Technology (and not the name) ZULTYS will win.
    SO let me say this JUNIOR, Sorry you are feeling blue, sorry that you did not have the guts to leave a company you hated, sorry you stuck around. If you had any self respect you would have left long ago instead of sticking around and being treated like dirt, lied to, etc. Where you are at today is your own fault if you saw all the things you say you saw and you (on you own free will) hung around!!!!
    SHAME SHAME SHAME ON YOU
    and sorry you can not see what a loyal group the Zultys product has.
    Did you think for one minute that we would say “guess we better not look forward to working with this technology because some ex-employee got hurt”
    Resellers try to find products that ADD VALUE for their customers and offer a good features and a good margin. If we all wanted to just sell the typical product we would all be selling CISCO’s AVVID and making 3.2% margin.
    and as far as the bandwagon goes, We have been on it for awhile, it seems you sprained your ankle when you got TOSSED off and now are trying to get the rest of us to jump off with you..
    Well sorry dear,,,BUT WE AINT JUMPING
    oh ya I AM SORRY YOU LANDED IN HORSE POOP when they tossed you off the wagon kicking and screaming like the little girl you are

  • Norman Landerman
    October 19, 2006 at 10:46 pm

    How come “Norman Norman Norman” now sounds similar to “Beezlebub Beezlebub Beezlebub”?
    I never intended to “fight” anyone on this blog. I respect your knowledge of Zultys, am saddened by what you and many others have gone through and am pleased that many of you have come to have your talents and worth better appreciated and better rewarded albeit elsewhere and at great personal loss in the interim.
    I am indeed limited in my experience. Perhaps, as a reseller I am just lucky to have not experienced the hardware difficulties you have mentioned, although some of the reseller difficulties you describe certainly do hit a chord.
    Perhaps your insights are more valuable in a total understanding of what has transpired at Zultys. Perhaps your insights are more valuable in outlining what should happen with Zultys (although you may find me to ultimately be more in line with you on this than you think).
    Your experience in all of this is based upon where you stood throughout this process as mine is based from where I stood. I don’t honestly know how many people stood on similar ground as I, but I do know there were a number of them. Some of them have shown up here. Perhaps all of them, perhaps not.
    I believe Rich mis-quoted me when he claimed I said “the entire channel” remained dedicated. (He actually did pretty well over all, as he received that call between flights in an airport.) I did say I was aware of an unusual (to me) number of us.
    Our allegiance to the PRODUCT may be as misguided as many ex-employees have insisted. Not so many resellers have accused us of the same. In any case, we have all been able to hear it from the other perspective and having our perspective allowed to surface in addition to yours was where it started and where it really should end.

  • Another Insider
    October 20, 2006 at 1:32 am

    Well, it looks like our little soap opera is getting to it’s season finale and I wanted to respond to our fellow Zultys/Milnes hater:
    Everything you wrote in the last post is true, and you named all (or almost all) the main reasons why Zultys went bankrupt after spending 65 million dollars. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to understand that there was something deeply wrong with the company and to keep it as it is would be just a waste of money, and I assume Mr. Darling and his colleagues do understand that, too.
    Yes, Zultys was completely mismanaged on all levels including engineering and manufacturing. That is why the system did not work like it was supposed to, RMAs were not handled properly and hardware was so faulty. A group of engineers suddenly decided that they are great businessmen, but we all agree that is not the way it really works. What Zultys needs is a strong professional management team. It has a great potential and product has even more features then it needs to be sold. Put the right management with clear goals and a good business plan and I am sure Zultys will have a bright future.

  • Analyst
    October 20, 2006 at 8:06 am

    18% failure rate. That wouldn’t a self repscting reseller time to read blogs!

  • Analyst
    October 20, 2006 at 8:08 am

    O.K In English this time!
    18% failure rate wouldn’t give a self respecting reseller time to read blogs!

  • VoIP Blog - Tehrani.com
    October 20, 2006 at 9:54 am

    Zultys Bankruptcy

    This morning Bob Liu wrote an article with details on the Zultys bankruptcy proceedings. the hearing will be held on October 23, 2006 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California, in San Jose, before Judge Arthur S. Weissbrodt, who…

  • Rich Tehrani
    October 20, 2006 at 9:57 am

    Please read Zultsys Bankruptcy, written today by me. Comments are appreciated and probably better off left here.

  • George Richardson
    October 20, 2006 at 10:04 am

    Zultys Failure Rate
    I do not know Zultys overall failure rate, but I do know the failure rate for the MX250’s sold by CTD. The rate of 18% is about 6 times the rate CTD expereienced.
    George Richardson

  • Norman Landerman
    October 20, 2006 at 10:49 am

    For those of you who are not aware of it. CTD in not a Zultys reseller, but rather an established and long term Zultys DISTRIBUTOR.
    Although our experience as a reseller is limited to our own sales. I can state we have not seen anything close to an 18% MX250 failure rate.
    George’s experience covers a much greater exposure including many resellers.

  • Midwest reseller
    October 20, 2006 at 10:56 am

    OK, I finally figured out the major issue here, The resellers are looking forward and believe in the product
    The Ex-Employees are looking back and want to point to every thing Iain did wrong
    Lets be honest, The resellers care about the product and believe that it is solution that we can sell against Cisco, Avaya, 3COM, and others. AND MAKE GOOD MARGIN doing it.
    We are sorry that you were forced to stay against your will, working at a job that you hated, and were finally tossed off the wagon and landed on your head in a big pile of horse poop.
    Bad Mouthing Iain, talking about his divorce, or any other dirty little secrets, has no effect on our future business plans. If these items stopped us from selling a product we would have to drop –
    HP – They tapped their employees phones
    Cisco – Allowing their code to be stolen
    and the list goes on
    We all hope you future job is better then the one you had a Zultys and we also wish you the moral and intestinal fortitude needed to leave a job when you feel you are not being treated fairly, instead of sticking around and allow yourself to be abused, lied to, mistreated, under paid, etc etc etc

  • another former employee
    October 20, 2006 at 12:26 pm

    i’m former employee. I dont think we should let the products die. We should let the market determine the end of the life of the products. Someday, the products will go away. Just like Sun microsystems and SGI were once high flyers. I believe the free market capitalist business model. Who will knows the google click generates so much money? We never know, zultys (re-brand) products may beat Avaya, 3COM, but probably not CISCO. I vote for you!!!

  • another former employee
    October 20, 2006 at 1:10 pm

    I think some former employee gets mixed feelings due to Iain. After the auction, Iain probably will not be at the helm of the Zultys no matter who buys the company except MBO. If resellers successful buy the company, it will be under new management. I dont know.

  • happy ex-employee
    October 20, 2006 at 4:13 pm

    Beating 3Com, Avaya and Cisco all at once is quite strong statement. What kept Zultys from beating them in the first place? All 4 years we were trumpeting about revolutionary “ahead of competition” product that could not compete against that competetion at all. It seems to me that it was far away from competetion on the side road. Yes, MX250 was a solid product and could stand against others if it was called Cisco MX250. But it was not good enough for a little known startup. Let’s be honest to ourselves. We did not deliver a revolutionary product. It was not an open source, was not truely fault tolerant, was not flexible as competetitors. It was somewhat easier to configure but not much easier.
    It’s actually easier to tell what MX250 was missing in its feature list than to say where it was beating competetitors. This discussion thread is just another proof of my opinion. What a reseller can sell if he think s that main advantage of Zultys product is that it’s not based on MS products. Are you kidding me?
    Anyway, good luck to what left from Zultys. With all my heart wish you a bright future and see you above top dogs you’re going to beat in the battle.

  • another insider
    October 21, 2006 at 12:58 am

    At this junction, I do have my sympathy to our old boss. To lost all hope with despair is not easy. Business world is brutal. I do wish a good outcome to everyone including our colleageus, resellers, customers, suppliers and our old boss. He did lose $65 million, and it’s sad to end this way. Knowing one small mistake can lead to big disaster. Wish everyone well!!!

  • Faramarz Mahdavi
    October 23, 2006 at 10:23 pm

    My company has been a Zultys reseller for a few years now and like the product very much. It is interesting to read the comments above from the resellers and the ex employees. I am not sure if my opinion is shared amongst other resellers, but regardless of how much we like the product, we place a lot of weight on who will ultimately own the company. Customers ultimately make their purchasing decisions based on feeling safe and protected. Any successful reseller will tell you that if you are trying sell any product based on the feature list, you are not getting it. So, who cares really about how the MX compares against Cisco or Avaya in terms of features ..given that most IT executives are inherently insecure, they will opt for Avaya or Cisco if they can afford it. We had success selling Zultys because we formulated ways to provide that sense of security to our customers. And, we built great customer references which further instilled that feeling. That brings me to another point which our friend, disgruntled Norman, doesn’t seem to consider, which is having a long list of features is one thing, engineering it in a way so that most are actually used by the customer is another and what Zultys did (does) extremely well. The Avaya IP Office has many more features than the MX, but do customers actually use them? No, because the product is not at all intuitive.
    Our position, for anyone who might care, is that unless Zultys is picked up by a reputable, financially sound, company, we may not continue to support it regardless of how much we like the product. That will certainly be the case if it ends up as a MBO. Telrad too is just another mediocre company. When the sales meeting is largely spent justifying or defending the failures of the manufacturer, it’s time to reconsider your partnership.

  • Mark Dutton
    October 24, 2006 at 4:49 am

    This has been an interesting blog, though I must admit I had to skip the middle as it just goes on and on. As a reseller in Australia with quite a few sales over the past year and quite a lot in the pipepline, I have a vested interest in the outcome. It is sad to hear how it all came undone and while difficult to separate fact from emotional rants, it seems clear that the management is responsible for everyone’s pain.
    I too hope that Zultys is purchased by a reputable company. If the MBO succeeds, then we will support our existing clients an move on. The biggest problem is going to be finding something as good as Zultys. To all you ex Zultys employees bagging the product. Don’t sell yourselves short. You made a great product. Don’t let your dislike for your boss lessen the impact you made as a collective on the world of IP Telephony.
    The auction continues on Wednesday and so far we only see three players in the mix, none whom I believe are going to be able to easily overcome the past few months without much work, but if a white knight comes in at the 11th hour, we could all be very happy, including the ex-employess who will be valuable to any new owners.

  • OncePotentialCustomer
    October 24, 2006 at 8:06 am

    I’m surprised nobody has posted information about what happened at the auction on Monday. Mark Dutton, you seem to have some info – can you provide a summary?
    Thanks!

  • Norman Landerman
    October 24, 2006 at 10:12 am

    I’m not being too picky at this point. The Zultys product has a five year history, a good present product, industry recognized technology and features, and we have an existing satisfied customer base. Give me an entity with financial depth, stability, experience, and a commitment to support and grow the product and we are good to go. That’s all my current and currently pending customers are looking for.
    WHAT HAPPENED ON MONDAY?
    Note to Faramarz:
    1. Please don’t confuse me with “Norman Norman Norman”, who wrote to disagree with my more optimistic outlook.

  • an insider
    October 24, 2006 at 11:56 am

    I’m an ex-employee. I love reseller buyout. I dont like the other potential suitor. You know what I mean. Resellers revive the “new” company and the products. The other potential suitor (not our old boss) kills everything.

  • Bob
    October 24, 2006 at 2:30 pm

    Hi all,
    Here is your Zultys update. Thanks for your patience.
    http://news.tmcnet.com/news/-voip-zultys-bankruptcy-/2006/10/24/2008885.htm

  • an interested customer
    October 24, 2006 at 2:46 pm

    It sounds like the final decision on the auction has been pushed back until Wednesday:
    http://www.computing.co.uk/crn/news/2167169/former-zultys-head-appeals

  • No coincidence
    October 24, 2006 at 3:10 pm

    As a current Zultys dealer waiting patiently to put this behind us and to continue rolling out this world class technology that works beautifully and that customers love, here is what I feel is the perfect scenario:
    *Management buyout with a 3rd party buy in*
    Iain and a new team take back Zultys sans the millions in debt. They then quickly bring in an 3rd party with deep pockets and name recognition to buy in a major stake and perhaps rebrand the product. By this time next year, we will be hitting critical mass for the Web 2.0 boom that will make the boom of late 90’s look like a joke. This time around, technologies like SIP, AJAX and others that are revolutioning the Internet will make this boom real. By that time, Zultys will be perfectly suited for a major IPO.
    Kid yourself not, Iain is genius. I have worked with him and this man has it. It is no accident that this brilliant technology was a result of his genius and the hardwork of his team. Yes, he has made some mistakes and at times can be rough-around-the-edges and had his hands in everything, however I have noticed most genius that operate at his level are very much like this. I feel I also know him well enough to know he learns from his mistakes. Also keep in mind that he put millions of his own keeping the company afloat towards the end.
    For those of you that have doubts about Iain capabilities, just look at what he did with his former company Zarak, the developers of the Abacus tester; a company he started and sold to Spirent for nearly US$500M. Today, if you go into Cisco, Mitel or any other lab where telcom products are made and tested, you will find the Abacus Tester which to this day is still the industry leader in its market space. The MX250 is on the same level of that technological genius. It is no coincident that both companies were brain children of Iain’s.

  • Genius?
    October 24, 2006 at 10:51 pm

    Iain,
    Stop writing posts about yourself!
    This story is already sad, don’t make it pathetic. The truth came out about Zarak and Zultys and you need to move on.
    Regards,
    A. Friend

  • Former Employee
    October 25, 2006 at 3:42 am

    Don’t be silly. It couldn’t be Iain. It has errors of grammar that look Russian in nature. Remember, that when Zultys was going down the toilet, Iain was correcting grammatical errors in memos. It is clear neither you nor the Russian understands him at all. However Iain clearly has pictures of “no coincidence” with a goat to make him write such arrant nonsense.

  • unknown
    October 25, 2006 at 6:47 pm

    This is sad to say there is no place for Iain and no companies will let him operate again.

  • Mr. I
    October 26, 2006 at 2:12 am

    If Telrad outbids everyone, then it will be
    the end of Zultys, as everything is moving offshore.
    Telrad Connegy, Ltd. has moved to its new headquarters in Petach Tikvah, Israel. The new address is 25, Basel Street, Kyriat Arieh, Petach Tikvah 49001, Israel.
    The Israel-based operation of Telrad Connegy includes the global headquarters, the Research and Development Division and the manufacturing operations, and handles the marketing of the Company’s products for EMEA (Europe and the Middle East).

  • TW
    October 26, 2006 at 6:41 am

    Any news from wednesday?

  • Come On
    October 26, 2006 at 9:33 am

    Telrad is not going to kill Zultys, and as far as it moving off shore… they have already leased space and said in court they were not going to be laying everybody off. Telrad has been in business for almost 50 years and if they buy Zultys they are buying it for the product. as far as Manaufacturing being in israel (if it is) WHO CARES, the MX250 was being made in China before. SO it moves from a communist country to a democratic country, I dont think that is a bad thing. Do you?
    And when you say they relocated you leave out the fact their HQ was already in Israel, they just moved to a different site, Lets also mention they have hired 4 of the original engineers from Zultys and they have a North American HQ in New York city.
    we used to have one of Telrad’s phone systems and we used it for years.Good product.

  • Telrad wins - NOW GET OUT
    October 26, 2006 at 10:34 am

    Well, this is the word I got.
    Bidding never started and New Zul / Inpath is out. They are not returning Monday. That leaves Iain and Pivot / Telrad. Iain who couldn’t continue the business if he had a billion dollars and Telrad who has no intention of taking anything other than the code back to Israel. If they said anything other than that publicly – let me know. I firmly believe the Zultys engineers who jumped to Pivot will be used for a transition period and then flushed in three or so months. Maybe they will offer Vlad an extended stay apartment in Haifa? When he refuses – they move on.
    The last proposed initial bid from Pivot / Telrad is $1.6 million cash and a $1 million promissory note.
    Newzul contends that they struck an agreement with the debtor and the creditor committee, agreements necessary to have the auction move forward yesterday, and that those greedy vultures have gone back on those commitments and are not interested in preserving the channel, the existing customers or the pipeline of sales on hold since July.
    Apparently, NewZul / Inpath wanted the bidding completed yesterday based on the fact that they contend the “channels will be irreparably harmed” by any further delay. I agree that if you want further delays to officially start the bidding – you are not interested in keeping what remians of this business going. I mean why would you care if you only intend to use the code as a starting point for some magnificent product that will be out in a year or so. What about NOW?
    NewZul / Inpath revealed that they are the only bidder taking over the Vaqueros lease and that they intend to hire all of the existing employees. Nobody cared. It is almost like they all of those present don’t want this business – or the paychecks of those who have stuck it out through this Iain debacle – to continue.
    Despite Inpath / New Zul’s appeal to have the auction yesterday – and no further delay, the judge elected to go with the crowd and to adjourn until Monday at 1:00 pm.
    We have reached a conclusion – that Iain and Pivot / Telrad do not care about any damage they are causing with more delays – despite anything they may say. It is obvious they don’t care about delays because they have no intention of selling anything else or keeping anything going. Telrad / Pivot does not have a team in place – other than top Zultys engineers. They have no business in the US – and certainly no infrastructure here.
    Based on this, we are now looking seriously entering discussions with ObjectWorld (good technology) or Shoretel (good channel program). We will not watch this train wreck anymore. We are no longer interested nor hopeful in the outcome. End of story.

  • Observer
    October 26, 2006 at 2:43 pm

    Quote from Zultys ex-emploee blog
    Re: [exzultys] Another reposting
    Here is the perspective of a VAR who was at the auction all days. Its very different from what was posted earlier (I think the original posting was written by Neil Darling…Joe correct me if I’m wrong).
    Hi ….,
    We (Brandon and I) were at the “auction” yesterday, all day, and most of the Monday session as well. Neil’s description is not entirely accurate. I think what happened is that NewZul/Inpath pissed off the creditors and to some extent the judge by changing their deposit bid from a hard dollar commitment to a refundable bid if the deal didn’t close. Ian and Telrad committed to a “hard dollar” opening bid.
    Telrad/Pivot strongly objected to NewZul’s repeated characterization of their intentions to break up the company and not to continue the channels. They could be lying or just posturing, there was a lot of that going on, but I don’t think Pivot wants to close up shop in the US. They even stated that they would keep the Zultys name.
    Anyway, my take is that NewZul never had an ASP agreement with the creditors and that they were trying to steal away the assets with an artificially higher bid. They got caught, the other bidders objected, and then they refused to make their bid “hard”, and then they went home.
    Paul

  • Free Barcode Scanner with every Order
    October 26, 2006 at 2:44 pm

    I was in attendance at court on Monday & Wednesday and know first hand what happened and what was said. And there are plently of lies and misrepresentations going on in this blog.
    1st – Inpath requested an extension on monday “last” because they felt somethings had changed and they needed some more time to raise money “pass around the begging bowl”. Pivot offered to start the bidding at 1.7 million and agreed to all the conditions in the purchase agrement if the auction was held that day. Pivot was worried about the channel also. The creditors attorney agreed to an extension IF it would raise more money. An extension was granted by the judge over the objetion of Pivot.
    2nd Pivot asked for an extension on wednesday because some of the agreements had changed on the purchase contract. Inpath “now” was worried about a delay but they are the ones that wanted the extension in the first place and they are the ones that had the agreement changed. pivot did not get the agreement until 6 am wednesday morning (emailed). so they had little time to review and prepare.
    3rd. Inpath said Wednesday that the 1.55 million was the last and final offer. and they would not be in court on Monday. If this is true then they should have just said that last monday when they knew that Pivot would trump their bid instead of asking for an extension to beg more money. So who is screwing things up..INPATH.
    And if you held off for 60 days and now are deciding to move away from the MX250 and work with Shoretel or avaya or object world, good for you, I would rather compete with you anyway. Stupid is as stupid does
    Also Pivot made the statement in court that they are not going to tear the company apart and they have leased space already in california. INPATH is trying to use FUD to scare folks into donating money to them because the venture capitalist cash has dried up! SHAME ON YOU INPATH. You will have a career in the future working on some dirty smear campaign with some political hack running for congress
    If you think Inpath (a reseller of handheld scanners, CCTV, barcode products, and a back ground in reselling 3COM) will do a better job then telrad with 50 years in the phone market and established manufacturing facility, and large sales in the US, YOU ARE HIGH ON THE CRACK COCAINE.
    Does Inpath even have the money to RUN THE OPERATION??? Would they focus on the VoIP product or Closed Circuit TV systems? oops sorry had to stop and laugh on that one for a minute, hard to type with tears running down my face. Thanks for the VoIP order would you care for some bar code scanners or a Closed Circuit TV System with that. They could sell SUPERSIZED systems, get a free bar code scanner with every MX250 order. Or maybe offer 3 free phones with every CCTV system
    ————————————
    My vote is with pivot, more experience, more technical knowledge, more money, better management, and a better fit for the zultys product.
    If you really want to waste some money don’t give it to Inpath, Send if over to me… I am going to open an outdoor ice rink in south florida just off the beach on A1A in Ft. lauderdale.
    ///Resellers///, hang tight a couple more days and once Pivot wins the deal you will see a quick turn around and development of support services and sales in the US in a very short period of time.
    GO PIVOT GO………..

  • Free Barcode Scanner with every Order
    October 26, 2006 at 2:47 pm

    I was in attendance at court on Monday & Wednesday and know first hand what happened and what was said. And there are plently of lies and misrepresentations going on in this blog.
    1st – Inpath requested an extension on monday “last” because they felt somethings had changed and they needed some more time to raise money “pass around the begging bowl”. Pivot offered to start the bidding at 1.7 million and agreed to all the conditions in the purchase agrement if the auction was held that day. Pivot was worried about the channel also. The creditors attorney agreed to an extension IF it would raise more money. An extension was granted by the judge over the objetion of Pivot.
    2nd Pivot asked for an extension on wednesday because some of the agreements had changed on the purchase contract. Inpath “now” was worried about a delay but they are the ones that wanted the extension in the first place and they are the ones that had the agreement changed. pivot did not get the agreement until 6 am wednesday morning (emailed). so they had little time to review and prepare.
    3rd. Inpath said Wednesday that the 1.55 million was the last and final offer. and they would not be in court on Monday. If this is true then they should have just said that last monday when they knew that Pivot would trump their bid instead of asking for an extension to beg more money. So who is screwing things up..INPATH.
    And if you held off for 60 days and now are deciding to move away from the MX250 and work with Shoretel or avaya or object world, good for you, I would rather compete with you anyway. Stupid is as stupid does
    Also Pivot made the statement in court that they are not going to tear the company apart and they have leased space already in california. INPATH is trying to use FUD to scare folks into donating money to them because the venture capitalist cash has dried up! SHAME ON YOU INPATH. You will have a career in the future working on some dirty smear campaign with some political hack running for congress
    If you think Inpath (a reseller of handheld scanners, CCTV, barcode products, and a back ground in reselling 3COM) will do a better job then telrad with 50 years in the phone market and established manufacturing facility, and large sales in the US, YOU ARE HIGH ON THE CRACK COCAINE.
    Does Inpath even have the money to RUN THE OPERATION??? Would they focus on the VoIP product or Closed Circuit TV systems? oops sorry had to stop and laugh on that one for a minute, hard to type with tears running down my face. Thanks for the VoIP order would you care for some bar code scanners or a Closed Circuit TV System with that. They could sell SUPERSIZED systems, get a free bar code scanner with every MX250 order. Or maybe offer 3 free phones with every CCTV system
    ————————————
    My vote is with pivot, more experience, more technical knowledge, more money, better management, and a better fit for the zultys product.
    If you really want to waste some money don’t give it to Inpath, Send if over to me… I am going to open an outdoor ice rink in south florida just off the beach on A1A in Ft. lauderdale.
    ///Resellers///, hang tight a couple more days and once Pivot wins the deal you will see a quick turn around and development of support services and sales in the US in a very short period of time.
    GO PIVOT GO………..

  • Midwest Reseller
    October 26, 2006 at 4:29 pm

    We were there on both Monday and Wednesday and I can tell you what happened.
    Monday there was a lot of talk about the purchase agreement. INpath asked for an extension until wednesday so they could “pass around the beggin bowl” raise more money. PIVOT objected and wanted the auction held that day. INPATH said since they now understood the agreement better they felt the company was worth more and wanted more time to raise extra cash. They then promised to start the bidding on wednesday at 1.55 IF they got an extension. Pivotal offered 1.6 if it was held that day. The creditors felt since both parties were interested that it would be better for the creditors to wait and get more money on monday.
    Monday- inpath had ask for and receive some changes to the purchase agreement prior to court, Pivot was not made aware of these changes until around 6am on monday morning. Pivot asked for an extension so they could look at the proposed changes. inpath then cried that it would be harmful to delay. They did not have much of a leg to stand on since they were the first to cause a delay. Inpath also tried to make it sound like pivot would fire everybody and close the business…. In open court and on the record pivot said they had already leased space in california, they had 4 of the founding engineers, and they were commited to growing the bussines and keeping the company alive. These are open records which are available to anybody to review and pivot assured the court they were in the game to play for keeps.
    Inpath told the court that 1.55 was going to be their last and best offer and they would not be in court on monday. If this is true then they should have just walked away last monday after they realized that pivot has deeper pockets and more invested in engineering and a wilingness to win in this bid. Inpath has themselves harmed you, me, and zultys by playing games in the court room and then trying to make it appear as if pivot is the bad boys.
    IF (and that is a big IF) inpath wins the lottery, has a rich uncle die, and buys zultys the bright side is that since they make most of their money selling barcode scanners, they will be able to offer a “super sized” VoIP Product, “WOULD YOU LIKE A BARCODE SCANNER WITH THAT MX250”. “Yes please upsizes me and throw in a free CCTV screen.”
    Or maybe even offer 3 free VoIP phoens with every Closed Circuit TV system they sell.
    They will of course have to come up with some neat ronald mcdonald like costumes for their sales folks to wear.
    Inpath are resellers and not manufactueres, make no mistake.. inpath would kill the zultys product with a lack of understanding and engineering ability. if they can’t afford 1.8 million how would they furth develop the product???

  • Neil D
    October 26, 2006 at 4:31 pm

    Brandon it wasn’t me. But I must say that although I don’t agree with his tone – I think Telrad wins – NOW GO HOME makes some valid points.
    I did listen to most of the auction and I would agree with your post that there was some legalistic issue with the agreement (that I did not understand) that alot of of the participants were not happy about. I don’t think that the Telrad wins – NOW GET OUT post was that far off the mark though.
    However, I would also agree with the Telrad wins – GET OUT NOW that although Telrad’s lawyer said they would like to maintain the business – they have failed to make any public comments about what they would or wouldn’t do if they won the auction.
    Do you think that Rich Tehrani could get an interview with Telrad / Pivot? That might get them on the record and provide some confidence to all these key stakeholders in the Zultys supply chain.
    My understanding is that Inpath has represented publicly that:
    – They would hire all current employees who want jobs
    – That they will maintain the lease at the “factory” to house the employees and systems
    – That they have reached out to most of the creditors and distributors about their intentions to keep their part of the business going
    – That they have support from a good portion of the resellers who are banking on being able to sell some of this 3.0 stuff that has been years in the making on Tuesday
    – And, they have provided an offer to former employees that they have an open invitation to interview for any available position.
    Failure to do so means that they have different intentions that are not worth discussing. Don’t the employees deserve to know that their jobs are intact – atleast where they stand? Maybe you don’t think so Brandon – but I do.
    Neil D

  • Midwest Reseller
    October 26, 2006 at 4:51 pm

    Neil
    Because pivot has not made PUBLIC statements, does not mean all the things you think it means.
    They have not been as vocal as Inpath for sure, but they have been talking to folks. maybe not to you since you are on the other side.

  • Brandon
    October 26, 2006 at 4:57 pm

    Hi Neil, just to be clear- the post you attributed to me was posted by and signed by Paul. We were at the auction together both days, but it was Paul that you meant to address.
    Anyhow, my take on the whole thing is that it seemed like a _very_ unusual circumstance in the courtroom. I overheard several lawyers and others involved in the hallway say similar.
    I still don’t understand why the judge didn’t just make everyone start bidding the first day and let the creditor’s committee decide who won. It seemed that NewZul and Telrad both wanted to rewrite the rules of auctions. Maybe ebay should have just hosted the auction..

  • Avi Weinrib
    October 26, 2006 at 6:39 pm

    My name is Avi Weinrib and I am the acting President and CEO of Pivot VoIP.
    Pivot VoIP was established in Mountain View, CA as an independent entity in order to continue the product development and support of the Zultys line and to enable us to maintain the strong relationship with its reseller base, should we be successful at the auction.
    Some key points I would like to make are:
    – We will continue the product development cycle in the Silicon Valley, in our new offices in Mountain View.
    -We believe strongly in the product and we already have on board the very right team to continue to support it.
    -We look at the distribution channels as a most valuable asset to us.
    Should we be successful in the auction, the primary steps We will take are to:
    -Immediately restore operations, manufacturing and product support.
    -Keep all required personal, especially tech support group
    -Restore relations with all distributors and resellers loyal to the product.
    -Restore the development cycle and introduce urgent bug fixes and updates ASAP
    I hope this will clarify our intentions and alleviate any concerns regarding the future support of the Zultys product.
    Sincerely,
    Avi Weinrib
    Acting President and CEO,
    Pivot VoIP Inc.
    Owner and Chairman
    Telrad Connegy

  • an observer
    October 26, 2006 at 8:33 pm

    Well, in a bidding war like this, the winner usually looses. They will be the one that pays the most and suffers the lost of cash upfront.
    I believe trying to revive Zultys is going to cost a lot more money than any of these parties anticipated in the future. Besides, they would need to carry the name of a ‘bankrupted company’ for a long time.
    Just tell them to all go home!

  • Neil D
    October 26, 2006 at 10:09 pm

    Dear Mr. Weinrib:
    Thank you for addressing the concerns.
    Best regards,
    Neil Darling
    Managing Partner
    EtherSpeak Communications

  • Norman Landerman
    October 26, 2006 at 10:20 pm

    Exactly one month ago, this BLOG was kicked off as part of a concerted effort to present to the world (and potential buyers) evidence of a dedicated and persistent group of resellers who were loyal to a product. Some of us either knew each other or knew of each other. Many of us suspected there were others, unknown to us, who shared our predicament. Almost all of us felt we were a unique group of people with a unique problem related to a unique product.
    During the past month, those loyalties have helped some bonds strengthen. Resellers took sides and some even went so far as to unite to buy the product and keep it alive.
    Although many voices joined the fray and opinions were heard from every direction, the resellers remained overwhelmingly in support of a successful resolution albeit with varying degrees of optimism.
    Contrary to what was being suggested at the start of all this, it looks like Zultys may be around and fit for us to resume our activity in support of its sales. Inpath certainly wouldn’t have been at the table if not for reseller enthusiasm. I believe our existence contributed to motivating Telrad’s persistent pursuit. Iain already knew we were here.
    Reports on the bankruptcy proceedings of the past few days indicate we have been raised as a specific and identifiable population whose concerns should be considered within the actions of the court.
    If we are allowed to get back to business as usual, I think we will all manage to remain a unique group of resellers with a unique level of commitment to a unique product. And with that in mind, perhaps we may share a very unique future.

  • Mark Dutton
    October 27, 2006 at 3:44 am

    Well hello again from Australia. We are in a place which is part of “the rest of the world” Mr I, which you seem to be scared of. If you care to leave the U.S. for a short period, you will see that “the rest of the world” is not so scary. If you turn over nearly anything you own, you will probably see “Made In China”. Don’t worry, it won’t blow up in your face.
    The fact that the headquarters might move overseas is not such a bad thing if it goes to a friendly country with good technology and free trade with other first world countries (yes there are other first world countries outside of U.S.A.)
    Being in a small country like Australia with good trading relationships with most other countries, I can tell you that there are some fantastic products coming from the U.S. like Zultys, Mercury Outboards 🙂 and others, but there are also first class products coming from other countries as well.
    If Zultys goes to Pivot and is nurtured by a company with 50 years experience in telephony, I can think of a whole lot worse outcomes.
    The sooner something happens the better.
    BTW. I was not sledging Americans in this post. We are more similar in Australia than we are different. I was just amused by Mr I’s horror at something going offshore.
    Cheers
    Mark Dutton

  • Chris Romine, Digital Biz
    October 27, 2006 at 11:04 am

    Mr. Weinrib,
    We look forward to working with you and your team.
    Your message in this forum gives us new HOPE that we will soon be able to salvage some of the deals in our pipeline and continue to offer enterprise in our market a solution that we believe in.
    Warm Regards, Chris Romine ([email protected])
    Digital Biz INC, Tulsa/ OKC OK USA
    PS- Neil and Norman thank you for your post and other efforts as you both have helped keep our (digibiz) hope alive. We also thank George (and his team) at CTD for his steadfast support of us and our efforts to sell and service Zultys solutions.

  • George Richardson
    October 27, 2006 at 11:20 am

    I just recieve a FEDEX from Bankrpcy Court and it appears that the auction is now set for Wednesday at 2:00 Courtroom 3020.
    George Richardson
    CTD(Computer Telephony Distributing, Inc)
    866-533-3331 x301
    [email protected]

  • OncePotentialCustomer
    October 27, 2006 at 4:20 pm

    Geez, what a train wreck. Resellers, move on from Zultys, you’ll face an uphill battle no matter who buys it. Start migrating your customers to PingTel+Polycom, it seems like the best all-SIP solution and will have momentum behind it. And it’s open source. If only Zultys had done that your customers would be in a much better position right now. . .
    PingTel is lacking a few features compared to Zultys, but nothing that can’t be rectified pretty quickly.

  • Observer
    October 27, 2006 at 4:59 pm

    Telrad Connegy Communications Inc. (Connegy)
    Telrad held 52% of its U.S. based subsidiary, Connegy, whose main
    products consist of the UNITe Family of Business Systems and IP and LAN
    telephony solutions, including the advanced i.Picasso 6000 IP telephone and the
    CNS 3200 Enhanced Hosted Communications Platform. Connegy provides enterprise
    customers, carriers and others with a comprehensive family of digital and VoIP
    telecommunication solutions and applications
    In November 2005 the Board of Directors of Telrad decided to sell
    Connegy. In February 2006 Telrad sold Connegy to a third party.
    … The above-mentioned results for the second quarter and six months exclude the
    results of Connegy, a Telrad subsidiary which was divested during the first
    quarter of 2006, and whose results were classified under ‘discontinued
    operations’. Including the results of Connegy, Telrad’s net loss for the six
    months totaled $22.7 million, compared to $17.9 million in the first six months
    last year.

  • Observer
    October 27, 2006 at 5:28 pm

    http://www.t-radtalk.com/press-releases/telrad_connegy_has_a_new_owner.htm“>http://www.t-radtalk.com/press-releases/telrad_connegy_has_a_new_owner.htm”>http://www.t-radtalk.com/press-releases/telrad_connegy_has_a_new_owner.htm
    http://connegy.com/eng/pr.php?actions=details&id=16

  • George Richardson
    October 27, 2006 at 5:33 pm

    Apparently the notice that I recieved from the Bankrupcy Court this morning notifying CTD that there was a court date on Wednesday is for assigning leases, etc to the highest bidder and not a delay in the auction.
    George Richardson
    CTD

  • an outsider
    October 27, 2006 at 5:39 pm

    “Including the results of Connegy, Telrad’s net loss for the six months totaled $22.7 million, compared to $17.9 million in the first six months
    last year.”
    Is this a rumor?

  • Observer
    October 27, 2006 at 5:50 pm

    Telrad Connegy Has A New Owner
    This is a copy of his Introduction Letter
    Telrad Connegy Inc.
    Tuesday, February 28, 2006
    Dear Valued Partners,
    It is with great pleasure that I introduce myself to you as the new majority owner of Telrad Connegy and its Chairman. My name is Avi Weinrib, and I own and operate a number of Israeli based companies. Among the most notable are MultiSource, a contract manufacturer specializing in the high–tech industry and Celldor which has acquired Telrad Connegy. The acquisition of Telrad Connegy by Celldor is a financial transaction and has no bearing on the future business direction of Telrad Connegy. The company is staying independent and Celldor will remain a passive shareholder.
    What really matters is that I myself will be actively involved with the company. Telrad Connegy’s success is very important for me and I plan to spend most of my professional time with the company in an active chairman role. While I am proud of my companies and the success they have achieved, my knowledge and abilities are in no way limited to MultiSource and Celldor. My background goes way back to Tadiran where I served in various senior management positions. I have vast experience in operations, supply chain, manufacturing and financial control and it is due to my knowledge, track record and financial abilities that I was sought out by Telrad Connegy and Fortissimo Capital to take a leading investment role in Telrad Connegy.
    I am certain that I will be able to continue with the improvement in manufacturing quality throughout the company to immensely improve our (yours and ours) competitive position. My goal is to continue with the strategy and quality improvements already instituted under the management of Rami Goraly, Telrad Connegy’s President & CEO, and to see it through to a successful completion with the return of Telrad Connegy to a dominant position in the telephony market in the US and around the world.
    I want to take this opportunity to put to bed any and all rumors that I understand are floating around out there in your reseller network. Telrad Connegy is now positioned to be stronger than it ever has been before, and I strongly urge you to go back to selling our products. We are not going away, not now, and not ever, and those of you who have stood by us, will find that it has not been in vain. To quote the famous American author Mark Twain, “Rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated!”
    Again, I would like to reiterate, that I am looking forward to working with all of you. I plan to come to the US and meet you in the very near future.
    Sincerely,
    Avi Weinrib
    Chairman, Telrad Connegy
    Telrad Connegy Inc. 10 Executive BLVD. Farmingdale NY 11735
    Editorial Comment: There seems to be a collective sigh of relief at this announcement. New leadership should bring a new focus to allow resellers to once again be more competitive.

  • Observer
    October 27, 2006 at 5:56 pm

    Press releases
    April 11, 2006
    Zvika Bar – New Company CEO
    Lod, Israel: Telrad Connegy announced today that it has appointed Zvika Bar, its former Vice President of Operations, as Chief Executive Officer. Zvika will be replacing Rami Goraly, the current President & CEO. The new appointment follows the acquisition of Telrad Connegy by Celldor Ltd. and will be effective immediately.
    “Rami made an invaluable contribution to the company during a very difficult period, bringing the company to the stable position in which it is in today.” said Avi Weinrib, Telrad Connegy’s new owner and Chairman. “I am confident that Zvika will continue what Rami started, and his experience and expertise will serve the company well in reducing manufacturing costs, improving operations, and introducing our new roadmap that will take Telrad Connegy to where we want to be.”
    “I am honored by Avi’s decision to appoint me as Chief Executive Officer” said Zvika Bar, Telrad Connegy’s new CEO. “During my tenure as VP Operations I have been exposed to almost every facet of the company and am well prepared to take the role. I have always been a strong believer in the company and its strong potential and I look forward to working with Avi, the executive management team, the employees, the customers, and partners to make Connegy a great success”.
    Zvika joined Connegy in July 2005, prior to Connegy Zvika served as General Manager of Vishy Inc (VSH.NYSE) in China. He has over twenty years experience in supply chain and operations management in high-tech companies, including Mobile Access and Wizcom. Zvika holds a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Tel-Aviv University.
    About Telrad Connegy
    Telrad Connegy (www.telradconnegy.com) is a leader in designing, building and marketing telecommunication solutions to organizations worldwide, focusing on improving customer productivity and reducing total cost of ownership. With a track record of decades in telecommunications, and over five years in VoIP, Telrad Connegy’s feature-rich converged telecommunication solutions provide customers with cost savings and advanced applications associated with IP, while at the same time supporting the voice quality and reliability of digital telephony systems.

  • Master
    October 27, 2006 at 8:49 pm

    Well, I have to admit that as someone with an interest in seeing successful
    Telrad
    Resellers, (and nope, I’m not employed by Telrad or even a reseller)
    I’m pulling for Telrad to pick up Zultys.   I think it would be decent
    product to help energize the reseller base. 
    So good luck Mr.Weinrib.

  • Eastcoast Reseller
    October 27, 2006 at 9:20 pm

    It’s interesting to see there is a lot of PR going on. This is getting kind of boring.

  • VoIP Blog - Tehrani.com
    October 29, 2006 at 5:17 pm

    Zultys Events

    There is so much happening in the Zultys saga right now. Here is an update from this past Friday. Some of this article is based on the very vibrant conversations taking place on this blog entry. The worldwide Zultys community…

  • Reseller
    October 30, 2006 at 6:42 pm

    Telrad Networks
    Revenues for the first six months of 2006 totaled $45.1 million compared to $40.1 million for the same period in 2005. Net loss from continuing operations for the six months totaled $23.0 million compared to a $16.5 million for the same period in 2005.
    Revenues for the second quarter of 2006 totaled $20.6 million compared to $20.3 million for the second quarter in 2005. Net loss from continuing operations for the quarter totaled $22.4 million compared to a $1.6 million for the second quarter in 2005.
    Net loss for the quarter included one time charges amounting to $18.2 million following the restructuring processes implemented at the end of the second quarter of 2006. Excluding these charges net loss for the quarter totaled $4.2 million compared to $1.6 million in the second quarter of 2005.
    The above-mentioned results for the second quarter and six months exclude the results of Connegy a Telrad subsidiary which was divested during the first quarter of 2006 and whose results were classified under ‘discontinued operations’. Including the results of Connegy Telrad’s net loss for the six months totaled $22.7 million compared to $17.9 million in the first six months last year.

  • Hugo
    October 31, 2006 at 1:39 am

    Telrad Connegy is a private company owned by Mr. Avi Weirib since FEB 2006 and not part of Telrad Networks

  • Neil Darling
    October 31, 2006 at 2:20 am

    Pivot won the bid tonight for Zultys.

  • mr hop
    October 31, 2006 at 11:34 am

    any details

  • Bob
    October 31, 2006 at 11:49 am

    Pivot bought it for $2.65 million, plus the assumption of certain obligations.
    Full story coming shortly.
    http://news.tmcnet.com/news/-voip-zultys-bankruptcy-auction-concludes-/2006/10/31/2028505.htm

  • Zultys Trained Sys Engineer
    October 31, 2006 at 3:04 pm

    From the Deputy of San Jose court of Judge Weissbrodt Pivots bid was $2.65M cash, a note for an additional $1M at 9% payable over 3 years, 5% of profit for ex-employees, and 10% of equity. Not official, she was writing up the document as we spoke.

  • George Richardson
    November 6, 2006 at 11:28 am

    Sent to Zultys Channel Nov 3 ,2006
    As most of you already know, Pivot won the bid for Zultys on Monday. From the calls that my staff and I have taken over the last couple of days it is apparent that most of you are wondering, “Now what?”
    I flew out to Sunnyvale the Sunday before the sale and spent two days meeting with Pivot’s management team, including their owner, Mr. Wienrib. From these meetings, I think that I have a pretty good vantage point from which to report back to you, our valued resellers.
    First I want to say that I am extremely impressed with Pivot and with their people. The Pivot people are mostly the Zultys developers. Pivot was started to hire the Zultys developers. They are hyper ready to restart the Zultys product and are thrilled to have an active channel still in place and poised to start selling Zultys again.
    They personally assured me, as they had publicly in the blogs prior to the sale and in court during the sale, that they intend to move the Zultys product forward with the existing channel and that they have the support, engineering, and manufacturing resources in place to support that effort. The actual start date is next Wednesday after the closing.
    Pivot will be putting together a series of informational messages to introduce to introduce themselves to all of you and to tell you the story of their company and what its goals are. For this reason, I do not want to get any further into those details at this time, but I will say that I believe you will be impressed. I am restarting the weekly Zmail “CTD-Zultys Update” to keep you informed on all the great opportunities coming to the CTD Zultys resellers.
    The future looks brighter than ever for Zultys and its channel.
    The “Green Z” is back and I am excited!
    Please let me know if you have any questions or pending sales.
    Good Selling, George Richardson
    Computer Telephony Distributing, Inc
    Distributing Zultys for over 2 years
    Voice 866-533-3331 x301
    Voice 864-527-9600 x301
    Fax 864-527-9610
    http://www.ctdistributing.com/

  • George Richardson
    November 7, 2006 at 4:13 pm

    I thought that you would all like to read the following note from Vladimir Movshovich.
    Good Selling, George
    Computer Telephony Distributing, Inc
    Distributing Zultys for over 2 years
    ————————————
    To all former, current and future Zultys resellers.
    Thank you everyone for your support of Zultys and itʼs product during these uneasy times. For last 3 months we received more warm words than ever before. Your strong support encouraged us to put all the efforts in attempt to save the company. We will not forget your support and we will try to support you as much as we can.
    We understand that all of you are eager to get immediate improvements in product shipment, support, licensing, and a lot of other areas. You need the road map as well.
    We are closely monitoring all messages we receive from you and we try to react as fast as possible. Your input is very welcome; it gives us the guidance on our way forward.
    At this moment the transition is not over yet. We hope to close the deal some time next week. We are ready to start things rolling immediately after that and we will keep you updated. Personally, I am ready for open dialog and I will try to answer any questions you may have.
    Thank you again and sorry for me to be so emotional. I have been with Zultys from the day one and even prior to that and it was extremely painful for me to see that this child of mine is going to nowhere.
    With the hope for the better future,
    Vladimir Movshovich
    Former VP of Technology,Zultys
    Currently VP of Technology, Pivot
    Email: [email protected]

  • Dean Collins
    November 7, 2006 at 6:44 pm

    Personally I hope all of these guys come over to Asterisk.
    It’s a hell of a technology and your skills could really be used in the community.
    Check out http://www.Asterisk.org or http://www.digium.com (or my personal web page http://www.cognation.net/asterisk if you’ve nevr heard of asterisk and need a 60 second overview).
    While you are at it check out my other company http://www.Mexuar.com and see why Asterisk is the future with applications like Mexuar Corraleta available.
    http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/Mexuar
    Good luck guys,
    Cheers,
    Dean Collins

  • David S. Lee
    November 10, 2006 at 11:47 am

    As other dealers have done, our company has looked at all available IP Telephony solutions, including Asterisk and SipX. For the feature set Zultys provides, nothing can compete.
    The exercise was beneficial as we did find a couple of solutions that will complement what Zultys has to offer, but Asterisk – not for us – way too technically intensive, and it doesn’t scale well. A recent newspaper report on a voice conference here in Ottawa quotes Jim Van Meggelen stating as such (co-author of ‘Astersik: The Future of Telephony’ – and yes, I own & have read it).
    SipX may someday be a viable alternative (apparently, Jim believes this better than Asterisk), but nowhere near Zultys yet (and still technically intensive to install – though easier to administer I understand – still trying to get this working on Debian). Looking at the PingTel listserver for SipX and I see excuses for not having an ALG offering for SIP trunking.
    Bottom line is still that Zultys has the edge in features, scalability and ease of installation, administration and end-user use. For my clients, this all adds up to a great ROI story.
    Now we just need some polish on 3.0.
    Cheers,
    David Lee
    Plus Technology Group

  • Norman Landerman
    November 10, 2006 at 11:59 am

    As the main purpose of this BLOG has been acheived, and the Zultys product is getting back on track with Pivot at the wheel, I would like to invite any/all Zultys resellers to migrate to the [email protected] discussion group.
    The only requirement for membership approval is a valid e-mail address at a company domain recognized by either a Zultys distributor or Pivot as being that of a Zultys reseller.
    It is time for us to get back to supporting each other and moving Zultys product forward without heed or concern to outside Zultys detractors or pundits.
    As current moderator of the discussion group, I look forward to having you join us “on the other side”.
    Norman Landerman

  • Dean Collins
    November 10, 2006 at 12:02 pm

    Hi David,
    huh? how do you figure zulty’s has more features than Asterisk?
    care to provide an example?
    I am happy to accept the argument that the technical installation requirements of Zulty’s is less than Asterisk but no way do you have more features.
    I am also happy to accept the argument that Zulty’s is more of a plug and play solution than Asterisk and if you are that type of customer (or reseller) then that can be accpeted as well.
    But for functionality today (and yes this includes Sipx and Freeswitch and every every other sometime ‘in the future’ solution) there is no larger community or feature set than what is available from Asterisk this very moment.
    If there’s a feature you think is missing I’d love to hear about it and if there is a commercial case for it then someone will make it happen (eg real feature not I want it in pink instead of blue).
    Regards,
    Dean Collins
    http://www.Cognation.net

  • Brandon
    November 10, 2006 at 3:40 pm

    OK, I’ll bite..
    Below is the full Asterisk feature list from http://www.asterisk.org vs. just the new features since 2.4 on Zultys.com because I couldn’t find a full Zultys feature list. The argument could be made and I have heard it made that Asterisk can be made to do anything Zultys can, but the fact that a feature could theoretically be made to work on an Asterisk system doesn’t count for much in my book and even less to the average end-user. And yes I have installed and expirimented with Asterisk, almost since its inception. I have always been hopeful it would become something sellable, but so far I have been disappointed. There is just no valid comparison to be made here in my opinion.
    I decided to use links only. Decide for yourself which system is more feature rich:
    http://www.asterisk.org/features
    vs.
    http://zultys.com/index.jsp?tab=productdetail&product=version3&detail=summary-version3&type=options

  • Bob
    November 10, 2006 at 3:51 pm

    http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20061110005533&newsLang=en
    Print this Release
    November 10, 2006 03:17 PM Eastern Time
    Pivot VoIP Completes Transformation into Zultys Technologies
    Full support of existing product line, reseller distribution channel planned
    MOUNTAIN VIEW & SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pivot VoIP today announced that it has completed its acquisition of the assets of Zultys Technologies, including all key intellectual property, online and offline brands and the complete product portfolio. Effective immediately, the company will adopt the full identity of Zultys to ensure smooth business continuity.
    Pivot VoIP, which was formed and supported by Telrad Connegy, an Israeli-based PBX manufacturer with a 50-year involvement in the global telecom arena, will subsequently cease to exist. All of the operations of Zultys at its Sunnyvale, Calif., location are currently being restored. Telrad Connegy owner and Chairman Avi Weinrib will assume the role of President and CEO of the newly reorganized Zultys.
    “We are very excited about the future of Zultys and its product line and have full faith in the engineering team and the technology. Our actions clearly give Zultys a fresh start. With over 50 years of traditional telecom experience, we will guide the next phase of evolution with the use of its modern IP technologies. Both Telrad Connegy and Zultys Technologies will coexist independently of each other serving parallel market niches,” Mr. Weinrib said.
    Mindful of its past achievements, Zultys will strive to maintain its high standing and solid reputation moving forward by stepping up partner relations with resellers and distributors alike to ensure their satisfaction.
    “Because of all of the recent developments and the positive feedback that we have received from our resellers, we have a renewed vision to further improve the product to the needs of the customers,” said Vladimir Movshovich, VP of Technology, Zultys.
    The transaction, conducted in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California, in San Jose, has received all of the necessary approvals of Judge Arthur S. Weissbrodt, who oversaw the legal proceedings. The company bought the Zultys assets through a bankruptcy auction for a winning bid of $2.65 million, plus the assumption of certain debt obligations.
    About Zultys Technologies
    Founded in October 2001, Zultys Technologies is the principal architect of the leading “pure” IP-based communications equipment for enterprises. Zultys designs and manufactures award-winning hardware and software for converged communications including the feature-rich MX30 and MX250 IP PBX with data communication servers and a full line of standards-based handsets and phone systems.
    Contacts
    Zultys
    Vladimir Movshovich, 408-328-0450

  • George Richardson
    November 12, 2006 at 10:56 am

    Pivot VoIP Completes Transformation into Zultys Technologies
    Full support of existing product line, reseller distribution channel planned
    November 9, 2006
    MOUNTAIN VIEW / SUNNYVALE, Calif. – Pivot VoIP today announced that it has completed its acquisition of the assets of Zultys Technologies, including all key intellectual property, online and offline brands and the complete product portfolio. Effective immediately, the company will adopt the full identity of Zultys to ensure the smooth business continuity of the leading IP communications equipment manufacturer.
    Pivot VoIP, which was formed and supported by Telrad Connegy, an Israeli-based PBX manufacturer with a 50-year involvement in the global telecom arena, will subsequently cease to exist. All of the operations of Zultys at its Sunnyvale, Calif., location are currently being restored. Telrad Connegy owner and Chairman Avi Weinrib will assume the role of President and CEO of the newly reorganized Zultys.
    – We are very excited about the future of Zultys and its product line and have full faith in the engineering team and the technology. Our actions clearly give Zultys a fresh start. With over 50 years of traditional telecom experience, we will guide the next phase of evolution with the use of its modern IP technologies. Both Telrad Connegy and Zultys Technologies will coexist independently of each other serving parallel market niches, –
    Mr. Weinrib said.
    Mindful of its past achievements, Zultys will strive to maintain its high standing and solid reputation moving forward by stepping up partner relations with resellers and distributors alike to ensure their satisfaction.
    – Because of all of the recent developments and the positive feedback that we have received from our resellers, we have a renewed vision to further improve the product to the needs of the customers, – said Vladimir Movshovich, VP of Technology, Zultys.
    The transaction, conducted in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of California, in San Jose, has received all of the necessary approvals of Judge Arthur S. Weissbrodt, who oversaw the legal proceedings. The company bought the Zultys assets through a bankruptcy auction for a winning bid of $2.65 million plus the assumption of certain debt obligations.
    About Zultys Technologies
    Founded in October 2001, Zultys Technologies is the principal architect of the leading “pure” IP-based communications equipment for enterprises. Zultys designs and manufactures award-winning hardware and software for converged communications including the feature-rich MX30 and MX250 IP PBX with data communication servers and a full line of standards-based handsets and phone systems.
    Copyright © 2002—2006 Zultys Technologies

  • Dean Collins
    November 13, 2006 at 9:24 am

    ok Brandon from your total list here is what I think asterisk cant do.
    New Features Since Version 2.4
    Advanced Auto Attendant (IVR)
    * Customizable fax cover pages (possible but I’m not aware of it)
    *Integration to Microsoft Exchange for unified messaging (depend on what you mean by integration)
    *Web initiated call back requests for the MX30 and MX250 (piece of cake….and now inbound web as well via http://www.Mexuar.com)
    Improved Features Since Version 2.4
    (not sure what these 3 are)
    ? Usability enhancements to MXIE
    ?Tighter integration between MXIE and Zultys phones
    ?MXIE viewer to access previous instant messages
    ?Built in Instant Messaging within MXIE client (I’m skipping all of the IM integration, possible but not native to asterisk – but then why build another mousetrap)
    *Synchronization of the exchange mailbox in Outlook with the voice mailbox (only now possible with imap in asterisk 1.4 – big bonus for you here)
    *Route calls based on Presence (Asterisk requires external tools but possible)
    Ok so I’ve listed 5 functions on your list that Asterisk isn’t capable of doing or requires external tools to do.
    Now do you really want me to list things Asterisk can do that Zulty’s cant?
    I’m sure there is more than 5.
    (BTW I was impressed with your stock out of the box list – having said that still far behind what asterisk can do).
    Appreciate your reply, I think we’ll agree that both leave other applications for dead howevere Asterisk has a much larger user base for a very good reason.
    Cheers,
    Dean

  • George Richardson
    November 13, 2006 at 10:42 am

    Reseller Update:
    George Richardson, CTD
    As most of you know, I spent several days last week with Mr. Weinrib the new owner of Zultys. I am very impressed and I do believe that Zultys will soon be a large force in the industry. Often I am asked why there is so little information being released. I believe the answer is that the deal was closed last Wednesday (Nov 13th) so they have only owned Zultys for two working days. Their first move appears to be to find out when they can have additional product in the channel, and then to get familiar with the current processes within the company. The entire staff is devoted to helping the reseller, providing a constant flow of product, software updates and bug fixes.
    I have always been concerned generally about the Zultys licensing policy and restrictions on demonstrating features, selling features, temporary licenses for new installs and emergency recovery. As a result, we are proud to announce that CTD has been authorized to obtain a 45 day temporary licenses for any of these reasons. To obtain these licenses place a normal order for the license at no charge. I know that I will sleep better knowing that you can have replacement hardware that is license ready for quick emergency situations.
    A large group of Zultys resellers are again issuing quotes and registering these quotes with CTD so we can keep Zultys informed of the current backlog of quotes and orders. There is an amount of product in the channel and shipments of new systems are in progress.
    Good Selling, George

  • exmployee
    November 14, 2006 at 4:34 pm

    What asterisk can do… Here are some examples from the features list at http://www.asterisk.org/features (these are the features supported by out-of-the-box Zultys products):
    Text-to-Speech (via Festival)
    Fax Transmit and Receive (3rd Party OSS Package)
    G.729 (through purchase of commercial license through Digium)
    MFC-R2 (Not supported by Digium. However, a patch is available at Voip-info.org)
    It tells a lot about the whole open-source approach: download this and that (figure out for yourself, what do you need), run make, run make install, get a patch from there, add a feature from here, and maybe if you’re lucky, everything will work for a while… Manually editing multiple configuration files to add a user/extension – fine for a PDP/11, maybe, but these days it looks plain offending.
    Like the customers have nothing else to get busy with.

  • Dean Collins
    November 15, 2006 at 11:30 am

    lol – just when I think…ok time to let this topic go… someone ignorant (may be too harsh a description – maybe it should be ill-informed either way ageist due to your comment about PDP/11)
    …..of course if you want out of the box why not just go and download trixbox for free.
    http://www.trixbox.org
    single iso cd, boot once, self installs come back 15 minutes later and configure.
    like I said, nothing wrong with Zulty’s but theres a reason there are more asterisk installations and more asterisk system integrators (and also why digium hasn’t gone broke).
    sorry to sounds harsh but it had to be said.
    Dean Collins
    Cognation

  • exmployee
    November 17, 2006 at 7:38 pm

    Re: Dean Collins
    a little philosophy; if you’re busy and wish to let it go, just skip this message.
    I’m rather way ageist that ignorant, thank you for being so polite 🙂
    I refer to these good old PDP/11 times because DEC manufactured the computers and provided OS and all software for it, which just worked. All documentation and components were in place, and a crash of RSX-11 was something unheard of.
    A lot of people used to claim that Macintosh is way more user-friendly and reliable than Windows PCs. This was true – Apple did the hardware and OS. Windows sucked because of PC clones, third-party HW (Microsoft didn’t build PCs) and SW. A driver or a game written by God knows whom could kill your system in no time.
    MS seemed to do a great job since then – my XP stays up for months and months, and there is a lot of people these days who never saw the “Blue Screen of Death”.
    Now Linux and the whole open-source community escalate the “ship now, test later” approach to next, much higher level – “give away today, test or support – NEVER”. Nobody is responsible for anything, financially or otherwise – it’s all free, take it or leave it. If your phone system goes down, fix it yourself, or get out of business.
    Just to prove this statement, here are several messages (btw, never answered) from http://www.trixbox.org provided by you as an example of “out of the box” solution:
    “Has anything else been fixed in the update script because the 1.2.3 has been anything but stable for us. I am to the point of going back to 1.1 and then doing an svn install on top of that. I have issues of the * or # key killing the server, sip calls being dropped after 3 min. and the echo problem is still there.”
    “I am finding that 1.2.3 is not very stable in my environment. (TDM400 card with 2 POT’s, 2 analog phones, and some SIP phones). Calls are being dropped, system has hung, strange results with Auto attendent, flash key doesn’t work to name a few.”
    “You said that 1.1.0 to 1.2.3. updated no problems there? the voicemail service is dead …. my god !!!!!”
    and so on…

  • Robert Liu
    May 21, 2008 at 8:43 am

    I’d like to invite anyone who really wishes to follow our latest corporate developments to visit us at http://www.zultys.com/ to gain a better understanding of how we’ve grown and to share our story.
    I have no idea why search engines continue to rank this page so highly. (Well, I sort of know why…shhh) 😉

  • darren jordaan
    July 30, 2008 at 3:43 pm

    we’re having dropped calls on our LD T1 after switching to a Zultys MX250…any chance you could provide further detail about your experience?

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