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Telecom Manufacturers Shift Focus to Growing SMBs

September 27, 2006
Telecom Manufacturers Shift Focus to Growing SMBs. Check it out:
 
A number of leading telephone system manufacturers are addressing capacity and migration needs of growing businesses by adding new, larger platforms to existing families of business telephony systems. Distributed work environments with branch offices and remote workers continue to be the workplace trend, and leading manufacturers are responding with telephony systems for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). However, database publisher and analyst group TelecomTactics has detected a shift in focus from small business systems that target businesses with fewer than 250 employees to growing businesses in the mid-size range (250–750 employees). Nearly 40% of the new enterprise telephony systems introduced in 2006 to date in the North American market have been designed for SMBs in the 250–750 station range — a shift from previous years in which 70–80% of system introductions in the SMB market targeted the under-250 station range.


 
“No one goes into business with the intention to stay small or keep the same profit levels. From the largest enterprise to the smallest business — everyone is looking to grow and succeed. So, when businesses look at convergence technologies that are vital to helping them grow, they are asking for products that have the capability to grow along with them,” notes Stephen Gobeli, VP of Samsung (News - Alert) Business Communication Systems.
 
The ESI-600, Inter-Tel (News - Alert) CS-5600, Panasonic KX-TDA600 and Samsung OfficeServ 7400 are a few of the new scalable systems just introduced this summer (2006). In addition to addressing capacity requirements, these new systems also provide ease of migration, convergence, improved performance, and reliability and advanced applications, including unified communications, enhanced networking and wireless LAN.
 
Look for a full 2006 summary from TelecomTactics in early 2007.
 
In recent months, ESI (Estech Systems, Inc.) announced an array of new and enhanced products that target larger-sized businesses and address employee productivity. The new ESI-600 System for Converged Communications is the largest system ever offered by ESI, scaling to 408 IP stations or 336 digital stations in a single location with additional capacity by networking up to 100 systems. ESI-600 is a compact, rack-mounted system with one main cabinet and three expansion cabinets and includes an on-board integrated voice mail/auto attendant system, optional Mirrored Memory Module and ESI's Virtually Integrated Phone (VIP) communication management tool, ESI PC Attendant Console and the Presence Management Suite among other options. In addition to the new ESI-600, the company offers a number of other systems for smaller businesses in North America, including entry-level, full-featured and LAN-based platforms.
 
Inter-Tel recently addressed growth requirements for smaller businesses with new software and a new server platform for the company’s Inter-Tel 5000 IP-based system family. The new software expands the capacities of the Inter-Tel CS-5200 and CS-5400 servers, while a new server platform, the Inter-Tel CS-5600, addresses growth to 346 endpoints (250 IP devices per site and 96 analog and digital phones). The CS-5600 is a dual 1U configuration that combines a base server (same hardware as that of Inter-Tel’s CS-5200 or CS-5400 server) and a processing server. All Inter-Tel 5000 servers run the same applications (Inter-Tel’s Unified Communicator, Call Center Suite, Enterprise Messaging and Enterprise Conferencing/Instant Messaging), use the same trunk cards and accommodate Inter-Tel IP telephones, digital phones and wireless handsets — easing the migration for growing businesses. Inter-Tel has also just introduced the Inter-Tel 7000 IP-based system family with server platforms that support from 100 to 2,500 stations.
 
Panasonic’s new KX-TDA600 is a hybrid IP PBX (News - Alert) and larger version of the company’s earlier KX-TDA100/200 platforms. Ideal for businesses with more than 175 employees, the modular and stackable (or rack-mountable) KX-TDA600 includes a basic shelf and up to three expansion shelves, creating a system that can scale to 640 devices (analog, digital, IP or wireless) or 960 Panasonic KX-T7600 digital proprietary telephones using Panasonic’s Digital eXtra Device Port (XDP) feature. Power supplies, most circuit cards and telephones are compatible among all KX-TDA platforms which results in cost savings for Panasonic customers who outgrow a smaller TDA system. The KX-TDA600 supports Panasonic’s Version 3.0 KX-TDA software, introduced earlier in 2006 for the KX-TDA100/200 systems, with enhanced networking (centralized voice mail, network DSS/BLF, expanded call coverage), additional cellular phone features, new call center functionality and more.
 
Samsung BCS announced OfficeServ 7400 for the North American market this summer, a voice, data and wireless platform for businesses with up to 500 users. The new system promises more power than the earlier OfficeServ 7200 (192 ports) introduced in October 2005, adding additional capacity (up to three cabinets and 1,344 ports), gigabit Ethernet connectivity and 64-channel Media Gateway (News - Alert) Interface (MGI) cards to interface between circuit switching and packet switching applications. Trunk and station cards are compatible with smaller OfficeServ 7200 systems, and digital and IP telephones are compatible among most OfficeServ systems (including the former iDCS100/500). A recently introduced Wireless LAN solution with a wireless Internet phone that operates on a 2.4 GHz frequency band is also available for employees who need freedom of mobility in their office environment.
 
Sandra M. Gustavsen is an analyst for TelecomTactics and Access Intelligence, LLC. To see more of her articles, please visit the TelecomTactics column page or visit the firm’s Web site at www.telecomtactics.com.
 
 

Manufacturer

 

 

Platform

 

 

Target Market

 

 

Maximum Stations

 

 

ESI

 

 

ESI-600

 

 

250-300

 

 

400

 

 

Inter-Tel

 

 

CS-5600

 

 

100-250

 

 

350

 

 

Panasonic

 

 

KX-TDA600

 

 

175+

 

 

640+

 

 

Samsung

 

 

OfficeServ 7400

 

 

100-500

 

 

500

 

 

 



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