IP telephony: Demand picks up, how to sell

Telephone applications that sit on a computer, such as Skype, are becoming more common in IP phone systems. Also known as softphones, they are important elements in unified communications platforms because they combine instant messages, presence and email with telephone calls.

Zultys' softphone MXIE is sold by the seat. While a user can tag the presence indicator as "back at 2pm" if in a meeting, the softphone is smart enough to update itself. If the phone, keyboard or mouse isn't used for several minutes the presence changes to "be right back"; after several more minutes it changes to "unavailable".

NEC unified communications business manager Steve Woff is also seeing customers push for softphones. Businesses are looking for greater flexibility with off-site employees, unified communications and more integration with Outlook and CRM packages to journal phone calls.

NEC has its own softphone that imitates Skype by answering and making calls to an office extension through a laptop. As VoIP calls to landlines are free, using the softphone to make calls can save money otherwise spent on mobile phone calls if an employee is working off-site.
Woff says he is witnessing another trend filtering down from enterprise - the need for video.

"We are starting to see a lot of customers asking for video capabilities. And not the high-end, multi-screen video that is way out of the reach of most companies, but just the ability to video on the deskphone. It's definitely more engaging when I'm talking to someone face-to-face and you can have a much higher quality conversation."

Video has the advantage of guaranteeing the attention of the other party. Someone answering a call can be looking at their email, talking to someone else or otherwise not listening and the caller would often be none the wiser.
Video collaboration also makes it easier to see things, whether sharing a presentation or looking at an object.
Woff sees the greatest benefit in sales. Instead of sending a salesman on a half-hour trip to see a customer, the salesperson could have the same quality of conversation over a video call. "It could be just as immersive as me actually being there," Woff says.

The hour of travel time could be spent instead following up the sales call or making another, and the business would also save on the taxi fare or parking. It doesn't take long before the video equipment pays for itself, especially if it avoids interstate trips, Woff says.

Selling video is another leap for telephone dealers who are still adjusting to IP networking. Woff says "without a doubt" more education will be needed on video communications.

"It's not an easy sell," he admits.

In the shorter term, there are several video solutions that run on top of the network as a leased arrangement where call time is rented from a central video supplier, such as NEC.

"I think that's easier for a dealer to understand and they can get a percentage revenue from that. They might take that up before they get to the point where they can sell that type of equipment," Woff says.

Next: Hosted telephony gains traction