Channelworx signs Zultys

Channelworx -- traditionally a security-focused distributor -- has moved into the IT telephony market, signing a wholesale agreement with Zultys Technologies.

The distributor had previously sold Lucent’s IP telephony products but the Zultys arrangement was its first dabble into the reseller channel with VoIP, said Channelworx boss Scott Lidgett.

Some data resellers hadn’t felt that there was a reliable VoIP offering in the market to date, he said, adding that the Zultys range was a pure IP solution.

Lidgett felt that the channel could tap good sales potential with IP telephony in the 20 to 1000 seat companies that still run legacy voice systems.

He said Zultys was the "right size" and recognised by the industry as a voice market leader. The company’s products were based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standard rather than a proprietary one, he said.

IP telephony would be a "significant part" of the distributor’s reseller sales in the future and the Zultys range complemented products sold via an existing agreement with networking outfit Juniper.

“We firmly believe that to make telecommunications running on IP a success, you need to combine the safest in network security with the best in VoIP,” said Lidgett.

Channelworx joined Anixter on Zultys’ distribution list. Anixter was appointed by Zultys in December last year.

“It was always our plan to have a second distributor in Australia -- we told Anixter that in five to eight months we would be looking to bring someone else on,” said Tony Warhurst, director of business development, Oceania at Zultys. “Resellers want some choice,” he added.

“When I told Anixter about it they weren’t too concerned because they didn’t see Channelworx as one of their major competitors,” Warhurst said.

Since landing here in 2003, Zultys has completed 80 IP telephony installations around Australia. It started actively promoting its wares direct to resellers just over 12 months ago, Warhurst said.

Channelworx would offer free Zultys product training and marketing support to resellers. Zultys also generated leads which were passed on to channel partners to fulfil.