Connect in IP, voice play

AAPT-owned IP player Connect Internet Solutions this week will launch fresh VPN and voice services for businesses and will tap system integration channels to fuel the drive.

The company has unveiled Connect Convergent IP (CCIP), a VPN service that will combine data, voice and video technologies and Connect Voice, its Voice over IP (VoIP) offering that will be delivered over its IP network.

Geoff Putt, ground product marketing manager at Connect, said the VPN service would be suitable for organisations looking to securely network their branch offices.

Putt said customers are asking for a platform for IP convergence. "IP is coming to maturity [to a point] where the network performs at the levels that are required," he said.

Connect partner Cisco is providing the networking equipment and Fujitsu is the primary system integration partner. The company also works through Sydney SI NetStar and would tap Cisco Systems' channel to on-sell the services, Putt said. "The key objective is to be the VPN of choice for system integrators," he said.

Voice required a certain quality of service on a VPN, he said. "A lot of people go to VoIP [due to] cost savings, but that's not the real benefit." Rather, the applications that run on a converged network are the real drivers, he said.

Putt said that Connect is working with Fujitsu's Asia-Pacific integration partner BroadSoft to deliver these applications.

BroadSoft is a provider of hosted PBX and IP Centrex applications. IP Centrex -- the basis of Connect's voice offering -- is the IP-based equivalent of traditional TDM (time division multiplexing) Centrex.

Connect claimed its voice offering had several advantages over traditional Centrex, such as soft provisioning of moves and changes and remote access for teleworkers.

Putt said Connect had around six customers currently trialling its IP VPN service, two customers trialing the voice service, and an internal pilot.

In the first 12 months, he expected that around 20 percent of Connect's existing customer base would buy the services.

The CCIP network service -- charged at a fixed price -- would be between 10 and 20 percent cheaper than competitive offerings from Telstra and Optus, he said. "We'll also offer usage-based pricing where the customer pays for what they use."

System integrators selling the services will have the opportunity to make an annuity revenue stream, Putt said. Connect is still undecided whether or not to introduce a "formal" channel program for SIs that come on board.

Putt said the company wants around six fresh partners -- companies that have skills in IP and traditional PABX markets. "We're not going to impose a minimum [skills] requirement for voice," he said.

Potentially, 20 to 25 percent of Connect sales revenue over the next 12 months could be generated through these services, he said. Today, around 20 percent of Connect's total sales here are driven through indirect channels.