Oki seeking IP reseller base

The vendor recently introduced its IP phone systems in Australia as part of a global growth strategy. Oki released the IPstage MX for enterprises, while the IPstage SX range caters for SMBs.

Graham Harman, Oki General Manager, told CRN: “I would be comfortable with 30 to 50 resellers in strategic locations for our IP range. We want to offer margin and it is so important that our partners make real money from their sales.”

Harman said IP is a new channel for them and he foresees three main types of customers.

“Our distributor IPL already offers Siemens, Avaya and Alcatel, so we have a base of customers who are selling what we are looking at; there are a number of imaging customers who already sell phones and finally there are imaging customers who are looking to expand their offerings in a time of convergence,” he said.

Harman added that while it may seem a little unusual for Oki to launch a communications product, the Australian market knows and trusts the Oki brand implicitly and he believe that its extensive global experience in IP-PBX will allow Oki to secure considerable market share.