VoIP Unlimited Streamlines Provisioning Model for Resellers
Epygi Partner Spotlight

Only fourteen months in the business, VoIP Unlimited has made a mark -and a profit- in IP voice provisioning. The company supplies wholesale SIP trunking through a VAR channel that traditionally engineered data-only networks.

Sales Director Steve Bieniek explains that VoIP Unlimited's model is unique. "We've made it easy and profitable for VARs to move into voice applications," he said. "We broker bulk services from a variety of major suppliers to ensure reliable reserves and competitive rates. Then we provide the expertise, take responsibility for service quality, and even manage the billing cycle and invoice users directly."

VoIP Unlimited offers resellers pre-sale planning and consulting, network installation support and troubleshooting and post-sale technical support under a nondisclosure agreement.

Taking Responsibility
With a history in business telephony, VoIP Unlimited's founders observed some explicit barriers to broad acceptance of the nascent VoIP technology. Whenever a problem arose, finger pointing and blame raced up and down the value chain from ISP to hardware integrator to software developer and back. Service users questioned their investments and sometimes abandoned the system altogether with a bad taste in their mouths.

"We take blame out of the equation," Bieniek explains. "We've marshaled the resources to take the responsibility for locating the source of any problem and taking steps to rectify it." This "buck stops here" approach de-risks the sale for VARs. The technical support delivered by VoIP Unlimited allows resellers to bring their business relationships to IP without hesitation.

"Unlike most ISPs," says Bieniek, "we only sell the minutes. We don't get involved with IP Centrex or applications that actually compete with VARs and our hardware manufacturer partners. We truly believe that network implementation on the business premises provides the highest quality of service."

Managed Billing Services
VoIP Unlimited's founders also learned that traditional data VARs worked on a project basis and didn't have the infrastructure to deal with the invoicing of a subscription-type service on a monthly basis. "Invoicing systems are enormously expensive and complex," Bieniek says. "We made the investment and now provide the service to resellers free of charge."

VoIP Unlimited invoices users for recurring metered services employing an electronic debit system certified by the British Approvals Board of Telecommunications (BABT). They'll even custom brand the invoice for resellers so that their involvement is transparent.

A reseller that bills three to four thousand minutes per week can plan and manage to a fixed margin. “It's a very open relationship” says Bieniek. "They know what they're earning and what we're earning. As volume grows, we expect to increase resellers' shares."

VoIP Unlimited even collects monies owed and immediately pays each dealer, eliminating operational costs for the reseller.

The Right Product, the Right Attitude and an Aggressive Growth Plan
Epygi Technologies recently awarded VoIP Unlimited's SIP trunking services official accreditation for use with the Epygi Quadro IP PBX. "Epygi are perfectly positioned for VARs and their small business customers," Bieniek praises. "They build robust, full-featured hardware and we've received excellent assistance from Epygi's engineering team in Armenia."

For more information on VoIP Unlimited and their relationship with Epygi, see www.voip-unlimited.net.

Global Market For PBX Solutions for SMBs to Cross $ 6.7 Billion (US)

Unified Communications is a disruptive and transforming tech with potential to deliver significant improvement in business value, says new AMI study

NEW YORK – March 2nd , 2007 – The global small and medium business (SMB) segment for PBX (IP and TDM) is set to reach US $ 6.7 billion this year - from about US $ 5.5 billion in 2005. Between 2005 and 2010, the cumulative growth rate will cross 11%, according to the latest study by Access Market International (AMI) Partners Inc.

“In particular, the IP-PBX segment is forecasted to grow at a spectacular 33% on a cumulative basis for the next five years,” says Sanjeev Aggarwal, AMI-Partners’ New York-based Vice President for SMB Infrastructure Solutions. “This market segment for SMBs is becoming fiercely competitive as vendors are developing and implementing solutions specifically designed for SMBs.”

The market opportunity for IP-PBX solutions for SMBs is huge - and so is the competition, which is increasing with participation from global enterprise voice vendors and enterprise IT vendors, regional voice and IT vendors, hosted VoIP and broadband VoIP vendors, as well as from software vendors.

There are many drivers that are influencing SMBs to adopt IP-PBX, including a single converged network for voice and data, and affordable purpose-built solutions that meet the needs of SMB customers.

“Unified Communications provides improved communications, collaboration, coordination, mobility and accessibility across the extended SMB enterprise,” Mr. Aggarwal says. “All this leads to a user experience that increases productivity, business value and adoption and thereby accelerates the IP telephony adoption curve.”

AMI-Partners has just published two Telecom/IP Communications focused reports – “IP Telephony on a rapid growth trajectory: Worldwide SMB (IP and TDM) forecast” and “Cashing in on the SMB VoIP technology upgrade cycle: Worldwide and US SMB TDM and IP PBX market share analysis”. These reports provide a comprehensive five-year market forecast and vendor market analysis of the worldwide PBX (IP and TDM) market for SMBs.

Some key findings from the reports:

• * Worldwide SMB PBX (IP and TDM) segment is set to grow at a CAGR of over 11% between 2005 and 2010.
• * Worldwide IP-PBX segment is forecast to grow at a spectacular CAGR of about 33% on a cumulative basis up to 2010.
• * In 2007, SMB IP-PBX revenue and shipments will be more than TDM-PBX (including key systems) systems.
• * In 2005, the leading vendors (based on end-user revenue) in the SMB PBX (TDM and IP) market were Avaya, Nortel and Alcatel.
• * In 2005, the leading vendors (based on end-user revenue) in the SMB IP-PBX systems were Avaya, Cisco and Nortel.
• * Microsoft’s Unified Communications announcement in June 2006 will have significant implications on the voice communications market over the next 2-3 years.
• * With the breadth of SMB focused solutions available in the market now, SMBs don’t need to postpone evaluation and acquisition of IP telephony solutions.

About the Studies
These reports highlight AMI’s continued focus through a series of studies published under the recently launched AMI-Partners’ SMB Telecom/IP Communications Service. These reports examine:

• * Worldwide PBX (IP and TDM) market opportunity and spending from 2005 to 2010, by SB and MB segments.
• * North America PBX (IP and TDM) market opportunity and spending from 2005 to 2010, by SB and MB segments.
• * Penetration of Telecommunications products in the SMB market in 2006.
• * IP Telephone Dynamic Competitive Environment.
• * Worldwide SMB IP and TDM/Key system PBX revenue and market share by vendor.
• * US Small Business IP and TDM/Key system PBX revenue and market share by vendor.

The report also provides actionable recommendations for vendors, service providers, channel partners, and SMBs. For more information about this study, AMI-Partners, or our global SMB research, please call AMI-Partners at 212-944-5100, email ask_ami@ami-partners.com or visit the AMI Web site at www.ami-partners.com.

About AMI-Partners and the SMB Telecom/IP Communications Service
AMI-Partners specializes in IT, Internet, telecommunications and business services strategy, venture capital, and actionable market intelligence—focusing on global small and medium business (SMB) enterprises. AMI has helped shape the go-to-market SMB strategies of more than 150 leading IT and communications companies over the last ten years. The firm is well known for its IT/communications adoption-based segmentation of the SMB markets; its annual retainership services based on global SMB tracking surveys in more than 20 countries; and its proprietary database of SMBs and SMB channel partners in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The firm invests significantly in collecting survey-based information from several thousand SMBs annually, and is considered the premier source for global SMB trends and analysis.

AMI’s Telecom/IP Communications practice is a powerful and actionable blend of in-depth SMB demand tracking/analysis, supply-side and channel partner assessments, and go-to-market segmentation strategy and predictive analytics. It equips vendors with the tools needed to successfully navigate the challenges and requirements of the dynamic SMB marketplace.

Global PBX/IP PBX Market Flourishes in Third Quarter 2006

2006 continues to be a good year for the global PBX and IP PBX markets, as volumes of extensions shipped worldwide rose by 7% compared to the same period of 2005, which equates to more than 17 million extensions. Again, both the below and above 100 extensions markets performed well, with growth rates of 6% and 8%, respectively.

The recovery in North America continues, with the below 100 extensions market leading the way. Extensions shipped in this marketplace increased by 9% compared to Q3 2005, while the above 100 extensions market was up by 1%.
These results confirm the importance of the below 100 extensions market as one of increasing opportunity, and demonstrates why many of the larger manufacturers are turning their focus and attention here.

Emerging markets (namely Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America) also continue to contribute to global growth in the PBX and IP PBX markets. Particularly Eastern Europe proved very buoyant in Q3 2006, as volumes rose by 22% compared to Q3 2005. Avaya and Panasonic reported exceptional gains in this market, while Siemens had a good quarter compared to the same period a year ago. Both the below and above 100 extensions market experienced double-digit growth.

Growth was even more significant in the Middle East and Africa markets, which increased by 23%. Here, Avaya, Cisco Systems and especially Panasonic had very successful quarters, which contributed to growth in the below and above 100 extensions markets. Latin America recorded a rise of 16% when compared with the same period of 2005, and Siemens, Avaya, Cisco Systems and Alcatel Lucent all performed well. Western Europe grew by 5%.

A mixture of mature and emerging markets produced a flat result in the Asia Pacific region, although growth was seen in the below 100 extensions markets across the region.

Panasonic widened the gap on its nearest rivals, as success and growth in the lower market segments combined to elevate them to a market share of over 10% globally. Avaya and Nortel follow, with 10% and 8% market shares respectively. Panasonic now claim 15% of sales in the below 100 extensions market, while Cisco Systems retains its lead in the above 100 extensions marketplace.

The IP Extensions Market
On a global basis, growth in IP extensions quarter over quarter was fairly similar in percentage terms in both the below and above 100 extensions markets, as these markets increased by 28% and 29% respectively. This is different from a year ago, when percentage growth rates were much higher in the above 100 extensions market, while growth in the smaller size segments remained lower.
IP extensions now account for more than two and half million extensions sold in the global marketplace, or 15% of total extensions.

IP growth continues to remain strong in Western Europe, as 49% more IP extensions were shipped in Q3 2006 compared to the same quarter a year ago.
In Eastern Europe, the growth rate was 54% and in the Middle East and Africa, a rise of 74% was registered. This means, overall, IP growth in EMEA was more than 50%, with Cisco Systems and Siemens leading the way. Asia Pacific was up 29% and Latin America up 22%. North America, where IP penetration remains highest, saw an increase of 16%, compared to the same quarter of 2005.

At a global level, the IP market remains the domain of Cisco Systems who accounted for a 41% slice of the IP extensions market.Cisco Systems is followed by Avaya and Mitel Networks in the IP market share table.

The information above is an extract from MZA's latest analysis from the Q3 2006 PBX/IP PBX Global Quarterly Tracker. Full outputs with details of shipments by product category and size segment in pivot table format are available on a quarterly basis to service subscribers. The information above is based on MZA's extensive programme of face-to-face and telephone interviews together with shipment analysis covering more than 15 vendors active.

MZA also produces a UK Quarterly Report providing continued coverage of the UK PBX/IP PBX Market throughout 2006. For information, please contact Duncan Clark, MZA Limited, Marsh House, 25 The Parade, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1NE UK, dclark@mzaconsultants.com Tel: 00 44 1672 516144

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