MARKET REPORT Vertical Horizon
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46 | Comms Business Magazine | June 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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June.ai 6 14/05/2019 14:40:04
ED SAYS…
Alcatel Lucent has some sage advice and comment that I wholeheartedly agree with.
“While those of us operating in the education space may be challenged by the
worsening economic climate many academic institutions are facing, there are still
many opp ortunities available. Adapting the way we develop, position and sell our
solutions has become the main factor in determining our success.”
Clearly there has never been a better time to encourage customers - where
possible - to migrate away from customer premises equipment (CPE) in favour of more
cloud-based approaches. For schools, the affordability, fl exibility and sophisticated
features that have become synonymous with the cloud technologies have led to
them becoming more and more sought-after.
Market Trends
John McKindland, Head of
Solutions Sales at Nimans, says
money is still being spent in
big numbers but it isn’t always
being spent wisely.
“Too much is being invested
in analogue telephony and
legacy infrastructure such as
CW1308 cabling and ISDN
lines rather than SIP. You tend
to see this at smaller schools
with smaller budgets. Integrated
voice and data networks are
not being invested in which is
worrying considering the ISDN
switch o is getting ever closer.
Too much ‘old school’
technology is still being utilised
in a short-sighted way.”
Iain Sinnott, Head of sales
at VanillaIP, says child welfare,
safeguarding, compliance and
transparency are critical in this
sector.
“So when we look to
introduce smart services to
them, they must deliver within
that framework. is is before
we add the critical challenge
of constrained spending
power which demands that all
additional smart services must
deliver a measurable return.
Mobility users, reception
management and wide area
broadcast are all driving buying
decisions, but we have seen a
sudden dramatic rise in sales
thanks to our development of a
Feature Appropriate Extension,
at a brilliant price, for the
classroom phone, which has
“Integrated voice and data networks are not being invested in which is
worrying considering the ISDN switch off is getting ever closer.”
John McKindland, Head of Solution Sales, Nimans
previously defeated
numerous otherwise
desirable proposals.”
Which products and
Iain Sinnott at
VanillaIP has a list!
“Call management
and automation in the
o ce for peak time
surges in tra c, mobility for
caretakers and school trip
management, call recording
with full call analytics and
conference bridge for sta /
department collaboration and
a simpli ed classroom user
service with a low-feature low
price handset.”
According to John
McKindland at Nimans,
SIP trunks are gaining some
momentum but, he says, one of
the biggest changes is around
sites looking for better use of
their voicemail system.
“ ey want to be able to
deploy voicemail for their
teachers or department
heads for quick and e ective
messaging. But they want
to avoid the cost of buying
everyone an individual licence.
So they are starting to use
services such as voicemail to
e-mail. Group mailboxes where
a DSS console is put into a
sta room and teachers can
listen to their own messages is
gaining traction. It’s a secure
way of passing on sensitive
information rather than being
paper based that could be left
around or lost. CTI packages
are proving popular too.”
What are the major
considerations for partners
wanting to enter and succeed
in this vertical?
ere are a couple of key
considerations to succeed
according to John McKindland.
“One is to get on a
framework especially to target
larger schools. But there are
also a lot of schools that operate
independently. It’s about having
a relationship with them to
become a trusted adviser. is
is not just about best practice
but helping future proof their
platforms and use software
and applications to improve
communications. Sites can
change their behaviour by
embracing the latest technologies
rather than just using it to make
and receive calls.”
Iain Sinnott advises that
partners need to take time to
understand the real challenges
of the environment.
“ e classic PBX does
not actually answer all the
challenges in the way a modern
solution can, so just pricing
the current template is both a
disservice to the client and a big
missed opportunity to help a
vital sector of our community.”
Is it essential to specialise in
this vertical…why?
“I don’t think you need to
be a specialist,” says John
McKindland
“ ose with a track record
and relationships with an
LEA etc obviously have more
credibility. Building bonds
with Head Teacher Associations
would help as well. Skill
sets can easily be transferred
although Wi-Fi and DECT
cordless knowledge can keep
you ahead of the game.”
Iain Sinnott believes you
can be a generalist but says, “As
with all customers you need to
work with them to investigate
the unique challenges of their
environment and identify the
services that deliver an ROI
for them. With the VanillaIP
portfolio you are equipped to
work with most businesses, but
it does require a ‘professional’
sales approach.”
services are selling
well?
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