Intelecom wanted to take advantage of new business opportunities provided by unified communications to expand its service offering and increase revenues. We worked with Microsoft to develop a hosted unified communications solution, called Always Unified, based on Microsoft® technologies. The competitive solution saves Intelecom customers, such as retail giant Coop, millions of dollars a year.
- Our customers’ and reseller partners’ customers are showing a lot of interest in the solution and we expect to see a real increase in revenue within the next two years, with targets as high as NOK$10 million (U.S.$1.68 million) by 2011. With Always Unified and Microsoft unified communications technology, customers enjoy a range of benefits including competitive pricing, faster response times, increased efficiency, and reduced travel costs, says Adrian Sparks, Sales Director Intelecom UK.
Adrian Sparks also says: - More and more companies are embracing the concept of a unified communications solution that can combine telephony and cutting-edge technology. Businesses see unified communications solutions as reducing overall costs and improving and modernizing, employee communication tools.
Until recently, the company’s primary business was providing Web-based telephony solutions for companies with enterprise-scale call-centre operations. But Intelecom saw a great business opportunity in the provision of a hosted unified communications solution, particularly in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Western Europe, where users have been quick to adopt new technology.
- We wanted to capitalize on the commercial possibilities provided by unified communications. Integrating voice and data in a hosting environment was a natural progression of our services, says Sparks.
Solution
Intelecom worked with Microsoft to develop a hosted unified communications solution called Always Unified, based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007— incorporating Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 and Microsoft Office Live Meeting. The company’s expertise in public switched telephone network (PSTN) connections helped it to develop sophisticated Voice over IP (VoIP) services, which are incorporated into the Always Unified solution ensuring the user can still make calls using the public network.
Always Unified is sold directly to Intelecom customers or to its partner resellers. It encompasses three pricing and delivery models:
- Mini: with this version, users access instant messaging (IM), presence information, and computer-to-computer audio and video communication features from the Office Communicator 2007 desktop client. Users can create a video or audio conference to collaborate and share desktop documents within Office Live Meeting.
- Total: this version includes the same features as the Mini, but also offers an e-mail service and connection to the PSTN.
Benefits
Sparks says that the Intelecom hosted unified communications solution is fast becoming one of the company’s most popular revenue-generating products. He says: “Our customers’ and reseller partners’ customers are showing a lot of interest in the solution and we expect to see a real increase in revenue within the next two years, with targets as high as NOK$10 million [U.S.$1.68 million] by 2011. With Always Unified and Microsoft unified communications technology, customers enjoy a range of benefits, including competitive pricing, faster response times, increased efficiency, and reduced travel costs.”