The move not only means Partners can call its key sales, admin and technical support numbers free, but also gives them the opportunity to experience the benefits of VoIP for themselves and opens up a lucrative revenue stream in the burgeoning business VoIP market. The company is also providing a free account to every new Partner that signs up to resell its broadband and telephony services.
The offer is the first of several steps in Entanet’s recently announced strategy of integrating the telecoms services of sister company Entacall Telecommunications Ltd into its data connectivity services and solutions. The small and medium sized business market, in which the majority of its Partners operate, represents a highly attractive opportunity for reliable voice and data connectivity over IP networks.
“We’ve been receiving more and more requests for reliable IP Telephony services over the past 12 months and have been developing a platform that Partners and their customers can rely on” says Entanet Marketing Manager, Darren Farnden. “By offering our Partners a free VoIP account we achieve two key objectives – first we believe that their communication with us shouldn’t cost them anything and second, by experiencing the service themselves we expect they will feel more confident about marketing it to their own customers. This offer of course applies to new channel Partners as well.”
He adds: “It seems everyone is talking about VoIP but few, even within the comms and IT channels, have any real experience of it. Resellers have been relatively cautious about taking VoIP to the market seriously because of various commercial and technical (reliability) reasons that prevent them from selling it with conviction. Being able to say that you use a service yourself is very powerful and once Partners have experienced the quality, added value and cost-efficiencies that our VoIP services deliver, we’re confident that many will actively take them to market.”
As well as getting first-hand experience of its VoIP service, Entanet Partners that sign up for the free account will do so in the confidence that calls to key sales, admin and support numbers at both Entanet and Entatech, the major systems, software and components distributor, will be completely free. “VoIP is about more than just reducing costs” says Farnden, “and we’re already getting very positive feedback from our Partners.”
One of these is Jason Clifford, MD of channel Partner UK Free Software Network. He says: “Since switching to Enta's VoIP platform we've enjoyed a reliable and high quality telephone service. The additional features included in the VoIP service are an enormous boon for us as they allow us to manage incoming calls effectively. Pricing on the VoIP service is set to save us a significant amount, particularly on international calls.”
Another satisfied Partner is Danny Corder, General Manager of channel Partner Freeola. He says: “We spend considerable time speaking to Entanet on the phone on provisioning and other operational matters. The free VoIP account is benefiting us immensely, with unlimited free calls between the two companies. Entanet’s product appears to be one of the few VoIP services that can truly be called business-class. This is a smart move.”