SoTel, Siemens Partner on UC Suite For SMBs
SoTel Systems, a wholesale supplier of business communications products and SIP services provider, has entered into a strategic two-tier distribution agreement with Siemens Enterprise Communications Group (SEN Group), a premier provider of unified communications (UC) solutions. SoTel has become the primary distributor of the SEN Group’s HiPath OpenOffice ME (HOOME) in the United States. Targeted at small-to-medium businesses (SMBs), HOOME is an IP-based UC platform that not only has become a key offering for SoTel, it also has become the backbone of the company’s own communications system.
As an SMB, SoTel has a long history of providing quality telecommunication products with a focus on VoIP and resellers who effectively understand the needs of this market, the company explained. With a strong presence in the region, a deep understanding of SEN Group solutions and the value of VoIP, plus relationships with more than 500 resellers, SoTel is well-positioned to deliver value and support to businesses looking to leverage the efficiencies of UC. By delivering the solution via two-tier distribution, SMB customers can now also take advantage of additional value-added services and ongoing support that SoTel can offer, tailored to their specific needs.
HOOME is an all-in-one UC appliance that enables organizations of 20-150 workers to benefit from productivity, mobility and collaboration features that are typically only affordable for much larger organizations. It includes OpenScape Office with advanced, enterprise-class features including presence awareness, conference management, Microsoft Outlook integration and mobility capabilities; HOOME can help businesses boost employee efficiency and responsiveness to deliver outstanding levels of customer service, according to the company.
In an effort to support its own sales staff in working more efficiently, streamline administration and prove product value, SoTel also selected HOOME to replace its existing Nortel communications infrastructure. Because SoTel’s TDM telephony solution from Nortel was approaching the end of its lifespan and the company recognized the value of SEN Group’s SMB products, it made perfect sense for SoTel to deploy HOOME in its own offices.
“We wanted to improve the way we communicated with each other at SoTel and externally with our customers, but we also wanted to be able to vouch for the value of HOOME when presenting it to our customers,” said John Reynolds, CMO at SoTel.
“Because we run HOOME in our own offices, we can tell potential customers first-hand about the rich features and benefits of this product. Since deploying it, we have recognized pure efficiency gains by moving to UC, including utilizing presence information, intelligent call routing and drag-and-drop auto conferencing, which have helped us serve our customers quicker and better,” said Reynolds.
