Tellumat makes aggressive play for new ShoreTel resellers

Offers secret channel weapon – mobile UC from any IP PBX to the major handsets

Tellumat Communication Solutions, the SA distributor for unified communications (UC) vendor ShoreTel, is staging an aggressive channel recruitment drive coinciding with their attendance at this year’s IP Expo on 15 and 16 November.

Uptake and acclaim
Bennie Langenhoven, managing executive of Tellumat Communication Solutions, says the current channel cannot cope with the rapidly growing demand for the US-based vendor’s solutions. “ShoreTel has made inroads everywhere it has set up, and has won much acclaim.”

ShoreTel’s IP telephony and UC solutions have been cited for their plug-and-play simplicity, scalability, distributed redundancy, open integration and low total cost of ownership, he says.

Its most recent accolades include a strong positive rating in Gartner’s 2011 UC for SMBs MarketScope Report (North America) and a Nemertes Research award for “Top IPT provider among the Market Challengers”.

Service and skills
Praised also for its customer satisfaction ratings, ShoreTel places a high premium on customer service in its recruitment of partners, says Langenhoven.

In addition, partners should have strong IP voice and data skills. “You don’t have to be the biggest or the best, but we certainly want committed investment in technical skills and a strong sales team,” he says.

Channel benefits
In return, ShoreTel and Tellumat have much to offer resellers.

“There is much excitement currently around ShoreTel Mobility,” Langenhoven says. “It lets channel players offer their customers the benefits of fixed mobile convergence early on in the game, by extending UC from any vendor’s IP PBX to any of the major mobile handsets.”

• Cisco, Avaya, Aastra, Mitel and Asterisk resellers can use ShoreTel’s platform agnostic Mobility to broaden the UC value proposition of their vendor’s PBX.

• Furthermore, ShoreTel’s Fixed Mobile Convergence solution works on most major smartphones including iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Windows mobile and some Nokia models.

• ShoreTel-only resellers can use Mobility to get a foot in the door with competitor accounts.

In addition, ShoreTel’s pricing allows resellers to maximise margin on sales and service calls.

And finally, vendor maintenance is structured to complement that of partners, not compete, and the sales cycle offers built-in simplicity, from architecting solutions and creating quotes, to placing and tracking orders.

Calling all believers
Resellers who believe they have the converged communications skills, the resources and the commitment to tackle this exciting opportunity can approach the Tellumat stand at IP Expo for a chat and an application form.

* Tellumat is the South African distributor of ShoreTel business communication systems. The company is encountering growing opportunities for potential channel partners to take ShoreTel’s solutions to market.