Every day, it seems, we’re reading about the fallout from this economic recession, as President Barack Obama and Congress inject money to stave off foreclosures, the auto industry struggles to adjust quickly to market trends and businesses – often companies thought of as stalwarts in their markets – announce layoffs, lower profit guidelines and file for bankruptcy protection.
IP-based voice communications is no different.
While TMC President Rich Tehrani (
News -
Alert)
reports a 15 percent uptick in attendance at the industry’s premier event, the
Internet Telephony Conference & Expo and experts
call for greater VoIP adoption with a $7.2 billion investment in nationwide broadband deployment, pure-play VoIP companies appear to be
struggling and some researchers
say the recession will slow the technology’s growth.
As head of one company that’s on the front lines of VoIP as well as IP-based video communications is Doug Johnson, chief executive officer of
Telanetix. The Bellevue, Washington-based company provides telepresence and VoIP services to all business market segments.
A wireless industry veteran who worked for AccessLine – subsequently acquired by Telanetix – as well as AT&T (
News -
Alert) Wireless, Johnson told us in an interview (printed in full below) that he expects VoIP to lure all businesses, especially smaller ones, with its inherent cost-savings.
He also said that while the nation’s broadband investment will pay dividends for VoIP in the medium and long-term, that Telanetix (
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Alert) isn’t expecting it to be a factor this year.
Our exchange follows.
TMCnet: Many of us are wondering how this slower economy ultimately will affect the VoIP industry. On the one hand, some analysts and industry insiders are touting the strength of VoIP as an attractive cost-saver – as evidenced by an uptick in attendance at the Internet Telephony Conference & Expo – yet others say the recession will slow VoIP’s growth among U.S. businesses. What do you predict?
Doug Johnson (pictured left): In the economic environment we are in today, we believe businesses are re-examining all elements of their operations to assure they are as cost-effective as possible. When they take a look at their communications options, we believe it will be hard for them to ignore the savings that VoIP offers. Part of our 2009 strategy will be to emphasize that our products and services offer a better solution for less.
TMCnet: What about the $7.2 billion nationwide broadband deployment initiative that President Obama signed into law this week? What impact, if any, will nationwide broadband have on VoIP?
DJ: Any deployment takes some number of quarters to be implemented and to take effect. While we believe this initiative will be a contributor to VoIP growth in the medium to longer term, we do not expect it to be a factor in VoIP sales in 2009. We do however fully support any initiative that lends to an increased chance for user adoption and we are looking forward to continuing our own innovation in the market.
TMCnet: We know that Telanetix offers both voice and video products. Talk to us about video products. Telepresence (News - Alert), as Avistar told us here and Glowpoint, Inc. told us here, are faring well as market segments now and certainly their backers hope they represent the future. Yet some, including Corey McFadden of Infradapt, tell us that companies such as Cisco Systems Inc. could be creating a market for something that may or may not exist. What do you think?
DJ: There is no question in my mind that Telepresence is a valid market. We believe the greatest barrier to growth is a mismatch between value and price in most of the offers in the marketplace. At Telanetix, of course, we believe we have corrected that mismatch.
There is an additional factor in the short term that plays a part. When you look at the current economic environment, it has had a severe affect on the normal leasing practices of all businesses, both in the United States and abroad. We expect that this impact may retard growth in the short term but that the cost savings and value to the customer in the long term is significant.
TMCnet: We see that you have a strong background in wireless. More and more, we hear about security threats facing wireless networks, exacerbated by an increasingly mobile workforce and the belief that WPA2 encryption is enough to protect a company. Tell us, how does Telanetix ensure the security of its offerings?
DJ: Telanetix takes the security of its customers’ telecommunications very seriously. Our AccessLine Voice Product mix has deployed a private network in the United States and has protected that network using industry standard methods. The network is architected in two parts: an internal core applications network and an external telephony conveyance network. Both networks are private.
The external conveyance network is interconnected with the public internet and is protected using firewall techniques incorporated into the operating system of the routers and switches that are the foundation of our external conveyance network. We are constantly looking to improve and further enhance our customers’ security and our track record in this area to date is most impressive.
TMCnet: Finally, in its new report, market research firm In-Stat says that VoIP adoption varies significantly by size of business, with enterprises preferring a partial deployment, while SOHO businesses more likely to go IP-only. We all know that Microsoft (News - Alert), with its Response Point product, is targeting small businesses, and most of the buzz at ITEXPO was about SMBs. Telanetix also is targeting small businesses. Why? What makes them so attractive?
DJ: There are a number of factors that make the SMB market attractive. First of all, it is the largest business market in the U.S. A little known fact is that of the approximately 24 million businesses in the United States, almost 20 million of them have fewer than 20 employees. Secondly, these businesses put a premium on ease of installation and ease-of-use as they don’t have an IT manager or team to assist with complex installations, unlike larger companies.We have designed our offerings specifically for these factors. Finally, this target market is more receptive to the opportunity to achieve cost savings, which makes them a natural customer base for VoIP offerings.
Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.
Michael Dinan is a contributing editor for TMCnet, covering news in the IP communications, call center and customer relationship management industries. To read more of Michael's articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Michael Dinan
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