ABP Expands IP PBX Portfolio with Switchvox
ABP has been a Digium Distribution Partner for many years and lately we have seen a constant flow of innovative products emerge out this Powerhouse in Huntsville, Alabama. This time around things promise to be even more exciting and profitable for resellers for several reasons:
1). Switchvox was added to Digium’s portfolio through an acquisition and second it is a totally finished product.
2). Digium until now has only sold components that had to be assembled into a PBX or a telephony solution by the reseller using off the shelf servers, adding cards and other elements to create a custom PBX system.
At first it seemed that to offer a finished product could be a liability for Digium a company that focuses on selling through the channel however analyzing things closer we see advantages all around for all partners, the reseller and the end-users. Over the past few years hardware has been so strongly commoditized that resellers can hardly make any margin when building servers and there is no economy of scale doing so. Most resellers don’t really want the liability of being the OEM, maintain hardware or offer advanced replacement. Digium’s Switchvox solution is delivered as a finished appliance with a margin better than “building your own system”.
Switchvox is an innovative and feature rich product that has had some time to mature and get polished before getting launched as Digium /Swichvox with a twist. For the end-user an reseller alike Digium’s new management team’s world-class manufacturing background helps create a modern PBX appliance with consistent quality and with national maintenance coverage including advanced replacement provisions.
Resellers create the most value with their configuration, consulting and training and this it is easier and more reliable with SwitchVox then with frequently changing asterisk distributions and one off custom hardware.
Most important though is Switchvox’s offers unique features, especially the productivity enhancing ones and the functionality included in the several web management GUI tools. The Switchvox web User Interface displays user presence status, can transfer calls, record calls, enables on the fly call monitoring to users with that privilege and incudes a interface and tool kit for connecting to external web applications. Resellers can configure this tool to dip into databases searching for DID or extensions and/or popping screens in web based applications like SalesForce.com, Google Maps.
SwitchVox truly is one of these products that once you see and use it you don’t want to being without-it. SwicthVox includes so many true productivity enhancements to the end-users that these become raving fans. We see this product as a “winner” that gives the ABP reseller tangible arguments of why to change to VoIP NOW and buy the new SwitchVox IPBX.
During this year and starting with the AA50 Digium’s first Asterisk Appliance, Digium has introduced a new business model that contains a small component of recurring revenue to the reseller. The new subscription model for SwitchVox is based on a fixed base price that covers the hardware cost plus a yearly subscription fee. We can see that this system will ensure end-users pristine service either through their reseller or through Digium as a fallback position which protects the reputation of the solution in the market. Resellers are also motivated to exceed their customer’s expectations and ensure resellers renew through them.
We had the pleasure to meet the founders of Switchvox and also get first hand demonstrations of the key productivity enhancing features as well as learned about the roadmap and can only say that we are thrilled and looking forward to an exhilarating ride during 2008!
