Oxfordshire-based VoIP.co.uk's rebrand to Firstcom this month is the latest in a string of strategy moves from co-founder and Managing Director Adam Crisp who discusses how the traditional reseller model is being superseded by more meaningful strategic partnerships with trusted cloud service providers.
Crisp is a man with the vision to start a company from scratch and build it into a pan-European business, so you'd be doing yourself a big favour by lending an ear to his story and observations. Firstcom was established under the name VoIP.co.uk in 2004 by Crisp and Chairman Jean-Pierre Vandromme to address the growing demand for next generation IP-based communications systems. The company provides cloud services and was best known for its SIP Encrypt product which prevents phone hacking and is compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security standards. "We built our network from the ground up and through our channel partners we now supply a comprehensive portfolio of products to any size and type of business customer," said Crisp.
Acquisitions have also been instrumental in the company's development and growth in Europe. In July 2014, Crisp extended his reach into Europe with the acquisition of Denmark-based UC firm Firstcom, acquiring 85 per cent ownership of the company and a group-wide rebranding opportunity which this month saw VoIP.co.uk become Firstcom. Soon after the acquisition Crisp relaunched Firstcom's flagship mobile enabled UC platform, called Universe, creating new opportunities for partners. He said: "Scandinavia is well ahead of the UK in terms of UC and this acquisition gave our UK partners access to superior UC products."
Just six months after snapping up Firstcom, Crisp reached deeper into European territory with the purchase of Germany-based telecoms company Teleforte, which also has offices in Poland and Spain. Teleforte operates in the traditional telecoms space selling international number services to customers including German airline Lufthansa. The acquisition completed Firstcom's service offering in the traditional telecoms space and ensured its UC product had a route to a wider market. "We now have offices in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Poland and Spain, providing a platform to strengthen our presence throughout Europe," said Crisp. "These transactions helped us close our first round of external funding to accelerate the growth of our pan-European group."
Introducing SIP to the marketplace was probably the biggest factor influencing growth in the company's early days, noted Crisp. But the more recent European activity has brought a much wider product portfolio combined with stronger product management, resulting in well propositioned solutions.
According to Crisp, Firstcom's biggest opportunity is subscription-based cloud communications complete with IP telephones, cellular mobile, mobile apps etc, all targeted at the SME sector, along with secure SIP trunking and cloud enhancements, cloud call recording and cloud menu systems. "We have invested in our own software development and network dev-ops team to make sure we deliver our partners and their customers ongoing upgrades and cloud-based features," added Crisp.
In May last year Firstcom embarked on a partner recruitment campaign following the launch of a new partner programme. The company wasted no time to on-board traditional telecoms, IT and security partners in a move that coincided with the launch of its new UC suite and a drive to boost sales of its SIP Encrypt solution. "Our revamped programme saw us offering support with sales collateral including social media as well as support with technical sales and proposals," explained Crisp. "We are also strong on channel partner training and offer technical, sales and marketing skills development within partner organisations.
"Our partner programme extends our reach through the creation of regional hubs across the UK in addition to continuing to work with our existing partners. We are aiming to bring the UK up to the same standard as other countries, such as Denmark, where ISDN is dead. For that to happen, IT and information security managers need to ensure telecoms is included as part of their overall strategy and not treated as a stand alone service."
Crisp welcomes telecoms resellers to the partner programme, but he is also attracting IT partners with great technical know-how but no telecoms expertise. "By adding our cloud telephony to their offering they can benefit from new revenue streams in terms of monthly commissions without having to re-train or support a new product," said Crisp.
Channel partners may not have the resources to identify and target growth segments on their own. With this in mind, Firstcom's main focus will be enabling new and existing channel partners to identify where they can grow their business and to help them formulate a sales execution strategy. "Partners are no longer just looking for technical support and residual commissions, they are also seeking value added services like sales and marketing assistance," commented Crisp.
"Our growth is due to next generation services that are fully integrated with wider communications and completely secure. Although we have an aggressive expansion plan across Europe, the UK is still very much a key focus. There is so much potential for us and our channel partners in the UK and we intend to build on our strengths and develop existing and new alliances."
Crisp counts his technical acumen as his greatest strength, and an ability to understand new things quickly can be traced back to his school days. "I have always been inquisitive by nature and want to understand how things work, so science at school naturally led to an engineering degree," he commented.
"Building a business and watching it grow organically is easy if that growth is built on engineering excellence and hard work. I've always insisted that our products are as good as they can be from an engineering perspective. But turning that business into one that achieves stellar growth meant drawing on the experiences of others, and having a strong financial team is critical."•