Not so long ago the line between dysle xia and an aversion to writing to an expected standard at school was vague, and Paul Taylor, Sales Director at Voiceflex, found himself in this grey area. However, he spells out the SIP opportunity with ease and reads the market with his eyes shut.
Taylor's school days were at a time when tests for dyslexia had not been invented. "My school reports included comments such as, 'Paul's a lively member who is well liked but needs to spend more time on written work'," he recalled. "However, being lively and likeable were assets that helped me relate to people and I eventually moved into sales at the age of 19. Two years later I joined The Birmingham General Telephone Company selling internal telephones and PBXs, learning the hard way by cold calling in the morning and attending appointments in the afternoons. Fast forward to today, and to have been involved in the creation of a company with no products, no channel and no customers, and to have helped build it from scratch is a major achievement."
Few would disagree. Between 2005 and 2011 Voiceflex doubled turnover each year, and in 2012 the company saw a 50 per cent hike in revenue with expectations of a 25 per cent rise in 2013. "We have grown from two staff in 2005 to a headcount of 20 with more plans to recruit this year," added Taylor. "Growth will continue as our addressable market is the 10 million ISDN installed circuits."
The big gun in his armoury is SIP and Voiceflex was an early proponent and adopter of this disruptive technology, selling its first commercial SIP trunk in December 2005 soon after the company was established. "In 2005 I was UK General Manager for Swyx," explained Taylor. "In April of that year Swyx SIP trunk-enabled its system and was therefore seeking a SIP service provider. I couldn't find one, and a chance conversation with the Managing Director of Frontier Systems, which provided first line support for Swyx in the UK at the time, led to it building a SIP server that worked. I joined Frontier Systems in September 2005 and we set up Voiceflex."
Taylor had previously worked for Ascom when ISDN2 and ISDN 30 were launched. This experience gave him a clear insight into the potential impact of SIP on the comms landscape. "It has taken a long time for data connectivity to catch up with SIP but we are there now and reaping the rewards," he stated. "Data connectivity is key to the implementation and development of SIP trunking and hosted telephony."
Not surprisingly, the biggest trend Taylor is tracking in the market is the rise of data. "If you own the data connection you own the customer," he stated. "Not so long ago most companies had three lines of communication to the outside world - ISDN, the postman and a data connection. Now, telephone phone calls are diminishing, the postman's bag is getting lighter due to ordering and invoicing online, and companies are getting faster speeds for less money and better SLAs. Today, if you are not connected you can't do business."
Taylor noted that there are three primary triggers that prompt organisations to consider SIP - moving office, replacing the telephony application or replacing the data connection. "We are still in a recession and companies are still holding onto their cash and sweating every asset possible," added Taylor. "But as we come out of recession these companies will look to invest in technology to either secure their market position or increase market share."
Resellers are well positioned to help these companies make their technology investments, and Voiceflex is focused 100 per cent on enabling its partners. "We need to get closer to our channel partners this year," added Taylor. "We will continue to develop products to assist in the prime objective of selling more SIP trunks and hosted telephony - some chargeable and some free of charge. And as SIP becomes mainstream we will continue to develop our platform and service offering to make the whole experience of engaging with Voiceflex easy."
Resellers are also attracted to Voiceflex' engineering pedigree. The company employs 15 staff in support, provision and engineering, but despite this watertight pool of expertise there remains a bugbear that persists to this day. It's an issue that Taylor aims to address. "Our biggest pain point is market education," he said. "Not all SIP service providers are the same. We have different platforms with different features and different fraud provision. The sales process used to be sell yourself, sell your company and sell the product. Now, sales people should be selling the SIP provider and the ISP which are integral to the sales process. When sold correctly, this approach can turn a 50/50 sale into the high nineties."•