* Says incentives and price reductions are key in these tough economic times
Following our recent spotlight on mobile unified communications we spoke with Jon Nelson, a product marketing manager at Toshiba, about his company’s take on UC. In particular, we discussed market conditions, the uptick in UC and fixed-mobile convergence, and how Toshiba is helping dealers and customers in a tough economy.
Toshiba offers a range of IP telephony systems starting at the high end with the Strata CIX1200 serving up to 1,000 users down to the Strata CIX40 designed for a few to 24 users. Modular software applications and design allow users to pick and choose add-ons such as messaging systems and call center applications. Toshiba also offers a variety of endpoint device choices including both traditional digital phones and IP phones, along with like wireless IP telephone handsets, cordless DECT digital telephones and softphones, with dual-mode smart cell phone support provided by the company’s uMobility FMC solution.
Nelson observed that his company had seen an increase in demand this year for UC, an uptick that he attributes in some measure to Toshiba’s recent price and packaging initiatives. Toshiba has, for example, priced a UC Suite package for the first 10 users at about $1,854 (for an average of $185 per UC user) although the final price will vary based on the channel partner’s terms and conditions. The suite runs on a media application server and the applications software package includes the Net Phone call manager, unified messaging and VCS, a video conferencing and collaboration application.
Addressing the need to help its channel partners in difficult economic times, Toshiba introduced its own “economic stimulus package” by offering channel partners incentives such as price reductions on leased demo equipment and warranties, and increased flexibility to use co-op dollars for technical training and certifications.
