FOOD FOR THOUGHT pbx as a Business

[tritron]

I wonder if anyone is willing to share how are you guys turned pbx in a flash into a business. I am thinking about starting it/pbx business. I wonder if anyone had success soliciting businesses and offering pbx in flash as a viable solution to cisco product?

 

[vic555]

Sure, like anything else it can be done. A number of the gurus of this site have a client/consulting.business, but the skill set necessary to be successful includes networking, and telephony skills. These can be acquired, but not overnight.

However, This site provides a good forum for problems and implementation of a budding skillset. Tutorials, troubleshooting, and commentary abound. The road is not smooth, and may appear steep, depending on your skillset.

 

[voip_user]

I'm getting started in the PiAF. I have the last few years running a cisco shop, and before that quite a few years as a consultant. I deployed my 1st system a week ago after spending a month or so with PiAF. Some tips I can give.

1. How do you get inside a company to sale to them? This is something that you have to solve. Some people come in from business connections, others have been in long standing partnerships.

2. What are you already good at that you leverage that skill to get in-front of people who can make decisions?

 

[matthew]

If you're competing against Cisco or other proprietary IP PBX solutions, some points of difference would be upfront cost, flexibility of using multiple vendors for acquisition and support (not locked in), and widely available compatible products (again, not locked in). On the other hand, Cisco users in my area tend to be centrally managed corporates, so you'd probably struggle to get a foot into that segment with PIAF. We've found our most likely PIAF-type customers have been small businesses that are looking to keep costs down. We also have our own SIP trunking service that we offer very good rates on, so that helps sell the overall PBX package. Some SIP providers have Dealer/Reseller facilities, so you can also make a couple of bucks off selling their trunks onto your PBXs. Customers tend to like having a single contact for their communications support, so don't dismiss the leverage of selling the trunks, too. Perhaps you can package it up with your IT sales and service for a fairly complete office solution.