When Phone Systems Become UC Systems

Thanks for returning. You're a very smart person.

If you follow any of the work I have been doing over the last few weeks you will notice that I have been spending time on the Microsoft Response Point software and accompany product lines. In anlyzing the product’s positioning and relevance within the small business space a glaring trend emerged:

phone systems are becoming unified communications (UC) systems

Today, systems from the likes of Digium and trixbox are no longer phone systems, they are really unified communications systems that offer a “phone system” as one of the many features of their product. In fact, these two companies are not alone in their creation of “more then a phone system.” Almost every company I talk to, work with, or am watching, is moving their phone system to a UC system and the culprit is our friend, integration. For as soon as phone system opens-up, integrates with everything and ties together historically separate communications systems, it has crossed the chasm from phone system to UC system. It is no longer a phone system, but a UC system with phone system capabilities.

So what, right?

Well not quite. There is nothing wrong with having a product road map that morphs your phone system into a lean, mean integrated communications machine, unless, of course your customers do not need that or you forget to re-position and or market your solution as such. Unified communications, to the best my knowledge, is indeed the future, but today small businesses need phone systems (Of course some want all the bells a whistle, but I bet my blog that the vast majority just want a phone system) . Yes, it is a rather bold move to say, “hey phone system guys, please just make phone systems” but as a someone in the position of var/consultant/retailer/small business advocate, its the reality of today.

Companies are wasting marketing time and money, shooting themselves in the foot, by positioning, marketing and promoting UC systems as phone systems to the small business sector. It is causing confusion with customers (what do you mean my phone system does that too?), prolonging sales cycles (well, i read here that it does something I will never use, can you spend the next four weeks explaining it to me?) and increasing solution cost. All things that no one wants.

Take this for what it is worth, but if you are currently serving up to the small business sector a IP based phone system, be careful of how far you go with it - you might just end up a UC system and a need to change your marketing to account for it.