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Carrier Services
Branching Out
Sonus Expands Market Reach with EMBARQ Logistics
by Sean Buckley
For Sonus, it’s clear that one vendor can’t reach every part of the market on its own. To reach into the emerging Tier 2 and Tier 3 IP telephony markets, Sonus has entered a distribution agreement with EMBARQ Logistics.
The newly-minted distribution deal with EMBARQ Logistics, which will combine Sonus’ IP telephony and IMS platforms with necessary integration and installation expertise, will be key to success in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 service provider markets. EMBARQ Logistics, the distribution and logistics division of local telephone provider Embarq, has over 1,400 customers that will be able to take advantage of Sonus’ IP telephony product suite.
“If you think the [IP telephony] industry at large has become mainstream, for Sonus this agreement is all about how we expand our reach to address a broader range of customers cost effectively,” says Steve Edwards, CMO for Sonus. “Now that we got this agreement with EMBARQ Logistics, which will distribute the full Sonus offering, it’s a great milestone for us and for the industry.”
Under terms of the agreement, EMBARQ Logistics will resell throughout North America the entire suite of Sonus’ IMS-ready solutions, including: Sonus’ VoBB bundle; Sonus’ media gateway family (GSX9000 and GSX 4000 Open Services Switch); PSX Call Router Server and ASX Feature Server; and the Sonus Insight Management system. What’s more, Sonus’ IMS-ready architecture can support a number of consumer applications such as Enhanced 911 and an integration path to add new services and applications.
This relationship will benefit both Sonus and EMBARQ Logistics customers alike. For Sonus, the EMBARQ Logistics relationship gives them a nice entrée into a market that needs not only innovative products but also necessary support.
Although it’s clear that Tier 2 and Tier 3 operators need to stay competitive with new packet-based services, the reality is that they don’t have the staff or capital budget to evaluate and install these solutions on their own.
The relationship will give Tier 2 and Tier 3 service providers that want to deploy next-generation IP telephony a tested product that comes with integration support (i.e., equipment selection, project management and installation).
“We’ll be looking to extend our distribution into smaller kinds of carriers throughout the U.S. market,” Edwards says. “At the same time, EMBARQ [Logistics] customers have been looking to get differentiation as they migrate to VoIP solutions from the value proposition of reducing the cost of their existing network deployments as well as a platform for next-generation services.”
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