Vodafone set to shake up SME comms market with Business One - UPDATED

Stuart Corner
Friday, 06 March 2009 00:55

IT Industry - Market

- Online Voicemail – customers can listen to voicemails from browser and set notification and delivery options, including voicemail and fax messages sent to email;

- Inbound Voice Services – customers can advertise 13, 1300 and 1800 numbers and have them terminated at different offices according to caller's location;

- Business Broadband –business grade, ADSL2+ broadband;

- Domain Name Hosting;

- Remote Office Bundle – customers with smaller interstate sales offices will benefit from provides 1-5 employees at a regional office with the ability to share internet access and data connectivity back to the head office. The head office is configured with interstate Office Number Anywhere to allow local inbound office numbers and outbound mobile voice.

- Web portal for bundle configuration

The key new feature is the Vodafone Business One Solution Builder, a browser based tool that allows a business, or a sales consultant, to input information about a company's size and communications requirements which it then matches with the most appropriate Business One packages along with pricing information.

Vodafone has begun accrediting its existing business channel partners to offer Business One service and says it will expand its channel footprint over the course of 2009. Cisco channel partners will also be geared up to promote the service.

Support for all Business One customers is managed centrally by Vodafone's 24/7 call centre: on site personnel for installation and support will be provided by Cisco's installation and support contractor, NetStar.

Vodafone Business One launched in December with one package designed for companies with 15-24 employees. It comprises the equipment and a shared 'pool' of 8000 minutes per month that all employees could use for mobile to mobile, mobile to fixed or fixed to mobile calls. Customers also got 2250 untimed fixed-to-fixed standard calls with no flagfall and 1000 standard TXT messages within the same monthly fee and unlimited BlackBerry mobile email for all users. This cost $2559 per month and a basic equipment bundle $1099 per month. For an additional premium of $120 per month users could get unlimited intra-company fixed and mobile calls, free fax to email and IDD calls from 5 cents per minute to the USA, UK and Singapore.

This single package has now been complemented with four additional plans for up to 36, 48, 72 and 96 users with call minutes of 12k, 16k, 24k and 32k and prices of $3899, $5199, $7499 and $9999 per month.