iiNet takes care of business with new SMB products

By Mitchell Bingemann on Mar 5, 2008 3:37PM

iiNet plans to expand its product range over the next 12 months with a new portfolio of business-centric products, the first of which is a multi-line VoIP service for SMBs.

The multi-line VoIP service will be the first of many SMB focused products according to general manager of iiNet Business, Andy McIntyre.

“It’s an easy step for us to enter the small business sector because of where we are in the retail space,” he said. “The SMB space, which represents some 87 percent of businesses in Australia, has been neglected so we are now looking to build products to help them.”

iiNet’s multi-line VoIP service will be targeted at SOHO and SMB customers looking to use multiple, simultaneous VoIP services, McIntyre said.

The device, which uses a VoIP gateway switch to dedicate multiple numbers to a customer, will initially be restricted to eight VoIP lines but iiNet plans to expand that in the near future.

McIntyre said the launch of iiNet’s multi-line VoIP service would compliment the company’s Naked DSL plans, which have already clocked up 8000 activated subscriptions since going to market three months ago.

iiNet has also road-mapped several SOHO and SMB-centric products and services to be released over the coming year including SMB-tailored Virtual Private Networks (VPN), video calling and conferencing, and a hosted PBX solution.

But although iiNet managing director Michael Malone recognised the SMB and SOHO segments as increasingly important markets for the ISP, he in no way expected the new focus to detract attention from its retail operations.

“Moving into the supply of business products and services suits us well because we are able to leverage off our traditional retail segment,” he said. “But retail will always remain our heartland.”