Zultys answers VoIP call

The Silicon Valley-based company--which competes head on with the likes of Cisco and Avaya here--unveiled the MX250, a product that integrates voice, data, fax and video services into one unit.

Zultys first hit the market in May with its MX1200, a unit with similar functionality which scales up to 1,200 users. However, Tony Warhurst sales manager at Zultys in Australia, said that SME resellers and end users had some concerns that a smaller scale product was required particularly for companies with branch offices.

The MX250 scales from five to 250 users, but is cost effective from 15 users upwards, he said. It starts at $9500 for five users through to $86,300 for 250 users.

So far, Zultys has one reseller on board, Melbourne-based Tele Resources, which Warhurst said had a few customers showing interest in the products. The reseller also specialises in providing Nortel and Fujitsu PABX systems. Zultys is hoping to have a handful of resellers signed up by the end of the week.

“We have had no [MX]1200 sales yet. We've been having discussions with end customers and we have to get some resellers on board,” he said.

He agreed that the sales cycle for a product such as this can take up to six months. “We have strong interest from end customers at this stage,” he said, adding that the company has five potential customers in the pipeline.

However, a proof of concept is required for anyone delving into IP telephony. “Initially, people want to do a proof of concept. We even have some potential resellers who would look at rolling out the 250 in their own offices and do a pilot with a customer site across a VPN,” he said.

Warhurst expected that around 70 percent of the company's sales revenue in Australia would be generated by MX250 sales, with the remaining 30 percent to come from the high-end MX1200 box.

Zultys claimed that, unlike other similar products from Cisco and Avaya, the MX1200 and MX250 units don't use proprietary standards. It uses the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) standard which is the “open standard” for VoIP “going forward”, Warhurst said. Using SIP, the unit can connect with other manufacturer's boxes, phones and other devices, the company said. It runs on Linux.

On launch, Zultys' California-based president Iain Milnes claimed the company could capture around 15 percent of the claimed $500 million VoIP market in Australia by May next year. The company also claimed it doesn't sell direct and has no plans to open a distribution channel for either of its offerings.

The MX250 incorporates Internet and PSTN gateways, voice mail, automated attendants, ACD groups, and firewalls features in a box that is managed from a single GUI. Sites can be connected over a WAN providing integration and toll bypass. Speech compression is also incorporated into the unit to reduce the bandwidth required by remote users or WAN interconnectivity, the company claimed.