Revealing a world first in IT and telecommunications, Vodafone Australia, Cisco and Research In Motion (RIM) have announced a three-way initiative to deliver integrated business communications services in Australia, to be marketed as Vodafone Business One.
Vodafone Business One delivers full service telecommunications; converged fixed and mobile services including DSL broadband, equipment and devices, fully managed support in one simple solution for one monthly fee, with one point of contact.
The service has been launched as a result of a survey Vodafone did of over 300 small to medium businesses (SMBs) on what they needed to run their businesses. They wanted a secure and reliable system, value for money, their business to be more efficient and effective, and a future proof solution. Plus it had come with one contract, one supplier and one invoice.
With four different customers trialling the service, customers can now sign up for the service which will be available later this year. Pricing is still to be determined but it will be announced closer to launch; however, it will follow the same philosophy as Vodafone’s Business Cap plans, which offer a scalable, shared service, for one simple, monthly fee. Pricing will be based on the individual requirements of each business, covering hardware, software and network requirements as part of a ‘bundled’ solution. The service is aimed squarely at the 10–100 employee SMB.
This is the first time globally the three companies have got together to offer an integrated service for customers and it marks the first move beyond ‘mobile-only’ communications services for Vodafone Australia. It is the first instance globally of a Cisco unified communications solution with BlackBerry smartphones as a handset option.
It was such a big deal, RIM’s Jeff McDowell, VP, Global Alliances, came down from Canada to add weight to the Vodafone Business launch.
McDowell said, “We are very pleased to support Vodafone Australia in delivering this full service telecommunications solution. Vodafone Business One is an innovative offering that enables small businesses to gain the benefits of convergence with the simplicity of a turnkey service.”
Russell Hewitt, CEO at Vodafone Australia, explained the significance of the announcement: “Today, Vodafone Australia makes its most significant strategic play since the launch of 3G services three years ago. With the announcement of Vodafone Business One, Vodafone has evolved from being a ‘mobile-only’ provider, to the world of full-service telecommunications services, enabling Vodafone to bring the principles of innovation and competition it has delivered in the mobile space to the fixed-line arena.”
Vodafone Business One customers will receive the latest in cutting-edge networking and unified communications technology — a scalable Cisco powered platform. With it, small businesses can step away from the traditional world of fixed-line access fees and into the cost-effective world of internet protocol, broadband and unified communications. By using Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry smartphones and secure Cisco Wi-Fi and IP-PBX in the office, Vodafone Business One customers can use their BlackBerry smartphones to make calls within the office zone at fixed-line rates, while making calls outside the office via the Vodafone mobile network. Both fixed and mobile calls will be covered by a single account-level service fee.
Hewitt continued: “Customers have told us that they want to capitalise on the latest IP technologies without sacrificing quality, security and reliability. SME business owners are busy growing their business and don’t have time to deal with multiple systems, technologies and suppliers, so we’re doing all of the hard work for them, so our customers can benefit from the combined expertise of three global leaders and enjoy the advantages of a fully integrated, scalable, converged managed communications service.
Vodafone will provide business-grade DSL services via a network agreement with AAPT.
Merri Mack
