Today, on the last day of the conference Channel Partner’s Conference & Expo, Cisco execs, Mark Monday and Kerry McDonough, will deliver a keynote speech. In anticipation of their talk,“The Future of VoIP for Small Business,” they commented, “VoIP has enabled innovation in telephony like nothing before it.” The innovation that they are referring to includes VoIP’s ability to consolidate networks, provide tighter computer/phone integration, and cut management costs.
While reading the VON (The Voice of Network Conversion) article’s coverage of the matter, what interested me the most was the Cisco execs’ recognition of where their SMB customers stand. While the future of VoIP for SMBs offers tremendous potential, the two execs comment insightfully on their current market perception:
“There are some small business owners that are adamant about owning their phone system and don’t feel comfortable knowing that after three years of payments they don’t own it, so premise is going to continually be the right match for them. On the other hand, we have customers that have several locations with only a few phones at each site, which is very costly for premise, but ideal for hosted.”
Some VoIP providers may argue that the small business owners’ hesitation to transfer from an on-premise system to a hosted system is unwise, but the Cisco execs argue that “It is not a matter of picking sides.” To their mind, premises based and hosted each have their own advantages and user experiences, and in essence, “It is a matter of what is right for the customer.” Cisco therefore ensures their ability to adapt to the customer’s changing requirements, so that they can easily transfer from one Cisco system to the other.
Other VoIP providers may combat this argument, saying the decision between a hosted and on-premises VoIP system is different than the decision of whether to buy or rent a house. People tend to think of renting homes as spending money that could otherwise be channeled towards the ownership of an asset (such as by paying off a mortgage), but that is because the ownership of the house provides value. If, however, one found that upkeep for the house incurred many more inconveniences and expenses, with no added value over paying rent, then one may assert that renting is preferable.
Strong proponents of hosted-VoIP would argue along similar lines. For example, MegaPath, a leading provider of managed IP data, voice, and security services in North America, announced their new Duet-Hosted at the conference yesterday. This new Hosted IP PBX Solution eliminates all management needs for small businesses, while providing them with the features and functionalities that were previously only available to big businesses. MegaPath’s hosted alternative also provides advantages such as the ability to unify workers in multiple locations, and to receive top voice quality, installation and maintenance, web based access, low cost per employee and more.
But, once again, the Cisco execs might argue that picking sides is not the point, and their message rings true in certain circumstances, from a broader marketing sense. Whether or not a product will better fit a customer’s needs on an objective level is sometimes irrelevant. If the customer does not recognize the added value of a product, then marketers must meet the customers at their frame of reference.
The debate over whether to offer both on-premise and hosted options in this particular case remains, but the marketing lesson of Cisco’s positioning shows a valuable perspective.
Let’s stay tuned to hear about their talk at the conference…
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