Alcatel-Lucent new Office Communication Solutions form a comprehensive portfolio of products and services that brings together enterprise-quality business telephony, applications, cost-effective VoIP, and a secured LAN and WiFi infrastructure. Mobility and collaboration tools are fully integrated within this set of solutions delivering web presence, unified messaging, shared access to contacts, calendars and documents, and full-featured desktop and wireless phones.
The products, according to Alcatel-Lucent, will enable employees and customers to work together and collaborate efficiently wherever they are, while presence features improve customer response time and drive customer satisfaction. Additionally, the Office offer ensures SMBs' communication infrastructures are future proofed and easy to manage. Ultimately, the Office Communication Solutions help to deliver superior business results and drive new business generation.
"Alcatel-Lucent raises the bar, offering products that can transform the way SMBs work by expanding from basic business telephony to an extended communications environment that supports web presence, collaboration and mobility," said Rob Arnold, senior analyst Current Analysis. "With over 10 million SMB users worldwide, Alcatel-Lucent has the proven credentials to deliver solutions that are integrated and easy-to-use, while delivering the results that SMBs need."
Alcatel-Lucent has specifically designed the Office Communication Solutions for distribution by its global business partner network. Recognising the specific requirements of SMBs and SMB channels, Alcatel-Lucent has created all the necessary conditions for partners to easily sell the solutions and to drive profitable growth.
Business partners are now able to build a complete communication solution with a unique one-stop shopping experience, minimising the time they need to invest in presenting options. A new business partner Office Certification programme accompanies the new offer, and provides a choice of training and certification options: a standard level gives partners simplified access to technical training, resources, marketing programmes and incentives, and an advanced level provides business partners the ability to differentiate themselves with access to specialised training, demo equipment and resources, including additional marketing and pre-sales support programme.
"Alcatel-Lucent's Office Communication Solutions offer partners a low investment opportunity to reach an expanding market," said Mark Hatton, managing director for Sphinx, an Alcatel-Lucent master distributor located in the UK. "The flexibility of the package and range of certification options means that we are able to jump in right away, giving our customers what they need, while building our SMB offering and support at a pace that works for both parties' business objectives."
In addition, business partners can deliver these capabilities to SMB customers through a complete package with the Office Global Offer or using a new pay-per-user model, branded the Office On Demand Communications Offer. The On Demand Offer allows partners to provide the feature-rich solutions that the SMB market demands, while simplifying the sales process using a fully user-centric sales approach.
"In today's increasingly competitive landscape, Alcatel-Lucent is focused on delivering communications solutions that reduce unnecessary complexity for both enterprises and our business partners," said Hubert de Pesquidoux, president of Alcatel-Lucent's Enterprise business. "The Office Communication Solutions is an economical pre-packaged set of offerings that meet the needs of today's SMBs, while delivering the flexibility, customisation and scalability necessary to match the needs of a growing business. We've coupled the solution with the key go to market elements to help our business partners to support their customers, simply and profitably."