Resellers must respond to WebRTC or face the prospect of missing the boat on VoIP
Emerging real-time comms technology might prevent many resellers exploiting the opportunity before they have got properly started, says Entanet’s latest guest blogger
Telford, 09 April 2015 – A guest blogger on Entanet’s opinion website has warned resellers that they could get excluded from the potential to offer customers IP-based voice services unless they respond quickly to the rapidly developing technology of WebRTC, says the latest guest blogger on the wholesale comms provider’s website (http://www.enta.net/opinion/).
WebRTC is a browser-based technology that makes it possible to create secure network-based peer-to-peer applications which can share media content such as audio, video, documents and messages. It is currently available only for some browsers, such as Chrome, Firefox and Opera, but is expected to become much more widely available as developers look to create new kinds of mobile apps.
In the article, Dan Winfield, Managing Director of Served Up Ltd, founder of the Voxhub telephony service and an ITSPA council member, says that WebRTC could mean resellers that are not already involved in delivering VoIP and collaboration solutions could miss the boat altogether, as hosted software developers build WebRTC into their products. “Some of the big CRM service providers that already have the applications will definitely embrace telephony more in the future. They have control of the browser and can easily bring in WebRTC as an extension to their offerings.”
In response, resellers will need to beef-up on their investment in technology and services to ensure they can integrate and compete with such apps, says Winfield. On the other hand, WebRTC could be a great opportunity for resellers that want to develop their own services, he continues. “Why wait until someone else develops a service that you can resell? Create something. It will help differentiate you in the market, will increase the value of your business and will make revenues that you have more control over. At the moment this is an opportunity for innovation. It’s up to the reseller to decide when to move.”
Entanet’s position on WebRTC is, at this stage, cautiously positive. Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing says: “For our reseller partners and ourselves, WebRTC has the potential to bring an array of new opportunities to the VoIP market. With that, we must expect an influx of competition which Dan warns is likely to come from existing cloud providers, but quite rightly states this doesn’t necessarily need to be viewed as a threat and could actually bring new working relationships and opportunities for resellers willing to embrace this emerging market. It’s an interesting industry development and one we will be watching closely.”
The full article is available to read at http://www.enta.net/opinion/2015/03/31/guest-blog-webrtc-challenges-channel-reseller/#.VR0JSPnF_ts.
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About Entanet
Entanet is a leading wholesale voice and data communications provider and operates via a network of wholesale and resale channel partners. It was founded in 1996 by Taiwanese entrepreneur Jason Tsai and employs over 80 staff at its offices in Telford, Shropshire.
In February 2014, mid-market equity investor Mobeus Equity Partners made an initial £6 million investment to support a £14 million management buyout. Jason Tsai remains a significant shareholder.
Entanet offers an extensive portfolio of connectivity services, including wholesale and packaged broadband, leased lines, EFM, IP VPNs, hosting and co-location, VoIP and traditional telecoms. The company operates its own fully-resilient nationwide next generation network which enables it and its partners to provide up to 10Gbps capacity to customers right across the UK. In addition, it has further connectivity into Amsterdam and Frankfurt and over 900 peering relationships across Europe.
The quality of Entanet’s services and its commitment to partners has been widely recognised. The company was recently named Best Channel ISP in the 2013 Comms National Awards and as the winner in the 2013 ISPA Awards for Best Business Fixed Broadband. In the Comms National Awards 2012 it was awarded Best Channel Wholesale Service Provider. It also received the ISPA award for Best Internet Telephony in 2011 and was short-listed in the Specialist Services Vendor of the Year category in the CRN Channel Awards – an accolade it has won twice in previous years. The company has also been listed on a number of occasions in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA and other listings of fast-growing, privately-held UK companies.
For more information contact:
Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing
Entanet International Ltd
Tel: 0333 101 0000