In this blog, we are going to try to answer a question we regularly get asked by potential clients looking to buy a new telephone system and that is, “why don’t I recognise the manufacturers anymore”?
We have been specifying telephone systems since 1995 and have worked with some fantastic manufacturers such as Panasonic, NEC, Toshiba, Mitel, Philips, Inter-Tel, Aastra, Samsung and Ascom.
In the last few years, many of these names have disappeared from the UK marketplace to be replaced by previously unknown names in telecoms. Many of these are long established telecoms providers, but as they haven’t also been known for making consumer electronics such as TV’s, Sound Systems and Microwave Ovens etc, it’s easy to dismiss them as new to the market when in fact, they’re more specialised as innovators in telecoms – let’s look a little deeper…….
Many of the Far East manufacturers were experts at looking at what others did, they took apart their technology, then brought to market their version. This proved to be a great business model for them and often for the client too. They were often less expensive and they tended to be very robust and reliable. However, we found that it often took a year or two longer for products to be released and this longer lead-time meant they got left behind, especially as Cloud Hosted Telephony started to be released.
In the last few years, we have seen that Toshiba, Panasonic, Philips and Samsung have completely left the telecoms market. More recently NEC have announced that they are pulling out of on-premise unified communications too. Ascom, Inter-Tel and Aastra have all had their telecom divisions taken over so their products are now no longer available.
The telecoms marketplace has now almost totally moved away from on-premises telephony, this is where a Control Unit / Box / Server /PBX is located within a client’s premises, the new normal is for Software to run in a Cloud Hosted Server.
In the past, the use of proprietary handsets meant that whichever system was in use tended to mean that the same brand of handset would be used too – A Toshiba telephone system would operate Toshiba handsets. Nowadays it’s not unusual to have a choice of branded handsets that can operate across different platforms.
After much research, Time Communications chose to use software by Sangoma Technologies. We are often asked “Who are Sangoma” and “Are they a new to the market company”.
Sangoma Technologies were founded in 1984 and are one of the world leaders in delivering Unified Communications solutions for clients and service providers in over 150 countries worldwide. They offer scalable offerings including on-premises and cloud-based phone systems and industry leading solutions.
In short, Sangoma is a long-established, true IP PBX provider offering a tried and tested IP cloud hosted solution…………… but they don’t make TV’s or Microwave Ovens!
Don’t be put off that the more recognisable names in telecoms are now much harder to find. The fact is, that there are now more highly innovative and specialised manufacturers ‘out there’ able to offer more flexible, scalable and cost-effective solutions than there has been for many years!
If you’d like to learn more about what Time Communications can offer, or if you’d like to get in contact with us, you can do so by clicking here.
May 2024.
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