December's TA vendor "Solution Shootout" on December 3rd is going to compare T-1 hosted VoIP vendors (vendors that require a dedicated broadband collection for the customer location to the VoIP phone company. This event will educate TA's members about the pros and cons of one vendor's T-1 hosted VoIP solution over another and hopefully answer the following questions:

    A. What sort of business customers (size, verticals, geography, etc.) are most attracted to your solution? How many customers do you have and what has been the "evolution" of the solution? How financially solid are you compared to competitors?

    B. What specific applications or unique features/benefits does your solution deliver that is most valued by your customers and distinguishes you from your competitors in the space?

    C. How is the solution configured, what phones are used, what sort of platform is it riding on (Broadsoft, Asterisk, other, etc.) and how "big and strong" is your hosted VoIP network?

    D. Anything else that specifically shows how your solution is better or different from your competitors explained in a manner that customers can easily understand and appreciate.

Andrew Cohen - VP of ATEL Communications, a full service business technology solution provider in San Diego that started 25-years ago as a NEC phone system dealership, Andrew specializes in selling IP-PBX, hosted VoIP or even TDM business phone solutions to ATEL's 3,800 business customers and prospects.  

Ben Hanni - Co-Founder of BP Innovations, a telecom VAR that's an Avaya, Digium, Switchvox and ShoreTel partner that also provides Hosted PBX offerings, Ben's company manages their customer's needs from the dial-tone to the desktop phone and from the data access loop to the router & firewall.

Braun Mincher - President of PCG Telecom, Braun is a VoIP sales pioneer. He literally made a million dollars building and selling a successful Altigen dealership (one of the first business IP-PBXs). Braun is now equally adept at selling IP-PBX or hosted VoIP to his customers. He's even written many vendor neutral "Business VoIP Buying Resources".

Daniel Pentecost  - Founding Director of Anyion Group, over the last 7 years, Daniel has personally trialed, tested and done due diligence on over 54 VoIP Trunking and and Hosted PBX providers for clients of his enterprise services consultancy.  He maintains an active test bed in his office and home office.  Daniel is considered by many to be the first person to call when Google does not turn up needed information.

Jeff Ott - President of Total Carrier Solutions, Jeff is consistently one of the highest producing agents in the telecom network services industry month after month. If Jeff likes it, and he thinks it's right for his customers, he can sell it.

Jeff Uphues - Having held executive level positions for Bandwidth.com and Voila IP, Jeff has seen our industry from all sides. He knows most of the C-level executives at most of the VoIP companies and knows who's got the "DNA to succeed".

Harry Brelsford - After founding SMB Nation to help IT professionals manage Microsoft business servers, Harry founded TelephoneNation to help telecom VoIP professionals and business end-users with their hosted and IP-PBX challenges.

Larry Lisser - Larry's expertise is understanding and evaluating a service provider's "go to market" strategy and message. He can answer, "Will anyone buy what this firm's selling?"

Laura Bernstein - Owner of Cost Recovery Associates or "CRA", Laura has a rich experience with selecting BYOB for her business clients and her own office. CRA brings 35 years experience to their corporate clients.

(If you're a TA member with experience evaluating and choosing BYOP hosted VoIP solutions for your business customers and would like to participate as a judge, please contact Dan@TelecomAssociation.com ASAP)

 

Upcoming Shoot-Out Events  The following shoot-outs are tentatively scheduled for the coming months (dates are subject to change). Email Dan@TelecomAssociation.com if you're a TA member or vendor and you're interested in presenting, being a judge or suggesting a shoot-out title.