TalkSwitch takes aim at SOHO market with 244vs telephony switch 18 February, 2007 By Chris Talbot

The 244vs telephone system is very similar to the TalkSwitch's 240 system, but the main difference is the 244vs has four VoIP trunks built into it so it can be used for traditional analog telephony, IP telephony or a combination of both. The IP/PSTN hybrid PBX offers the features of both key systems and IP telephony at a price tag that Tim Welch, vice president of sales at TalkSwitch, said no competitor has matched.

"As far as we know, this is the first time a small business will be able to get analog as well as voice over IP trunking ... for under $1,000," Welch said.

The 244vs accommodates two incoming phone company lines, offers four local extensions and supports four VoIP trunks. Additionally, it was designed to be scalable so that the system can grow with a SOHO business that continues to expand. The system is scalable right up to the size of TalkSwitch's biggest units, which support 16 lines and 32 extensions, but customers can add to it in "nice, chewable chunks," Welch said. "It gives them tons of room for growth," he added.

With the 244vs, customers get traditional key system features such as voicemail and auto-attendant, but they also get VoIP features like call detail recording, auto route selection and other features typically only found in bigger systems, Welch said. Additionally, they can connect it to a traditional telco and a VoIP service provider to get the best of both worlds -- particularly the cost savings small businesses are looking for in an environment that continuing to become more global.

"What they're looking for is a way to save money on long distance as well as to have a good, solid, professional image and to have a lot of the functionality that a big business phone system has in a small one," Welch said.

In the global economy, small businesses are increasingly outsourcing manufacturing and other aspects of their businesses overseas, but without the cost savings of VoIP, doing so can be very expensive -- possibly even out of the price range of a lot of SOHOs, he said. "I would say business has gotten a heck of a lot more global," he said, adding that even tiny companies are outsourcing various operations overseas. With traditional telecommunications, the cost could be prohibitive to outsource and have employees overseas, but with VoIP, it's doable, he said.

Despite all the other benefits of VoIP, small businesses still see the cost savings as a major benefit.

"So it actually enables them to do that, not that it just reduces their costs," Welch said. Another feature included 244vs system is the ability to have remote extensions so customers can connect cell phones to the system.

"Our remote extension, when you take a call on it, it actually gives you the full call control that you'd have in the office," Welch said.

Customers can also create ring groups so that if a call isn't picked up by someone, the system will ring other phones so as not to miss the call. They can also load hold music onto the system as a WAV file, which means they don't need to buy an external music player for such a feature, Welch said.

All of the features are included standard on the 244vs, whereas some competitors may sell those features as add-on modules, he continued.

TalkSwitch's channel partners already have the low-down on the 244vs, and it's the product is something they've wanted for awhile, Welch said.

"This is something the channel has told us for awhile that they would really like access to. I know the resellers are extremely excited about this. They see this as our first foray into the really small office/home office market," he said.

While the channel obviously likes the big sales because it means they can put a lot of product into one company, the SOHO market is enormous, Welch said. There are also several ways to tap into that market, with an important one being partnering with home automation companies such as home monitoring and alarm companies that already service SOHOs, he added.