Aastra announces goodies at IP Expo

In a bid to widen its channel, unified comms specialist Aastra has partnered with the IT distributor Westcoast who will offer its full range of IP PBX and handsets. According to Alex Tatham, Sales and Marketing Director for Westcoast, the agreement will, “…ensure data resellers have a complete portfolio of product from Westcoast when rolling out Office Communication Server.” The distie, a major supplier of Microsoft software, is strengthening its portfolio ahead of the imminent launch of Microsoft Lync 2010, the next generation of the OCS product line. Westcoast joins existing distributors Nimans, Siracom and Zycko.

The new distribution agreement compliments Aastra’s new financing initiative to provide easier ways for customers to buy its equipment. The finance package includes a headline three year, zero percent interest rate for orders over £1000. The firm has promised to decide on credit applications with 24 hours and issued collateral packs to channel partners to promote the benefits of financing to cash-strapped SMB customers.

The firm has made a raft of channel-focused announcements to coincide with the first public demonstration of its new range of Microsoft Lync optimised phones at IP Expo last week. To further tempt partners, it is also offering discounts of up to 20 per cent on its popular 6xx series phones.

According to market research from Canalys, Aastra is ranked second in the PBX/IP PBX market sector and first for the SMB segment for the EMEA region. However, in a highly competitive market, the firm is pursuing an aggressive channel development strategy aimed at making it easier for prospective dealers to partner with the firm. This partner push began in August with a range of starter bundles including auto attendant, unified messaging and licenses for the Aastra Mobile Client to help new dealers provide fixed mobile convergence and single contact services.

Commenting at the time, Alan Reeve, managing director of Aastra Telecom (UK) said, “I’m determined to break down the barriers for the channel to do business with Aastra. The incentive packages we’ve just introduced are a clear example of this, making our solutions simpler and more competitive to adopt. We anticipate a strong response from the channel.”