Nortel Networks Corp. will come up with new products targeted atlocal small and medium-sized businesses, particularly counting onthe growing contact center industry in the Philippines.
The company will announce more products meant for the local SMEmarket this April, said Steve Hampson, Nortel enterprise generalmanager for Southeast Asia. In a briefing Thursday, Nortel alsoannounced a partnership with regional distributor Anixter Corp.
Nortel is targeting in particular the call center market. Itlaunched last year a product called Business Communications Manager50, a converged voice and data communications platform designed for20 to 40 stations.
Call centers are driving the shift towards IP telephony becauseof “converged requirements,” Hampson said.
Anixter, which distributes structured cabling products meant forthe enterprise, intends to bundle its products with Nortelsolutions. Prior to Southeast Asia, the two companies have existingpartnerships in Latin America, Europe and Australia.
Call centers contribute about 60 percent of Anixter’s businessin the Philippines. The partnership with Nortel is meant to addresscustomer requirements for “active” solutions. “When resellers sellcabling products, users usually look for active solutions such asNortel’s,” said Mandy Pascual, channels director for NortelPhilippines.
Nortel competes for the same market with Avaya, Cisco andAlcatel. Hampson said Nortel’s strategy is retaining its currentcustomers by pushing for upgrades and offering solutions designedfor a specific market such as contact centers.