Tellumat is complete local tech partner for telcos, ISPs and service providers

Tellumat has the proven telco partnering record, the products, skills and support that make it the ideal technology partner for telecoms and converged service providers serving a competitive, liberalised SA telecoms market.

Bennie Langenhoven, Managing Executive of Tellumat Telecoms, says in the few years since liberalisation, many new and different types of providers have emerged. "To compete, this generation of providers needs expert support."

Tellumat's credentials cover all the bases, the most important being its partnering track record with Telkom, the country's leading telco. It has for years supplied Telkom with its own PBXs, and has recently been awarded a supply contract for products sold in Telkom retail outlets.

Having succeeded in this sought-after role rested on the right credentials; credentials that can be leveraged just as successfully by Internet service providers (ISPs) and converged telecoms service providers (SPs). In fact, Tellumat recently signed supply deals with SP Orion and another SP, as well as an ISP (to be announced).

One reason for the company's ongoing success is that it has all the experience needed to bring product into South Africa. "Some ISPs deal directly with global suppliers, but they often have logistical difficulty," Langenhoven continues. "We've imported products for years and have extensive experience in warehousing and logistics."

Tellumat also has a strong research and development capability, which allows for customisation and integration where needed. Its local technology support further works in its partners' favour, with escalating levels of support to draw on. It also puts Tellumat in a unique position to work with foreign suppliers in order to customise products for local conditions.

Telecoms is becoming a more complex arena, Langenhoven says. "The access portion is a good basic example. Internet access devices (IADs) are not just ADSL modems anymore, and their supply requires solid knowledge of WiFi, networking, telephony and so forth. One shouldn't enter this game without the necessary backup."

Tellumat's check-list of telecoms supply credentials include:

* Voice experience - Tellumat has over two decades of business communications experience, and has sold more than two million ports.
* Leading brands
* Tellumat supplies Lake Communications' Sigma all-in-one SoHo business comms platform to the SA broadband market. This solution was chosen by British Telecom for its push into the UK single-line broadband market.
* Tellumat also distributes an SME-to-enterprise business communication solutions range by Inter-Tel/Mitel, covering hardware, management and productivity applications, and featuring full standards-based Internet Protocol and hybrid solutions for different market needs.
* The company's KIRK DECT (cordless) telephony solutions have garnered much interest from the local market, notably from BMW's flagship SA dealer in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg.
* Local intellectual property - Tellumat is the only provider of locally-made PBXs in Africa, with specific in-house voice-over-IP, GSM and radio frequency comms expertise. The Telecoms unit is backed by a world-class electronic manufacturing plant.
* Premier case studies - Tellumat is the sole supplier of point-to-point self-manufactured microwave backhaul links to Neotel, the country's second national operator. It has extended this expertise to the military-grade environment of the SANDF. Its enterprise successes have linked the local offices of multinational consulting firm JMJ Associates, and enabled the high-impact direct marketing call centre of Longain.
* Global clout - Since Inter-Tel's merger with Mitel, Tellumat's value proposition doubled overnight, as it combines the brand awareness and global standing of Mitel with Inter-Tel's kudos in the enterprise and call centre arenas.
* Local and empowered - Tellumat has attained Level 4 BBBEE status in terms of the DTI's Codes of Good Practice, which designates it as a "superior contributor". Partners that procure from the company qualify for 100% BEE procurement recognition.