Datatec`s global channel provider of networking technology products, Westcon Group, announced that its Cisco distributor, Comstor, has signed a distribution agreement with Arc Solutions, a leading manufacturer and ISV of Computer Telephony Integration software.
The new partnership positions Comstor as a premier distributor of the award-winning Cisco IP Telephony family with the addition of the Arc Console and Arc Connect product ranges.
Arc selected Comstor because of its broad Cisco reseller relationships and its strength in the convergence technology arena. Comstor has been building a solid family of leading convergence and telephony products, and is a prime source of solutions, service, training and expertise for data and telecoms solution providers and resellers.
Says Paul Cunningham, marketing director at Comstor: "We are excited to offer IP Telephony solutions from an innovative UK company like Arc. This agreement provides clear benefit to both companies, and the ultimate winners are the resellers and end-users.
"Arc`s decision to distribute their product family through the Cisco channel is a strategic move on their part, and Comstor is superbly positioned to assist. It is generally acknowledged that applications are what will drive the IP telephony market forward and in terms of functionality, price-performance and technical vision they don`t come much better than Arc Solutions."
Enda Spillane, marketing manager of Voyager Networks, says resellers are welcoming the opportunity to sell Arc Solutions backed by Comstor support.
"The Arc offering is an impressive addition to Comstor`s current suite of leading edge convergence and telephony solutions. When combined with Comstor`s dedication to the provision of training, we foresee an excellent opportunity to further develop our commitment to the IP telephony market."
Senior management of Arc Solutions confirms that Comstor`s logistics operations and Cisco IP Telephony focus make for an attractive partnership prospect.
Says Marshall Sherman, Commercial Director of Arc Solutions: "One of the Arc differentiators is the highly packaged nature of our software, which makes it easy for the reseller to deliver. Comstor`s commitment to train, train and re-train is very attractive to us in helping Arc get its applications to market via these reseller channels."
Arc Connect is a suite of Computer Telephony applications designed to work independently providing solutions for both person to person and person to group scenarios. Together they provide the full range of features and functions for inbound, outbound and Web-enabled call centres. The modules are intended to allow the user to be able to configure and reconfigure without the need for specialist telecoms knowledge. The products are targeted at the small to medium-sized enterprise from 10 to 300 employees.
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Datatec Ltd is an international networking and IT services group listed on the JSE Securities Exchange. At group level Datatec is an active technology holding company with a core competence in the timely identification, acquisition and integration of high-tech businesses and technologies in the global networking, Internet and e-business spaces.
Datatec`s divisions, subsidiaries and associate companies encompass the worldwide provision of advanced networking products to the channel as well as a range of Internet and e-business services and solutions. The company employs more than 3 000 people around the world, has operations on six continents and has just achieved revenues of over R19.3 billion for its 2001 financial year.
International operations now contribute in excess of 97% to both the group`s revenues and profits.
Arc Solutions
Arc Solutions represents one of the first software vendors to respond to the convergence in the Telecoms and IT industries with a full set of CTI applications including personal call handling, call centres and call routing modules. The company`s particular remit is to make all this software available to the small to medium-sized enterprise and it works on a range of both traditional and converged PBX platforms to achieve this.
Arc`s objective is to allow the customer to buy open-platform based computer telephony applications rather than pay large price premiums charged by traditional call centre vendors. Arc is positioned to take advantage of all of the technological innovations that open standards bring like web-enabled call centres and virtual agents working from home, overseas or on their mobiles. All Arc applications work under Windows NT, 95/98 and 2000 and are packaged so that the average user can take the control away from the specialist engineer.
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