A recent survey by Swan Independent Research of 12,000 UK SMEs with 10-100 employees suggests now may be the time for IT Support companies to get into cloud telephony.
Only 80% of respondents said that they were satisfied with their current phone system, which nearly 60% said they purchased outright. Around 55% said they use a local IT support company and if they are unhappy with their phone system they may also be unhappy with their current phone system supplier.
This means that extrapolating from the survey size alone could throw up 1440 sales opportunities for IT Support companies. With over 400,000 SMEs in the UK with 5+ employees the opportunity could rise to 48,000.
Cloud telephone systems have come down in price recently so that the monthly rental is usually less than that of a traditional telephone system. For example the monthly maintenance, line rental and call charges for a 10-extension system is around £250 per month. Jola’s price for 10 seats, including calls, is £125/month.
Only 10% of respondents were already using a hosted system and it is thought that the slow take-up is due to concerns about speed and reliability of connectivity – usually broadband.
Jola has overcome the connectivity issue. In certain areas we are deploying a new technology that gives customers dedicated bandwidth, a 7-hour fix and broadband backup for less than £200 per month. This replaces a company’s broadband and all its telephone lines.
