Vonage Extends VoIP Reach

onage is building up a channel program to help it target small-business customers, creating new opportunities for solution providers to offer VoIP telephony service.

Perhaps best known as a startup provider of broadband-based VoIP service to consumers, Vonage also boasts offerings aimed at small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Small-business service accounts for about 20 percent of the company’s sales, said Mark Lyons, vice president of VAR sales at the Edison, N.J.-based service provider.

“As business needs go up, we’re beginning to steer [customers] to the channel because the level of support, integration and service they require really would demand that they work with a business partner,” Lyons said.

Since starting the program in March, Vonage has signed about 10 partners, with plans to add about 10 more the first year, Lyons said. Vonage is conservatively forecasting that 10,000 new subscriber lines will come through the channel by year’s end. The company currently has about 200,000 subscriber lines, he said.

Solution providers that sell Vonage’s service receive a one-time fee and a piece of the recurring monthly service fees. While revenue from the service fees isn’t huge, adding Vonage’s VoIP service to its stable allows TieTechnology.com to meet the needs of small customers it couldn’t otherwise reach, said Don Anderson, president of the Tampa, Fla.-based telecommunications consulting firm.

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“I’ve found a niche for Vonage in two-line to eight-line customers—customers that are not ready for a T1 with 24 lines but still want to take advantage of cost-savings,” Anderson said. TieTechnology.com generally can also tack broadband Internet service onto Vonage sales, he said.

Priced at $49.99 per month, Vonage’s Small Business Unlimited plan provides unlimited calling within the United States and Canada, a free fax line, voice mail and the ability for users to tap into the service from the road.