Vidcon Leasing Sony Bundle Via Channel

The offering, which includes Sony's PCS-1600/BL videoconferencing system, a 32-inch Sony WEGA monitor, a Sony NT3 ISDN terminator, a monitor cart, cables, and installation and technical-support services, is available for lease starting at $139 per month.

The Sony system provides up to 30 frames-per-second of TV broadcast-quality video and has a detachable pan-and-tilt zoom camera with a built-in microphone. It also supports video-over-IP.

The bundle also can be purchased for $7,200 to $7,800, but Vidcon expects the majority of customers to lease the systems, said Steve Woo, president and COO of the company.

Customers are turning to videoconferencing solutions to save time and money associated with travel, especially after many companies have had layoffs, Woo said. "There are less people doing more work, and every time you leave your office, you're not available to do that work," he said.

"We see [this solution going] not only into the midmarket but into the enterprise as well, where we've found customers whose travel budgets are still very tight," said Tracey Hayes, vice president of sales and marketing at MicroAge, a Vidcon solution provider partner in Tempe, Ariz.

Customers also find the turnkey nature of Vidcon's package appealing because it's so easy to deploy, Hayes said.

In addition, Vidcon partner PC Mall is pitching the technology to its government and education clients through seminars, said Steve Glatt, senior vendor marketing manager at the Torrance, Calif.-based company. "Videoconferencing hasn't taken hold yet, so it's definitely the wave of the future," he said.

Solution providers earn about 15 points on the lease package, Woo said. "There's no inventory carried by the channel, no order processing," he said. "We do the installation and technical support. The channel becomes our selling partner, and we do all the back-end work."

Vidcon, launched last quarter, provides leasing through CitiCapital and offers ISDN service from Sprint for $79 per hour. The vendor plans to focus exclusively on Sony products and expects to work with about a half-dozen solution providers, Woo said.