Vcomm back in PBX business

After several years out of the game, voice over IP (VoIP) specialist distributor Vcomm has dived headfirst back into the IP PBX space after signing with vendor Digium.

Vcomm will distribute Digium's range of hardware and software, including the SME-targeted Switchvox IP PBX. This is the first PBX the Newbury-based distributor has carried since it stopped distributing Zultys several years ago.

Managing director Scott Dobson said: "We have not carried an IP PBX for a couple of years at least. We made a strategic decision to stay away from phone systems because we did not want to compete with our partners.

"But over the past 18 months they have evolved into hosted providers and we felt the time was right to sell a telephone system. The Switchvox platform was exactly what we were looking for."

Dobson explained that the deal had come about largely through Digium's strategic ties with videoconferencing vendor Polycom in the US. Vcomm is Polycom's sole UK distributor for its VoIP products and when Digium sought to bolster distribution in this country, Dobson's firm was approached.

Digium is the company behind Asterisk, the hugely popular open-source PBX software. Dobson claimed Asterisk's existing install base in the open-source arena could give Digium and Switchvox a helping hand in the business world.

"The platform is inherently based on Asterisk but it is a commercial, hardware-based telephone system," he said. "It integrates with Google Maps, Facebook, Flickr – all the next-generation platforms."