Dealers get Net through Osmosis

A UK distributor has struck deals with software, hardware and internet providers to produce a Net solution in a box for dealers.

John Fenton, MD of distributor Osmosis, said the firm had struck a deal allowing resellers to become internet-ready, with the aid of software and other methods, within six days.

?It?s like cookery,? said Fenton. ?It means people can get on the internet immediately and have computer telephony integration immediately.?

But he conceded there were two problems with the master scheme. The first is that the software automatically registers a domain name (internet address) for dealers, with three choices of name, but they have to wait a full six days before registration is confirmed. The second is that dealers and users will still have to buy their own ISDN accounts. Global Internet will provide the facilities for Osmosis, said Fenton.

?Dealers would like this to be delivered to their desktop without somebody having to look at it,? he said.

Fenton claimed dealers lack expertise in such things as HTML coding, and said that at a recent conference in Barcelona, only 15 out of 120 dealers said they were able to design and upload pages.

?We?ve tried to encapsulate all these problems into one solution,? he said. ?The dealers will make a good margin and our job is to keep them going. Our business is their business.?

The Osmosis Plug-and-Play Internet System is being targeted at SMEs. The retail price is pitched at #7,500 for 10 users without ISDN connections. Once a dealer?s domain name is confirmed, the system will also provide email and fax facilities.