Vikas Gupta- What is your present focus of operations in India?
Mr. Levis Wilson- We are focusing on targeting the contact Centre, IP telephony, Enterprise communications and Video conferencing market of SMEs. We are investing in R&D and working on a series of marketing initiatives to educate our partners and end-user about the advantages of Asterisk based Open Source communication solutions.
The portfolio we are currently focusing on includes:
1. *astTECS IP PBX with video conferencing:
2. *astTECS Call Centre Dialer:
3. *astTECS Mini IP PBX:
4. *astTECS GSM gateway:
5. *astTECS Voice Logger:
6. *astTECS IVR Solution:
7. *astTECS Video conference system
Vikas Gupta- How are you aligning your channel roadmap to target new customer segment?
Mr. Levis Wilson- *astTECS is one of the few vendors in the market that offers custo¬mers end-to-end converged solutions on an Open Source platform in the enterprise and SMB space. Our partners are aggressive with strong reach and they are customer focused. They fit well in our target verticals that we are keen to address; this way our engagement is successful and we have been gaining market share consistently.
Vikas Gupta- What is your channel policy in India? What kind of channel expansion are you looking for in the near future?
Mr. Levis Wilson- We would like to see that our channel partners are more specialized and aggressive with a clear focus on IP Telephony, Open source enterprise communication and equipped with enhanced collaborative tools to address customers requirement. We offer them all the necessary tools and training to deliver a unique and engaging customer experience. We will be expanding to newer locations shortly.
Vikas Gupta- How is the Indian market responding to your products and offerings specially the B and C Class cities?
Mr. Levis Wilson- We have been receiving overwhelming response from our customers and partners. Apart from Metros & Teir II towns, we increasingly see the SME market demanding more high-performance technologies that are easy of use offering greater functionality and quick ROI. There is a growing adoption of Open source based communications infrastructure, mainly the IP PBX, Contact centre solutions and Video conferencing among newer verticals and SMB organizations.
Vikas Gupta- What is your growth strategy here? What are the engines of growth for astTECS in India?
Mr. Levis Wilson- We plan to offer specific solutions based on verticals including Govt. institutions. We have identified the key verticals and our innovations team is constantly working on building solutions around these industries and verticals. Our solutions offering will enable more innovations and deliver exciting & newer possibilities to our customers in the coming days. Our domain expertise in Open Source communications solution makes us an ideal partner.
We offer regular training sessions and comprehensive education programme for channel partners that cover the complete product portfolio to enhance their learning curve about Asterisk Technology and maximize growth. Through *astTECS academy, we offer comprehensive training programme on Asterisk solution to Asterisk user, customers and organizations in India and many countries across the globe.
Vikas Gupta- How will you compete with well-entrenched rivals like Matrix?
Mr. Levis Wilson- Our domain expertise in Open Source communications solution makes us an ideal partner. Asterisk based Open Source communication is a powerful platform for organizations to improve their business processes, increase productivity, and offer enhanced customer engagement without proprietary complexity. Our strong portfolio of IP PBX, Contact centre and Video Conferencing solution offers host of solutions to enterprises of all sizes at very attractive price points. Our in house 24/7 global support, well equipped technical team & partners and presence across multiple locations positioned us well in the industry.
Vikas Gupta- What kind of strategy have you planned to position astTECS product successfully in the market?
Mr. Levis Wilson- *astTECS solutions allow enterprises to leverage Asterisk to meet the demands and challenges by removing complexity, reducing time to deploy and establish a strategy aligned with business priorities. Open Source based Enterprise communications solution offers integrated access to people and information resulting in quick turnaround time and fast decision making. It is imperative that enterprises and SMBs embrace this technology to control cost and expenses.
We have created a strong ecosystem with robust product line, and partners across geographies. We will be further strengthening our presence by continuously engaging with enterprises and offer them compelling communications experiences.
Vikas Gupta- What is the prime focus of astTECS today? What are some of the top priorities for the Company?
Mr. Levis Wilson- The open source platform is maturing and with a defined and strategic approach we can offer a superior telecom solution that had been so far the domain of vendors offering proprietary technology. As we see, networks today are increasingly being used to support multiple applications and multi channel communications platforms. Our focus is to see that we offer enterprises greater flexibility integration and scalability that can deliver new service models and higher return on investments.
Vikas Gupta- What are the Growth Drivers?
Mr. Levis Wilson- From the Industry perspective the key growth drivers are Network, Mobility & cloud and we address this and our customer’s unique needs with our Open source based communications solution. The Small and Medium Enterprises in emerging markets offer tremendous opportunities and our technology can play an important role in increasing their business and operational efficiency without any hassle of legacy systems.
Vikas Gupta- How do you plan to promote your products in the India Market?
Mr. Levis Wilson- We reach customers and showcase our wide range of Products / solutions through multiple channels that includes; Road shows, Seminars, Regular training and various enterprise connect programmes.
Vikas Gupta- Are there any plans by the astTECS to get in to expansion mode by entering in to any tie up or partnership?
Mr. Levis Wilson- We are expanding operations within the country and across geographies. We are working towards an expansion plan through FRANCHISE PROGRAM that will bring *astTECS brand & Asterisk Open Source Telephony Solutions closer to the customer. In India we have extended our presence in: Delhi/NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmadabad, Cochin & Coimbatore
We have also strengthened our foot print globally and our product line is available in countries like: UAE, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Afghanistan, South Africa, Europe, US, Philippines and Morocco.
Vikas Gupta- How is the company positioned currently and what is your strategic roadmap for the year ahead?
Mr. Levis Wilson- Further strengthening our market reaches and creates an ecosystem of Open Source Asterisk based telephony solutions; we plan to invest in R&D to address specific verticals. We would consolidate and accelerate product development to meet the needs of the enterprises and focus on capturing enormous opportunities that the Asterisk based Open Source telephony offers. In the coming years our goal is to consistently deliver the most compelling customer experiences through our robust platform based on Open Source application expertise and immediate access to new technology.
