Ascendent Telecom brings wireless PBX system to Canadian market

Ascendent Telecom has developed a product that can extend the reach of corporate PBX telephone networks to cell phones and other remote devices, and allow these devices to function as if they were hardwired to the PBX. The Encino CA-based company has hired some Canadian telecom muscle to help sell the system, dubbed Wireless Connect, in Canada. Ascendent was in Toronto a few weeks ago to discuss details of an agreement with Telus Mobility that would see the wireless operator sell the Wireless Connect product to its enterprise customers here. Ascendent has also struck deals with U.S.-based Nextel Communications and Cingular Wireless, which will help the product gain market penetration in the United States. The upstart telecommunications system provider is targeting Fortune 500 companies, primarily in North America. It does some work outside the U.S., mostly limited to outfitting branch offices with the new system. Ascendent president and CEO Steve Forte describes the Wireless Connect product as an adjunct to the traditional PBX system that allows for calls to be routed to and from cell phones, home phones, or even hotel phones. Users continue to enjoy the benefits of the corporate PBX without having to be in the office. Those benefits include direct extension calls and full voice mail functionality. Since the system is attached to the PBX, is viewed as the central office, and all calls are routed through the publicly switched network, it doesn’t actually interfere with the wireless network. That offers a couple of significant benefits, explains Forte. One is that the system is carrier agnostic, meaning it can operate as effectively on a CDMA network as it can on the iDEN network, for example. The other is that Wireless Connect is also PBX agnostic, which means it can inter-connect with systems from Nortel Networks Corp., Avaya, NEC, Siemens, and others. These aspects of the technology also present a strong value proposition. "Our connectivity is a trunking interface as opposed to a one-to-one line ratio interface to the PBX, so it is far more scalable," explains Forte. "We’ve done installations where we’ve connected directly to central offices and capable of supporting tens of thousands of users." Another key advantage is that Wireless Connect allows for long distance cell phone calls to be routed through the corporate PBX. For example, a cell phone call placed from corporate headquarters in Toronto to a branch office in Hong Kong will be routed through the company’s international tie lines thus eliminating the long distance tolls. Therefore, the company only has to pay for local airtime charges of 10 to 20 cents a minute rather than the hefty sums of a dollar or more per minute, explains Forte. An obvious key selling point for this type of technology is the immediate money savings realized, says Forte, adding that in these tough economic times, the bean counters need to be satisfied. "You have to impress the CFO, and the only way you’re going to impress the CFO this time of year is to show them in hard quantifiable dollars how you’re going to save them money," he tells Report on Wireless. "As unfortunate as that is with new groundbreaking technology, unless you save them money nowadays, all the bells and whistles are gone." Besides the savings component, it also gives the money people more control over expenses by enabling them to track every phone call made for auditing purposes. "So no longer does the comptroller’s office have to worry about what you spent on an expense reimbursement for the home office or cell phones," says Forte. As an example, he explains, the company can put ceilings on the number of minutes used on a cell phone, and it can even create a phone book where only those numbers can be called so as to eliminate frivolous and unnecessary personal phone calls. Canadian market represents significant opportunity While Forte can’t get into the specific details of the agreement with Telus, he does say that the wireless operator has the exclusive right to sell the Wireless Connect system in Canada. The WSP apparently believes the system offers compelling advantages to enterprises since it has decided to implement the Wireless Connect system across the company. Forte says Telus’ Toronto and Montreal offices are already using the system and that several more locations will be up and running within the next couple of weeks. Ascendent will have four major companies in Canada using the system within the next month or so, and Forte credits the early adopter attitude of Canadians for the company’s success north of the 49th Parallel. Those deals have not yet been made public. Forte believes there are a couple of reasons why the Wireless Connect product will be well accepted by the Canadian market and others as well. "First is because we are saving (the enterprises) hard dollars, and b) we’re assisting the carriers in keeping their good customers, increasing the minutes of use on their cell phones and increasing their user base," he says. Spend money to save money A typical Wireless Connect system will cost approximately US$20,000 to US$25,000, explains Forte, adding that Ascendent has sold a system for as much as US$300,000. The system isn’t ideally suited for a 14-person operation. However, much of the cost depends on the number of users within a company. "We have some large corporations rolling out to thousands of users and depending on an average 200-300 user organization, if they were to lease the system, it would probably come out to about US$8/month per user," Forte says. While the company is using large cellular operators to sell the product, Ascendent does the actual installation and integration. Forte says it takes about 16 hours total to complete the installation and testing of the Wireless Connect product. He adds that at least half of that period is dedicated to testing.

Ascendent Telecom brings wireless PBX system to Canadian market

News | 03/05/2002 5:00 am EST

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