For too long, the small-medium enterprise (SME) market has effectively been squeezed out of business video conferencing with solutions that are either too expensive or too low in quality. Vidtel’s cloud video conferencing service is designed to change all that. To reach our target market, we are linking up with channel partners that already have SME relationships. We’re partnering with video equipment vendors, VoIP service providers, managed service providers and video VARs to re-sell Vidtel service.

Our channel program supports the sales of MeetMe, the any-to-any video conferencing service that provides SMEs with a flexible, cost-effective and high-quality middle ground.  With Vidtel’s MeetMe Video Conferencing Service, video conferencing vendors, AV integrators, VoIP providers and managed service providers can offer cost-efficient and predictably-priced hosted, any-to-any videoconferencing services that work with room-based systems and executive video systems using SIP and H.323 as well as desktop platforms, PCs, tablets and smartphones using Skype and Google Talk. MeetMe enables users to participate in multi-party, multi-vendor (e.g., Tandberg/Cisco, LifeSize, Polycom, InFocus, SONY, Google Talk and Skype) video conferences.

Vidtel’s channel program benefits video vendors, VoIP providers, managed service providers and VARs by providing additional sales opportunities with new and existing customers. Selling Vidtel MeetMe enables our partners to:

Expand the Customer Base

MeetMe is cost-efficient and eliminates one of small-medium enterprises (SMEs)’ biggest barriers to adoption: The steep upfront cost of video conferencing infrastructure. Vidtel’s cloud approach means that there are no upfront expenses on infrastructure, no maintenance expenses and no IT expertise needed. Companies that would have never considered business-grade video conferencing due to the lack of suitable products and services targeting the SME market can now get in the game.

Upsell to Existing Customer Base

VARs can upsell service to customers who already own room-based and executive video conferencing systems.  MeetMe’s compatibility with diverse video platforms and technologies means that customers can leverage their existing video investments by connecting with employees, business partners and customers that use what otherwise would be incompatible platforms.

Drive Complementary Sales

MeetMe’s device-, vendor- and platform-agnostic architecture, along with its cloud-based design and multiple pricing options, provide SMEs with a combination of flexibility, affordability and predictability that encourages wide-scale video conferencing deployments. The savings free up capital for investments in other areas, such as LAN/MAN upgrades and additional endpoints.

Vidtel’s MeetMe service is available in North America with expansion plans for Europe and Asia. To become a channel partner, contact channels@vidtel.com.

Rich Tehrani, CEO of TMC, asks Scott Wharton, CEO of Vidtel, about Vidtel’s cloud-based video conferencing service. Scott discusses the vision of the company to provide HD video conferencing for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).

The Vidtel service enables SMEs to have business-grade video conferencing without investing in video conferencing infrastructure (e.g., session border controllers, gateways, SIP proxies).  Vidtel is device-agnostic, enabling any SIP device (e.g., Polycom, Cisco, Tandberg, LifeSize, Sony) to register to and connect with others over the Vidtel network.

Vidtel’s approach is to provide a hosted service, similar to a telephone monthly service fee, eliminating the need for customers to invest in additional IT support, servers, testing and interoperability.

To gain new customers, Vidtel is pursuing a channel strategy with video conferencing vendors, VoIP providers and and VARs.  Vidtel’s service allows VARs and VoIP providers to expand their hosted voice offerings to include hosted video.

In the case of the major video conferencing vendors, Vidtel helps solve the problem of these vendors’ niche focus on the large enterprise. Teaming up with Vidtel enables these manufacturers to address a much wider audience. Without a hosted service such as Vidtel, potential customers would be required to make substantial IT investments to accommodate HD video conferencing.

What’s next? Vidtel has already enabled interoperability between the major players’ equipment (Tandberg, Cisco, Polycom, LifeSize and Sony).  H.323 to SIP  interoperability is next.  Vidtel’s vision also includes gateways from SIP devices to proprietary standards (e.g., Skype, Google, Microsoft, Apple).

See Scott Wharton interviewed on TMCnet.

IP5280 is one of the industry’s best in driving hosted voice, evidenced by their distinctive focus on the value of applications to their SME customers. Their proven capabilities in successfully conveying the value of a hosted application makes them an ideal partner for us

A critical problem faces mid-market companies who seek to conduct business-grade multi-point video conferencing.

Almost all small-medium enterprises (SMEs) find acquiring and managing video conferencing servers, handling addressing and dealing with firewall issues too resource-consuming. The Vidtel Multi-Point (Meet Me) Video Conferencing Service is a hosted, outsourced solution that cost-effectively solves this problem.  Vidtel has partnered with IP5280,  which specializes in business VoIP and cloud-based communications delivered via state-of-the-art unified Internet Protocol (IP) technologies, to deliver this service to IP5280′s customer base.  This service provides a hosted unified communications solution (voice and video) as part of IP5280′s best-of-breed cloud computing infrastructure, called “CLOVER,” or “CLOud OVer Enterprise Resources.”

“IP5280 is one of the industry’s best in driving hosted voice, evidenced by their distinctive focus on the value of applications to their SME customers. Their proven capabilities in successfully conveying the value of a hosted application makes them an ideal partner for us,” said Scott Wharton, CEO of Vidtel.

“Vidtel, an industry innovator and leader in the video communications industry, has developed an offer that exemplifies the type of cloud-based unified communication application we seek to offer. Vidtel Meet Me Video Conferencing Service will be the first application provided by a strategic partner who is added into the IP5280 CLOVER network, designed specifically to optimize the performance of interactive cloud-based applications,“ said Jeffrey Pearl, co-founder and managing partner of IP5280.

Vidtel’s multi-point video conferencing service integrates IP5280’s hosted voice offering with Polycom® VVXTM 1500 business media phones and the Vidtel network. The service enables three or more VVX 1500s to connect via a simple dial-in number for on-demand multi-way video conferencing.

Beginning in Q2 2010, IP5280 will offer Vidtel’s Multi-Point (Meet Me) Video Conferencing service to its small-medium-sized enterprise customers. For more information about IP5280, contact Jeff Rundles at  303-952-2565. For Vidtel, contact Mariette Wharton at 650-353-1125.