13
d'Octubre
de
2016
Act.
14
d'Octubre
de
2016
"VozTelecom is the telecommunications operator for SMEs." That is how one of the company's founders and CEO, XavierCasajoana, describes the firm. Founded in 2003, VozTelecom already has more than 5,000 clients, all SMEs, to whom it provides communications services with an integrated package that includes internet access, landline and mobile phones and a switchboard service. And it does so with "21st-century telephony, which is cloud communications."
"SMEs are not used to having technology or computer departments and need help when it comes to implementing these solutions," says Casajoana. Once everything is working, it is also essential that they receive good technical and personalised support, another service provided by VozTelecom.
Creators of technology
However, the growth that has allowed VozTelecom to reach a turnover of 9 million euros in 2015 and a staff of 100 employees has its origin in a strategy that is different from their current one. "In 2003 we were undergoing a period of complete change in how the Internet was accessed. It was when ADSL was being introduced," recalls the company's CEO. Five of the partners saw an opportunity. "We were sure that communications would end up moving from traditional telephone networks to the Internet, given that ADSL was already allowing access to other services on the net," he adds.
Until 2007 it was purely a technology company. "We made technology to offer IP services. In a market dominated by the large operators, you could not compete; and so our sales strategy went over to offering our technology to operators who wanted to start providing telephone services over the Internet," says Xavier Casajoana.
They thus signed contracts with a score of operators all over the world: from Jazztel or Uni2 in Spain, to STA in Andorra, Orbitel in Colombia or Protel in Mexico. However, as the market matured, they became increasingly aware that there was an opportunity to begin selling to the end client. "There was no clear willingness from our operator 'partners' to address the market in an intensive way with this type of service," says Casajoana..
Knocking on the doors of SMEs
This idea made them pioneers in Spain in 2008, when they launched a cloud switchboard service. Casajoana points out that "today everyone knows the cloud, but then not even the clients had heard about it." In fact, he recalls with a smile, "if we told them that the switchboard was virtual and not physical, the client wouldn't buy it."
With this panorama, the basic premise was to convince SMEs of the savings to be made. "At that time telephony was much more expensive than now. The SMEs had to spend a lot of money to have a switchboard, and it coincided with the shortage of credit and the beginning of the crisis," says the VozTelecom CEO. They offered these SMEs a service that "needed no investment, simply a monthly payment that allowed them to make savings."
However, it required more than savings to convince the SMEs of the benefits that a telecommunications company "that no one had heard of" could bring. So, VozTelecom opted to join forces with a distributor of systems integrators: "They took care of the companies' IT." A strategy that is justified by their more than 5,000 clients today.
A mature market
At a time when the large operators have begun to lower their fees, it has become clearer than ever that the attraction of VozTelecom for SMEs had to go beyond mere price. "There are still thousands of companies that are using traditional switchboards. It is a device that does not evolve and does not provide its users with any portability," says Casajoana.
The VozTelecom executive highlights the fact that they offer "a service designed with the user in mind, something that changes the focus from the traditional service." Casajoana points out that "the users need much more flexible solutions. They have to be able to communicate in the office, in-person and when telecommuting, to make video-calls, share documents, and so on." A series of needs that companies expect to be met "in as unified a way as possible in which the client support and attention is much more effective."
Everything shows that "we have to continue to be cheaper than the large operators because if not clients would not listen to us," and the head of VozTelecom insists that above all "we have to be much better in providing support and attention to the client. We cannot afford to lose any of them."
Time to grow (more)
Since this summer VozTelecom has been in the Alternative Investment Market (MAB, in Catalan), where it hopes to recover some of the five million euros that the company has invested in increasing its commercial potential. "In 2013 the market began to mature more quickly. That meant that some of our distributors asked us for models with which they could specialise more with us," says Casajoana.
Thus, they began to design a sales model to distribute their services through franchises. "We began to implement it at the end of 2014 and during 2015 we have been operating with five service points," he says. In this way they can more quickly provide 21st-century telephony to more SMEs.
"SMEs are not used to having technology or computer departments and need help when it comes to implementing these solutions," says Casajoana. Once everything is working, it is also essential that they receive good technical and personalised support, another service provided by VozTelecom.
Creators of technology
However, the growth that has allowed VozTelecom to reach a turnover of 9 million euros in 2015 and a staff of 100 employees has its origin in a strategy that is different from their current one. "In 2003 we were undergoing a period of complete change in how the Internet was accessed. It was when ADSL was being introduced," recalls the company's CEO. Five of the partners saw an opportunity. "We were sure that communications would end up moving from traditional telephone networks to the Internet, given that ADSL was already allowing access to other services on the net," he adds.
Until 2007 it was purely a technology company. "We made technology to offer IP services. In a market dominated by the large operators, you could not compete; and so our sales strategy went over to offering our technology to operators who wanted to start providing telephone services over the Internet," says Xavier Casajoana.
 |
| Casajoana was one of the company's five founders| Photo: Haidy Blanch |
They thus signed contracts with a score of operators all over the world: from Jazztel or Uni2 in Spain, to STA in Andorra, Orbitel in Colombia or Protel in Mexico. However, as the market matured, they became increasingly aware that there was an opportunity to begin selling to the end client. "There was no clear willingness from our operator 'partners' to address the market in an intensive way with this type of service," says Casajoana..
Knocking on the doors of SMEs
This idea made them pioneers in Spain in 2008, when they launched a cloud switchboard service. Casajoana points out that "today everyone knows the cloud, but then not even the clients had heard about it." In fact, he recalls with a smile, "if we told them that the switchboard was virtual and not physical, the client wouldn't buy it."
With this panorama, the basic premise was to convince SMEs of the savings to be made. "At that time telephony was much more expensive than now. The SMEs had to spend a lot of money to have a switchboard, and it coincided with the shortage of credit and the beginning of the crisis," says the VozTelecom CEO. They offered these SMEs a service that "needed no investment, simply a monthly payment that allowed them to make savings."
However, it required more than savings to convince the SMEs of the benefits that a telecommunications company "that no one had heard of" could bring. So, VozTelecom opted to join forces with a distributor of systems integrators: "They took care of the companies' IT." A strategy that is justified by their more than 5,000 clients today.
A mature market
At a time when the large operators have begun to lower their fees, it has become clearer than ever that the attraction of VozTelecom for SMEs had to go beyond mere price. "There are still thousands of companies that are using traditional switchboards. It is a device that does not evolve and does not provide its users with any portability," says Casajoana.
The VozTelecom executive highlights the fact that they offer "a service designed with the user in mind, something that changes the focus from the traditional service." Casajoana points out that "the users need much more flexible solutions. They have to be able to communicate in the office, in-person and when telecommuting, to make video-calls, share documents, and so on." A series of needs that companies expect to be met "in as unified a way as possible in which the client support and attention is much more effective."
 |
| Some 30% of VozTelecom's clients are in Catalonia, with 20% in the area of Madrid | Photo: Haidy Blanch |
Everything shows that "we have to continue to be cheaper than the large operators because if not clients would not listen to us," and the head of VozTelecom insists that above all "we have to be much better in providing support and attention to the client. We cannot afford to lose any of them."
Time to grow (more)
Since this summer VozTelecom has been in the Alternative Investment Market (MAB, in Catalan), where it hopes to recover some of the five million euros that the company has invested in increasing its commercial potential. "In 2013 the market began to mature more quickly. That meant that some of our distributors asked us for models with which they could specialise more with us," says Casajoana.
Thus, they began to design a sales model to distribute their services through franchises. "We began to implement it at the end of 2014 and during 2015 we have been operating with five service points," he says. In this way they can more quickly provide 21st-century telephony to more SMEs.