Nortel teams with Azurance for shares in HK's SME VoIP market

Canada-based Nortel announced at a press conference in Hong Kong that they have teamed with
Hong Kong-based IT-outsourcing company Azurance to offer VoIP hosting service to SMEs in Hong
Kong.

Computerworld Hong Kong Daily  

Feb 28, 2007. By: Teresa Leung 

Canada-based Nortel announced at a press conference in Hong Kong  that they have teamed with Hong Kong-based IT-outsourcing company Azurance to offer VoIP hosting service to SMEs in Hong Kong. 

Azurance, which started its Hong Kong business in 2004, has signed up small companies including TheMIGroup (a specialist in employee relocation service), the Hong Kong branch of law firm Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP (GDLSK), and marketing event company Luminous as customers who pay a monthly fee for VoIP hosting service supported by Nortel’s products.

"We looked at products of the big boys such as Cisco’s," said Brad Pfeffer, Azurance's regional technical director, Hosted IP Voice, Asia-Pacific. "But we needed something easy to use and serve the customers. Nortel’s Ethernet switches are easier to manage because [they] come with a graphical interface for management."

Azurance's other partners include Microsoft, ISP Pacific Internet, and mobile operator SmarTone-Vodafone, said Pfeffer.

TheMIGroup has a team of eight people in Hong Kong, said Beth Goldman, manager of client services for the firm. They have outsourced its IT support and voice system to Azurance, while Luminous--with a headcount of 30--is using services including voice calls, unified messaging and a call center, said Nortel in a statement. GDLSK collaborates with the firm’s US offices through Nortel's IP phones and communication server.

According to Pfeffer, all Nortel switching and VoIP products are hosted at Azurance’s datacenters in Central, Wanchai, and the New Territories.

The Nortel products in use comprise Nortel Communication Server 1000 for integration between IP telephony and the Microsoft Office environment, Nortel CallPilot for multimedia messaging access and management, and Nortel Ethernet routing switches, said Nortel. Computerworld Hong Kong