Corporate Telecommunications thrives on supplying the market with headsets

Corporate Telecommunications, or CorpTel as it is known to its friends, is going from strength to strength. After sitting down and wondering just three years ago if putting so much effort into the distribution of headsets was a recipe for disaster, the company is now very comfortable in its decision to stick with these peripherals. The advent of wireless, VoIP and new regulations and legislation such as the Noise at Work Directive are only increasing demand and sophistication of headsets, and swelling pockets at CorpTel. The company generated 30 per cent profit on a £7.3 million turnover for end of financial year December 2005, from an original prediction of £5 million. This year, it has projected to make a turnover of £9 million with a 28% profit margin.

“We’ve gone from strength to strength,” states Paul Baxter, general manager at CorpTel. “Thanks to wireless headsets and VoIP functionality, headsets are just getting more popular. Maybe the telephone will go in the end, in the next five to 10 years. There are still reservations on VoIP, but it is moving slowly and surely onwards, the same as what happened with ISDN.” Manufacturers of headsets are attacking the new requirements with gusto, Baxter says.

“Plantronics and GN Netcom are trying to bring out headsets for all different areas, like call centres, home use, gaming and wireless. Wireless has been a big area of growth for us, phenomenal actually, as people now want the flexibility to move away from their desks. We’re selling around 1500 wireless headsets each month now, from a standing start when they began to come out two years ago.” Two years ago, both GN Netcom and Plantronics came out with a single wireless headset each. Now, to meet changing uses and consumer design preferences, there are probably eight wireless headsets to choose from out of these two manufacturers alone, Baxter comments. However, Baxter says on the amount of choice available: “It’s actually getting that message across of what’s out there and what it can do for end users that’s the problem. I don’t know why. Manufacturers look at the features of the systems they produce, but sometimes they expect the people they’re talking to, to know what they mean by things like Bluetooth. It comes down to education really.” On VoIP, Baxter says sales at CorpTel are not as high. He explains: “There are more VoIP headsets coming out, but the area isn’t growing very quickly. VoIP products have literally come out in the last couple of months, but it will depend on VoIP and telephone systems, and companies making decisions on the stability of VoIP. Manufacturers are looking ahead though, looking years down the line, which is why we feel safe in the headset market. There’s going to be a great future in headsets because manufacturers are always trying to stay ahead with market changes.” CorpTel uses what it sells. As it operates a Webcam Live Chat service on its Website for end users, it has found the 9350 from GN Netcom invaluable. Baxter explains that the device enables CorpTel’s staff to switch between landline calls and Skype for Live Chat using Webcams. “You can alternate between the two at the flick of a button, from the desktop to Skype. We’ve found that useful, and our customers that are buying the same headsets are the type of user that has already gone over to VoIP and are embracing the new technology out there.”

However, on embracing technology, CorpTel has still not found the need for VoIP. It is using an Avaya VoIP PBX, but it does not yet use it for its VoIP capabilities. Baxter says: “We don’t use VoIP. We use standard telephone functionality. When you go to VoIP, you have to buy user licences and if the system goes down, you loose your PCs and phones. People are buying VoIP systems, but they’re half and half, thinking shall we or shan’t we. Corporate Telecommunications gains around 90 per cent of its revenue from the sale and distribution of headsets. The company predicted three years ago that these small devices were going places. Here’s why… on supplying the market with headsets How one distributor thrives Last year, Tony Molloy, managing director at CorpTel, said proportionally for the size of his company, the business was outperforming the bigger distributors in the channel. The same is true of this year. The key here is staff and their knowledge of the customer, which in turn creates a feeling of trust and friendship that is returned with loyalty, Baxter states. “The big thing for us is staff retention. Customers like to be looked after and understood. Our sales team is loyal and do not tend to leave. If your sales staff do leave, you loose experience and end up with inexperienced staff with no knowledge of the customer. “That means the loyalty of the customer goes out of the window, as they’re under pressure to find the best financial deal. For a distributor like us, customers know they’ll get the service as well as the price.

In some of our competitors, staff turnover has been rather heavier.” "As a result of this growth and success in the headset field, CorpTel has expanded. The company has moved office staff from two warehousing units into a third, larger office to cope with the business’ expansion. The former office space has been taken over by the warehouse so more products can fly out of the doors." Baxter says.