As the economy continues to struggle — and at this point, it’s anybody’s guess as to when we’ll see a real turnaround — we’re seeing the unfortunate impact, as business continue to lay off staff and many even face bankruptcy, or worse.

 

But, there are certain business areas — communications, in particular — that have potential to not only survive this crisis, but with effective management and vision, can leverage the economy to build their businesses.

 

Among the businesses looking to do just that is Samsung Business Communications Systems (BCS), with its recently installed new management team led by Doug Wonson, Vice President and General Manager, which has announced a new initiative designed to drive enterprise-grade communications solutions to the SMB space.  

 

The Samsung (News - Alert) Advantage Program grew out of a growing need for SMBs to have access to feature-rich communications solutions that would help them navigate the changing economic currents.  This is particularly important for the many smaller businesses that have been launched by laid off workers — who are used to enterprise-class systems.

 

“According to President Obama, small businesses will be responsible for more than two-thirds of new job creation in this new economic environment,” said Samsung Telecommunications America President Dale Sohn.  “These fledgling businesses need to operate efficiently despite a decentralized work environment and compete on the same level as their larger competitors.”

 

Samsung’s OfficeServ 7000 series communications platform was developed with the SMB in mind, capable of providing a converged IP Communications platform for businesses from 25-500 users, ready to support any combination of analog, digital, or IP endpoints, including video- and softphones.  It also offers mobility options to further address the needs of today’s businesses — especially those just starting out that may have an even greater need for mobility solutions, as they likely are short-staffed (then again, who isn’t).

 

While many telecom vendors are scaling back their efforts at this time, Samsung says it is committed to driving its OfficeServ solutions deep into the SMB market, into market segments that it has not previously addressed.  The redefined commitment to the SMB space will be driven by a renewed focus on dealer relationships to generate increased awareness of the Samsung brand as a business communications solutions provider.

 

“The Samsung BCS mission is to level the playing field for small to mid-sized businesses by making enterprise-level telecommunications technologies accessible and affordable to them,” said Wonson.

 

This has been a larger trend for some time now — a focus on the previously tremendously underserved SMB market. But, with the economy such as it is, many businesses are struggling to find the budget dollars to invest in communications systems. At the same time, many vendors are struggling to find new ways to approach their potential customers. 

 

With a new outlook, and a new program specifically targeting the SMB space, and a series of converged communications systems that are cost-effective at deployment, and scalable to accommodate future growth, Samsung has an opportunity for growth at a time when many are finding that a challenge, though if you look around the industry, you’ll see that more and more vendors are starting to see how they can use the economy to drive VoIP adoption, especially among businesses that might otherwise have put off a migration.