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ANNUAL EUROPEAN CONFERENCE
JUNE 24 - 26, 2009
Park Hotel Amsterdam - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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NATD in the news
Breaking news
Avaya
Book review
Cost reduction
Dealers in the news
Growth
Recording
snom

NATD in the news

NATD hosts productive conference in San Diego
The NATD hosted a very productive conference in San Diego last week. A new board was elected. The assembled members also welcomed over a half dozen new companies into membership. Sessions were held on many hot topics including the challenges facing the Nortel market in the wake of Nortel’s bankruptcy filing, the opportunities in the Cisco market, and ongoing progress in the Avaya and Siemens markets.

Melody McKay of Telpro broke a “glass ceiling” as she became the first woman elected president in the organization’s twenty-three year history. In a letter we publish below and in her remarks at the meeting, McKay pledged new energy for the challenges ahead, plus improvement in many of the NATD’s core services to members.  She also said that the group would remain a truly international dealer alliance.

McKay pledged to make NATD a leader on IT counterfeit product issues and to remain vigilant on lobbying the US federal government on keeping secondary market equipment an option for government purchasers and for companies who supply federal agencies and departments.

NATD Executive Director Joe Marion awarded outgoing President John Negri with an award for many years of board service, and for his tenure of remarkable growth and change as president. It was under Negri that the organization fully integrated its EU members, making the NATD fully global.

Despite the economic crises, the NATD has maintained stable to mild growth in membership. Marion reported that the association’s financial position was very strong. The NATD has weathered two recessions before the current downturn, and grew during and after the economic slump.

Matt Crabtree delivered a compelling presentation to the assembly of owners and key management of the NATD member companies. Crabtree challenged the organization’s entrepreneurs to find new opportunities in a challenging market by being better managers of people and resources.

Denny McBroom of Telpro awarded the South Florida Chapter of the National MS Society. Pete Ensing of Ensing Inc. presented his daughter, Jodie Guarasci, who has found the MS Society to be a great help to her as she has confronted MS. Under McBroom, the NATD Charities have focused on organizations that directly impact the lives of members. A list of previous donations may be found here: http://www.natd.com/public/committees/charitycommittee.asp. The NATD conference warmly applauded Denny’s efforts in making NATD Charity Foundation a success.

View the 2009 NATD Board Members

Meet the new NATD members
The NATD formally welcomed these companies into membership:

Cal Tel Systems
Mid-South Telecom
Strategic Products & Services
Tele-Communication, Inc.
Telematch B.V.

Letter from NATD President
NATD Members,
 
I wish to thank the NATD Membership for electing me as your new NATD President.
 
This is an honor and responsibility that I do not take lightly.  Having served on the NATD Board of Directors for many years, I have an understanding of how the NATD works.  I have a sense of what is working well at NATD and what needs to be changed.
 
I pride myself in listening to what all of our members have to say. Joe Marion, our Executive Director has said for years that this is "your NATD" and I believe that from the bottom of my heart.  It is you, our members who direct the Board as to where you want us to take the NATD.  So we have to keep the lines of communications open at all times.  I promise to be your advocate and make this the best NATD possible.
 
One of the loudest cries I have heard from the NATD Membership is for the NATD to create a better way to check out dealers who our members know little about and dealers who don't honor their payment terms.  To that end, I am pleased to announce the new NATD REFERENCE program.  If you have a dealer who is not honoring their payment terms or you want to "check out a dealer" send an email to [email protected].  The NATD Office will get back to our members with any information we have on file, upon their request.
 
Another thing I have heard about is the fact that some dealers are trying to pass off used equipment as new.  This is a violation of our Code of Ethics and we encourage you to use the NATD Ethics Process when you feel a dealer is intentionally doing so or when a dealer does not honor their commitments.
 
I have heard concerns about the impact of increased counterfeit equipment in our market and how it effects our businesses.  I have heard your ask how will the NATD position itself and our membership as "green" organizations. These are two issues that we will work on this year.
 
I want to thank all of you who came to the NATD Meeting in San Diego last week.  The content and networking events were some of the best I can remember at an NATD Conference.  Speaking of last week's meeting, there was a GREAT presentation by Matt Crabtree on Leadership.  You can see a copy of the presentation at www.natd.com by signing in, clicking on Members, NATD Knowledge Base and then Leadership Momentum.  Mr. Crabtree has also offered to host several low cost/high impact on-line webinars on New Business Sales and Leadership for just $99 starting February 2, 2009. There is a limited space available.  For more information please go to www.natd.com/public/momentumwebinar.pdf.
 
As we plan our European conference this year in Amsterdam, we will do our best to make Amsterdam as beneficial as San Diego was.  I know that Europe is not a target market for all of our members, but we are mindful that there are growth opportunities for the NATD and membership on the other side of the Atlantic.  We will be planning our Regional Meeting for later in this year and our next annual U.S. meeting for early in 2010.  Feel free to give me any input you may have on these events.
 
I hope to see you at the NATD Amsterdam and/or the regional meetings this year.  If you can not make it, I am only an email away so please feel free to contact me at any time you think that I or the NATD can help.
 
And thank you once again for your trust and support.
 
Melody McKay
NATD President
[email protected]
www.natd.com
480-556-8202
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Breaking news

INNUA pledges support for Nortel
The International Nortel Networks Users Association (INNUA) has announced its continuing support for Nortel in response to the company’s announcement that it has filed for protection from its creditors under the Companies’ Credit Protection Act (CCPA) in Canada and Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Nortel also plans to make consequential filings in Europe. In a formal press release, Nortel stated that the global financial crisis and recession has compounded the company’s financial challenges and directly impacted its ability to complete the turnaround process it initiated in 2005.

INNUA President Steve Ford and Victor Bohnert, INNUA Executive Director, spoke of the strength of commitment between Nortel and INNUA on a number of levels, stating that Nortel management contacted INNUA immediately following the announcement and has pledged to maintain continuous contact with the organization throughout this process. “That speaks volumes of their commitment to the customer and we will continue to support them through this transition.” In turn, INNUA is keeping its members informed and pledges to guide them through the transition via conferences, chapter meetings, Web-based seminars, online postings and every means at its disposal. INNUA expects the questions regarding Nortel’s corporate strategy going forward will result in a surge in attendance for their upcoming Global Connect conference, June 7-10 in Pittsburgh, PA. Nortel Networks has re-affirmed its support for the event.
Visit www.innua.org.

Read letter from Steve Ford, INNUA President



Vertical announces release of Wave IP 500
Vertical Communications announced release of the Wave IP 500 Business Phone System. It offers the same applications suite as the IP 2500 but with a system capacity of 50 users and at a lower price-point. Both the IP 2500 and Wave IP 500 house dual backplanes and embedded voice gateways and support both TDM and IP protocols. They are modular single-server systems that support a wide variety of endpoints (IP, analog, fax, digital, wireless, third-party and softphones) and trunks (analog, PRI, SIP and T1/E1). Like the 2500, the 500 contains a suite of built-in applications. ViewPoint Desktop Call Manager lets you completely control calls (answer, place, forward, conference and determine availability of other users) from your computer via a point-and-click interface. Visual Voicemail shows detailed information about each call, allows the user to annotate a message before forwarding it to colleagues, and supports customized call routing scenarios. Unified Messaging allows you to manage both voice and email. Other standard features include presence management, call recording and auto-attendant. Conference Manager is standard and supports as many as 15 parties to a call. Global Administrator, a remote management application, also is standard.
Visit www.vertical.com. ^Back To Top

Avaya

Kevin Kennedy joins Avaya as president and CEO
Avaya Inc. said that Kevin Kennedy has assumed the positions of president and CEO of the company.  Previously Avaya announced that Kennedy would join the company from JDS Uniphase Corporation, where he was CEO. Kennedy has also served as Chief Operating Officer of Openwave Systems, Inc. He spent eight years at Cisco Systems, Inc., most recently as Senior Vice President of the Service Provider Line of Business and Software Technologies Division. Kennedy spent 17 years with AT&T Bell Laboratories. In 1987, he was a congressional fellow to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Kennedy is a member of the board of directors of KLA-Tencor Corporation and JDS Uniphase Corporation, and a member of the Board of Regents of Loyola Marymount University. Also as announced, Charles Giancarlo, previously Avaya's president and CEO, has become chairman of Avaya's board of directors.
Visit www.avaya.com. ^Back To Top

Book review

Fixed Mobile Convergence
This book, written by real experts on the subject, does a solid job of explaining the concept of Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC). The beginning chapter provides an excellent introduction to the concept of convergence and a brief history of the evolution of convergence to FMC. Subsequent chapters explore the business case for FMC, and isolate its elements—Fixed, Mobile and Convergence—explaining in considerable detail the technological underpinnings and general characteristics of each. A number of use-case scenarios, sprinkled throughout, are helpful in advancing the reader’s practical understanding of FMC. The book is informative without being overly technical. It also is well-written, so is an easy read. If you have a need to develop a solid understanding of FMC, I highly recommend this book.

Authors: Alex Shneyderman and Alessio Casati
Publisher: McGraw-Hill (January 2008)
ISBN-10: 0071486062
ISBN-13: 978-0071486064
Price: $79.95Back To Top

Cost reduction

AudioCodes announces cost reduction steps
AudioCodes announced that they have implemented a global wage reduction of 6% for all employees and 10% for management employees. This reduction in costs is in addition to the ongoing cost reduction programs adopted by AudioCodes' management. "The implementation of cost reduction steps and a wage cut by the Company is designed to allow us to strengthen our operational efficiency and to retain our competitiveness in the face of the current global economic crisis," said Shabtai Adlersberg, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer at AudioCodes. "We gratefully acknowledge the sincere and significant contribution of our employees towards achieving our goals," he added.
Visit www.audiocodes.com.
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Dealers in the news

Empire Technologies expands into Florida
Empire Technologies, LLC., an Avaya Platinum BusinessPartner and New Jersey-based provider of communications networks for businesses nationwide, recently opened a new office in Boca Raton, Fla. The new office will offer customers in the Southeastern U.S. multi-platform communications solutions manufacturers such as Avaya, Cisco, Nortel and Siemens, as well as carrier and wireless services and cellular optimization. Heading up Empire’s new office is Richard Fieni, who was named Regional Sales Director. Fieni will add multiple sales and technical resources to his team throughout 2009. He brings to Empire Technologies sixteen years of professional experience in voice and data communications business development gained in experiences working at large and mid-sized technology, telecommunications and applications companies, where he was responsible for driving corporate direction and growth.
Visit www.getempire.com.
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Growth

Avistar expects 2009 revenue growth to exceed 75%
Avistar Communications Corporation announced the company’s initial financial guidance for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2009. The company currently expects revenue to increase by more than 75% as compared to the full year 2008. Total costs and expenses, excluding income from settlement and licensing activities and stock compensation expense, are anticipated to decline by an additional 15%, as the company continues to migrate from hardware component sales to a software-only product offering, and a full year of cost savings from initiatives implemented during 2008 are realized. "(Our) performance goals build on the momentum that Avistar has recorded during 2008, where the company has posted sequential progress, consistently, since the first quarter. And while many companies view the recessionary economic environment of 2009 as foreboding and with austerity plans, we believe that the challenging market will create a compelling ‘call to action’ for the implementation of the type of collaborative technologies that we provide and excel at. In the past, companies could afford to be hesitant in adopting forms of unified visual communications solutions, but we expect necessary reductions in travel and entertainment expense now will require alternative approaches to maintain and enhance relationships within and across organizations and supply chains."  
Visit www.avistar.com.                      
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Recording

VPI call recording solution achieves Mitel-approved test certification
VPI (Voice Print International) announced that its Activ! Voice call recording and quality monitoring solution has achieved Mitel-approved test certification on Mitel’s 3300 IP Communication Platform (ICP).  Designed to meet the demands of global, multi-site enterprises, the integrated technologies provide an exceptionally scalable and affordable solution for centralized environments and small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that have previously been forced to settle for the very basic “pared down” products currently available. The software-based solution significantly minimizes network traffic by sending mirrored voice streams from the Mitel secure recording connector (SRC) directly to the VPI call recording server. This method overcomes the limitations of traditional Port SPAN audio capture methods, such as packet sniffing, and results in a more secure communications system within a Mitel call recording infrastructure that can record encrypted IP audio communications locally or for remote branches and workers. The solution also allows for unified, standardized audio file formats for IP, TDM or hybrid telephony environments.
Visit www.VPI-corp.com or www.mitel.com.
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snom

snom signs major distribution agreement with Tek-Mart
snom technology AG, a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced VoIP phones for the enterprise and residential markets, continued to aggressively expand its global sales channel by signing a major agreement with Tek-Mart, one of the largest technology distributors in Mexico. snom's new 820 and 3xx series desktop SIP phones and its award- winning mobile snom m3 IP DECT phone are now available to Tek-Mart's reseller network of Value- Added Resellers, Network Service Providers and Systems Integrators. Tek-Mart will distribute snom's full line of VoIP telephones including the snom 3xx series of advanced SIP phones as well as the new IP DECT phone for VoIP users, the snom m3. The snom m3 provides an optimal VoIP communication system for the home office, SMB or enterprise.  snom provides customers with feature-rich business telephones that offer plug-and-play integration into any SIP-based telephony platform.
Visit www.snom.com or www.tek-mart.com

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