Toronto-based distributor Gentek has announced three new vendor relationships. They now carry 3CX phone systems, Patton SmartNode gateways, and VTech’s SIP-based commercial phone offerings.
Gentek is a longtime and familiar player on the Canadian IT scene, which has been in business since 1980.
“Gentek focuses on three main areas — broadband, VoIP, and networking, and added services on top,” said Jeffrey Freedman, Gentek’s V.P. of Marketing. “But although we do sell some infrastructure, our pure play is really from the edge into the network itself, into the desktop through DSL cable modems, network security equipment, broadband and PBXes. We are always finding products that fit into our niches, bringing on the gateways that tie into the PBXes, and phones that tie on to the PBXes.”
Freedman said that their VAR partners have already begun to move to buying products as solutions.
“Over the past couple of years, we have definitely seen a move to purchasing more of the equipment as solutions – like Digium phones, and PBXes and gateways. We are seeing more of an evolution to buy all these products from Gentek on one order. Customers also offload a lot into us because we can do configuration and drop shipping and those sort of things. We are really unique in the Canadian market because broadliners don’t have the portfolio in our space that we do. We really focus in on our core areas. The smaller distributors don’t have the focus that we do either.”
The 3CX phone systems and Patton gateways are a logical combination to be sold together.
“The big feature about the 3CX is that they are a Windows-based system,” Freedman said. “Most of the product out on the market is Asterisk. 3CX can also cover the whole market. While they have a number of very large customers, our main market segments at Gentek are small to medium-sized enterprises.”
Like the 3CX lineup, the Patton SmartNode gateways are a net-new to Gentek’s line card, and were added specifically because of their compatibility with Gentek.
“Patton has been around for a long time, since 1984 – almost as long as us,” Freedman said. “But we have added them to our line card because they are compatible with 3CX. 3CX evaluated the gateway products and Patton was their primary choice of gateway for compatibility. This is an absolute solutions play.”
The third new vendor to Gentek’s lineup is VTech, whose SIP desktop, conference and DECT telephones will now be available through the distributor.
“VTech is mainly consumer oriented, but they also have an enterprise product line,” Freedman said. “They have a lot of analog product that’s still in high demand in markets like hospitality, where they just want an inexpensive phone for a room – but that’s not what we are carrying. We are focused in particular on their SIP product line.”
The new VTech relationship, like most things in the IT industry, came about through a personal relationship.
“The sales rep from VTech here goes back a number of years with us,” Freedman said. “He contacted us and asked if we would be interested in carrying them. So we decided to bring them on, and will launch them on April 1.”
Freedman said that the multiple new partnerships show Gentek’s momentum in the market.
“Over our 35 year history, we have always been low key as a company, and haven’t always been in the forefront of the market place,” he said. “But over the last few years in particular, we have shown we can provide solid solutions and a good solid portfolio of products. We continue to grow and that’s why companies like 3CX are looking to partner with Gentek.”
