Embrava makes status indication tools, with the main focus being Skype for Business, although they support a broad range of United Communications-as-a-Service solutions.
Kyle Fritz, Sr. Product Manager, New Vendor Development, UCC, at Westcon-Comstor
Sydney, Australia-based Embrava is not a newcomer to North America or to the North American channel. They have not previously used distribution here however. That has now changed, with the signing of a deal that makes Westcon-Comstor their exclusive North American distributor.
“They are a workforce efficiency play,” said Kyle Fritz, Sr. Product Manager, New Vendor Development, UCC, at Westcon-Comstor. “Their Embrava Blynclight status lights and Lumena headsets provide status indications, both visible and audible, that people are busy or available.”
While the Embrava products automatically sync to Skype for Business, Cisco Jabber, Ring Central, Cisco Finesse, CounterPath Bria and regular Skype, the big play today is Skype for Business.
“That’s their biggest pitch right now, although they also integrate with a host of UCaaS products,” Fritz noted.
“I’m not aware of any other product like this out in the market,” said Barat Dickman, vice president and general manager of the Westcon-Comstor UCC Solutions Practice. “They are very unique. We are always looking for unique solutions for our UCC solutions practice, and this is one of those.”
“We’ve been looking at a lot of new vendor and are continuing to look at others with a differentiated product with a great channel play,” Fritz added. “There’s not a completely integrated status indication out there that’s purpose built. Some headset vendors like Plantronics and Jabra have built them into their devices, but no one has just the status indication purpose-built like this. There’s no true competition.”
Embrava serves a variety of different markets with these products
“They would say they don’t have a sweet spot because they span so many different use cases, but large call centres are the easy one,” Fritz said. “Their customers also include a large American aircraft manufacturer and a large automobile manufacturer. On the other hand, the minimum order quantity will be ‘one.’ They really do work in any market segment, and any size.”
While Embrava has been aggressively soliciting for partners in the U.S., they have not been using distribution before in North America.
“Their Go-To-Market has been to drive demand and awareness by attending reseller trade shows like Ignite and Enterprise Connect and use the reseller contacts they make there to drive business to their website,” Fritz indicated. “They haven’t been doing a ton of marketing.”
While that strategy had been successful in building the business here, Fritz said that Westcon can take them to the next level.
“There are a number of other things they can do in that next stop, and we have developed a program with them to help them do that,” he said. “They will be able to focus strategically on key partners to help them grow the business.” Training on the product will be deeper, including sales training on how to pitch it better. Demo gear will also be made available.
Embrava product is readily available.
“It’s meant to be easy to get,” Fritz said. “Anyone can buy it, and it’s not restricted it to anyone. Being an authorized partner does give you a better discount.”
Westcon will distribute the Embrava products in Canada as well as the U.S., and will take over the direct relationship Embrava had established with partners.
“They will move all their direct channel business to Westcon in both the U.S. and Canada,” Fritz said. “They indicated that in Canada, it had been tough for them to get into the market, and we will certainly be able to help them there.
