Arrow S3, CounterPath Forge Softphone Distribution Alliance

Vancouver, B.C.-based CounterPath has in the past been focused on a direct sales model to support enterprises and carriers, and then extended its go-to-market strategy to carrier channels, said Todd Carothers, executive vice president. But the company's executive team did not move into the broad channel due to concerns about the complexity of its setup and configuration processes. Carothers says this obstacle has been resolved through the development of a new provisioning server.

"We have added a client configuration server to our solution that makes setup and configuration much more straightforward," he said. "You simply log in to the provisioning server and enter the necessary settings so that when the users put their hands on the phone all they need to do is enter their username and password and they're done. So you can expect to see us working with a wide variety of VARs and VADs moving forward."

[Related: Arrow Prepares New Service To Support Product End Of Life ]

The alliance with Arrow S3, the unified communications-focused subsidiary of Arrow Electronics, Englewood, Colo., connects CounterPath's Bria desktop and mobile softphones with Arrow's network of more than 120,000 OEMs, contract manufacturers, channel partners and commercial customers 53 countries.

"We are investing heavily in training, marketing and sales support," added Carothers. "Our channel compensation package is based on varying discount levels with recurring revenue opportunities for service renewals." Carothers declined to provide details on product pricing or partner margins.

CounterPath claims a current customer base with tens of millions of downloaded endpoints, along with an extensive vendor interoperability list in the IP-PBX and SIP-based network infrastructure softswitch space. The company is also marketing mobile applications that enable communications services to be delivered to mobile devices.

The company's Bria product line supports unified communications, including voice and video calls over fixed, mobile and Wi-Fi broadband networks. Its reported customer list includes Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Verizon, BT, Mobilkom Austria, Rogers, Avaya, BroadSoft, Cisco Systems, Genband, Metaswitch Networks, Mitel and NEC.

PUBLISHED MARCH 14, 2013