Mitel Recalibrates Contact Center Strategy
Pivots toward providing options for standalone contact center upgrades and integrated UC-CC solutions.
Today Mitel announced an addition to its contact center portfolio described as, "entirely over-the-top with no software or equipment to deploy." MiCloud Engage Contact Center signals a strategic departure in the company's approach to the contact center market.
At the last industry analyst meeting in October 2016, Mitel CEO Rich McBee very explicitly told analysts that Mitel was interested in the "attach" contact center market -- i.e., attached to unified communications requirements. The stand-alone market--projects where only the contact center software was being replaced--was not something the company was interested in pursuing.
A lot can change in two years.
In a one-on-one briefing about today's announcements with Jon Brinton, senior vice president of customer experience solutions at Mitel, he redefined the "attach" market: "We really focus our investment dollars and are known for building collaborative contact centers that integrate contact center with our unified communications."
The term "collaborative contact center" is not new. It's been used for the past couple of years by analysts and vendors, most notably by RingCentral in its contact center announcement at Enterprise Connect in March. What is new is Mitel's recognition that there's value in an enterprise communications company having a contact-center-as-a-service (CCaaS) offer for both integrated and dedicated use cases. Brinton continued, "We are seeing more and more customers and more market demand for standalone contact center as a service. The benchmarks are Nice inContact, Five9, Genesys PureCloud, and others that are selling CCaaS without the integration."
But Brinton was quick to add that the addition of a CCaaS solution is not just based on a view of the competitive landscape. Mitel is finding more customers are investing in customer experience, Brinton said.
"It's just a fact of the market that in some cases companies are very happy with their PBX and unified communications applications," he said. "It works well enough and accomplishes the goals they have, but when it gets to customers, they are going to put more dollars there."
There is also a recognition by Mitel that the buying decisions for UC and contact center are "disintermediated," not as connected as they were in the past.
The above graphic reinforces Brinton's comments, highlighting that MiCloud Engage Contact Center is available with all of Mitel's unified communications (UC) solutions--premises and cloud--as well as to customers with competitor communications systems wanting to upgrade just the contact center.
The public cloud-delivered (AWS) MiCloud Engage Contact Center is being white-labeled from a prominent provider that has consistently appeared in the Magic Quadrant for Contact Center as a Service, North America. It works with any call control platform and integrates with several of the popular cloud CRM applications. Mitel has been selling the solution in the market for the past few months in a "soft launch," and reports that it has already closed several deals. MiCloud Engage Contact Center is available initially from the North American AWS zone but can support agents globally.
As we design the program for the contact center track at Enterprise Connect 2019, we will explore the issues of standalone versus integrated contact center solutions. The issue is certainly top of mind based on some recent Twitter posts by Cisco Collaboration CTO Jonathan Rosenberg and Five9 CEO Rowan Trollope.
Source: nojitter
Latest Jobs
-
- Technical Pre Sales Cybersecurity Consultant. Healthcare
- England
- N/A
-
Technical Pre Sales Cybersecurity Consultant UK Remote | Healthcare Focus Overview We are seeking an experienced Technical Pre Sales Cybersecurity Consultant to support healthcare organisations by delivering advisory, solution design, and security uplift services. This role focuses on improving security outcomes, addressing operational challenges, and enabling informed technology decisions across complex and regulated environments. The position blends technical pre sales expertise with a consultative approach, working closely with clinical, technical, and commercial stakeholders to shape effective cybersecurity solutions. The individual must be able to achieve UK Security Clearance. Key Responsibilities Provide technical pre sales support across cybersecurity solutions and services for healthcare organisations Engage stakeholders to understand security challenges, risks, and operational pain points Deliver advisory guidance and recommendations to strengthen security posture and resilience Translate customer requirements into clear, outcome focused technical and commercial solution designs Act as a trusted technical advisor throughout the sales and early delivery lifecycle Produce clear technical documentation, recommendations, and customer facing materials suitable for regulated environments Collaborate closely with sales, delivery, and technical teams to align solutions with customer needs Experience and Skills Proven experience in technical pre sales or cybersecurity consultancy Experience working within healthcare or other highly regulated sectors Broad knowledge of cybersecurity technologies, managed services, and risk based approaches Strong communication skills with the ability to engage both technical and non technical stakeholders Confident operating in a client facing, consultative role UK based role with remote working Occasional travel for customer engagement as required
-
- Contract Technical Pre Sales Cyber Security Healthcare. SC clearance needed
- England
- Outside IR35
-
Contract Technical Pre Sales Cyber Security Healthcare Outside IR35 Contract | UK Remote | Healthcare Focus Existing SC clearance is required. Overview Seeking an experienced Technical Pre Sales Cybersecurity Consultant is required to deliver advisory and uplift services across complex healthcare organisations. This Outside IR35 contract operates on a consultancy basis, focused on improving security outcomes, addressing operational pain points, and supporting informed Cyber Security decisions. The role combines deep technical pre sales capability with consultative advisory delivery, working across clinical, technical, and commercial stakeholders to shape effective and proportionate cybersecurity solutions. Responsibilities Provide technical pre sales consultancy across cybersecurity solutions and services within healthcare environments Engage senior stakeholders to understand security challenges, risks, and operational pain points Deliver advisory guidance and uplift recommendations to improve security posture, resilience, and maturity Translate healthcare requirements into clear, outcome focused technical and commercial propositions Act as a trusted technical advisor throughout the pre sales and early engagement lifecycle Produce concise technical documentation, recommendations, and advisory outputs suitable for regulated healthcare settings Experience Strong background in technical pre sales or cybersecurity consultancy Experience working with healthcare or other highly regulated environments Broad understanding of cybersecurity technologies, managed services, and risk based security approaches Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non technical audiences Comfortable operating independently in a client facing advisory role
-
- London Sales Manager, Key Clients. Security. Immediate
- London
- N/A
-
London Sales Manager, Key Clients A senior sales leadership role within the cyber security services and technology market, focused on account development and revenue growth across key clients. You will lead a sales team with responsibility for customer retention, increasing share of wallet and maintaining a strong commercial pipeline. The role works closely with technical, delivery and marketing teams, as well as technology partners. Key focus Lead and coach a field based sales team Own forecasting, pipeline quality and revenue delivery Drive renewals and account development Expand customer investment across services and solutions Build relationships with vendors and partners Background Proven experience managing enterprise sales teams Consistent performance against revenue targets Cyber or IT security sales leadership experience Exposure to Palo Alto, Check Point, Microsoft, etc Commercially focused with a structured sales approach A role for a sales leader focused on long term client value and sustainable growth.
-
- Outside IR35 Functional tester - London - Security Cleared
- London
- Outside IR35
-
Outside IR35 Functional tester - London - Security Cleared Willing to undergo DV Clearance 3 days a week onsite. (London) We are looking for a Functional Test Specialist to support a complex technology programme where accuracy and delivery assurance matter. Key Focus Validate application behaviour and run functional test scenarios Identify risk, defects, and delivery issues early Define practical test approaches and environment needs Produce automated checks where appropriate Work closely with technical teams to agree acceptance criteria Report clearly on outcomes, defects, and risks Experience Needed Strong Microsoft stack exposure Experience supporting server or infrastructure migrations Solid functional testing background Comfortable working remotely onsite (London 3 days a week) Linux or container exposure Jira / Wiki Restricted or isolated environments A hands on role for someone who values clarity, ownership, and quality.