Ottawa-based telephone systems provider Talkswitch is partnering with Covad Communications Group Inc. to provide a self-installable voice and broadband communications system specially designed for small businesses. The joint venture will combine Covad's high-speed voice and data line ClearEdge Integrated Access, with the Talkswitch 480vs telephone system. "The Covad-Talkswitch bundle enables small businesses to enjoy the benefits and reliability of a 'big business' solution without the complexity or high cost," said Covad's chief marketing officer Eric Weiss in a statement. "Small businesses are no longer forced to choose from expensive and complext enterprise systems or low-quality consumer-grade services." Talkswitch noted that the partnership between Covad and Talkswitch to supply both network connections and telephone systems was the first of its kind in North America. "This is an indication that the wave is breaking," said Talkswitch chief executive officer Jan Scheeren, adding that service providers are now seeing the benefits of looking towards providing these end-to-end services for the small business market. Mr. Scheeren explained that, with this deal, customers would not need to go through multiple vendors to get their phone systems and voice and data lines. "This is very good for us because Covad is a big player in the United States," he said. Mr. Scheeren couldn't comment on how much the deal would mean for Talkswitch, but noted that it would likely be "multiples of Talkswitch's current revenues." "It will have a profound effect on sales, not only from the business generated but also as the excitement around us as a business player will enable us to sign more partnerships," he added. In November, Talkswitch laid off a number of its staff as a result of miscalculations on its growth opportunities, but the company said it would be ramping up hiring efforts again in the new year.
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