Channel Surfing Blog 

Cara Sievers

On April 11, Smoothstone IP Communications kicked off its inaugural Smoothstone Summit, inviting 60 strategic partners from approximately 35 organizations to meet the staff, learn more about the product offerings, tour the Smoothstone facilities, and even enjoy some entertaining events in the company’s home, Louisville, Ky.

Smoothstone, a fully managed nationwide IP provider for medium enterprises, manages everything from the customer premises to their point of presence – and they do this mostly from their Louisville home base, where they recently moved into a fancy new location with plenty of room to grow. From this 10,000-square-foot data center, along with colocation facilities in Atlanta and Chicago, Smoothstone services approximately 400 enterprise customers and is approaching 1,000 as the number of circuits managed.

Partners meet and greet during a light lunch in the Smoothstone lobby.

Christopher Assif, Smoothstone executive vice president, said 75 percent of Smoothstone’s sales are through the indirect channel. “We have made a pretty big investment in the channel in ’07 and into ’08. We have four people dedicated to recruitment, development and education in the channel now,” explained Assif. He said the channel will continue to expand as they add the types of partners that will be able to procure the kinds of deals Smoothstone is targeting, going up-market and getting into the larger customer segment. Smoothstone currently targets enterprises with 100 to 1,000 employees that are multilocation and very often global. Assif additionally explained that agents are, by definition, referring leads to the company and are fully supported from start to finish by the Smoothstone team.

The Smoothstone Summit was designed to allow partners, agents and clients, both new and old, to see the facility, learn more and gain some valuable face time. Assif alluded to the idea that this event could symbolize a shift in focus for the company. The newly hired marketing leader said continual networking communication has not necessarily been a strong suit for the provider, but he aims to change that. “We’ve been very technology-focused and delivering service, but we have to now think outside the box in how to create a very viral way to communicate and market to [partners],” said Assif. He said one of the key pieces of feedback he got from partners is that they didn’t receive enough updates on the company – urging the company to communicate with its constituents more and “stay in front of them” with events like this summit.

Caption: Executive vice president Christopher Assif gives attendees some insight on Smoothstone.

The summit began with introductions, followed by special interest breakout sessions on SmoothstoneSECURE, Intelligent Call Control, ITC, Smoothstone Meeting Center, Smoothstone Messenger, Softphone Client and Outbound FAX. The sessions were followed by Smoothstone data center tours and then cocktails and dinner at the Hyatt Spires. Saturday’s events included an air show, dinner and Thunder over Louisville, which I’m told is North America’s largest fireworks display.

Smoothstone associates answer calls in the NOC, which was part of the tour of the Smoothstone facilities.

Assif said they hope to repeat this event, or one like it, every year, if not more frequently. “It’s just a good way to get our products and what we’re trying to communicate out in front of a bunch of people who have interest in who we are,” he said.

“We’re not your grandfather’s old telephone company,” Assif explained. “We’re kind of half IT, half telecom with a little bit of consulting and professional services built in.” He said that that aspect along with the service relationships the company builds with its partners – perhaps at events like this one – is how Smoothstone aims to differentiate itself. Assif hopes attendees left the event feeling up to speed on Smoothstone’s culture and offerings.

“The Smoothstone seminars and informative meetings at their executive business center on Friday were excellent and the partner forum event was first-rate overall,” said Cary Bush, sales director, Logista Unified Communications Group, a reseller partner that came on board in late 2007. “I believe Smoothstone has done a fantastic job in outlining new products and services that will enable further success for us as a partner.”