Hitting the ground running
Jazinga Inc. is taking advantage of Ontario government programs as it ramps up export efforts for its innovative small business communications systems.
The Toronto-based business communications company is just a year old, but Jazinga Inc. is well on its way to export success. Jazinga offers the growing SOHO (Single Office Home Office) market a new way to set up and manage telephony, networking, and fax/email integration.
Photo: Vice President of Sales and Development Gord Wade, (left) and Director of Product Management Nabeel Jafferali used the Ontario pavilion to make new contacts at the Miami show
"Our system can be set up by almost anyone with no more technical expertise than it takes to start up a new PC," says Gord Wade, the company's Vice President of Sales and Business Development. "Our company is the result of a group of technical and business people who realized that there had to be a better way for smaller businesses to take advantage of communications technology, without a huge investment in technology and training."
The Jazinga solution combines an enterprise-quality phone system with networking, email and fax in a single (and affordable) appliance. Specifically designed for small offices and home offices, the system is basically "plug and play" and offers common telephone system features such as auto-attendant, voicemail, conferencing, call forwarding, and music on-hold.
Jazinga sees great potential for its systems in the SOHO market of companies with up to about 20 employees. In addition to its easy set up, Jazinga's system offers significant savings on long distance charges, and allows small businesses with multiple office locations to project a professional corporate image.
"It's true unified communications," says Wade. "Your voicemail is delivered directly to your email inbox and can be managed via email or on your telephone. Sending and receiving faxes is just as simple. And you can use either your traditional phones or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phones. If the customer wants to move to VoIP, our system will even help them select a vendor, sign up, and get the service running."
Jazinga was one of eight Ontario companies represented at Internet Telephony, a key trade show that attracts over 6,000 delegates. Mauricio Ospina, International Marketing Consultant – US market, IT sector, in the International Trade Branch, for the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT), organized a trade mission for the show. Jazinga was one of eight Ontario companies that were part of the Ontario pavilion at Internet Telephony in Miami last winter.
"The eight Ontario companies exhibiting in our pavilion identified more than 260 leads," says Ospina, "and they reported $29 million in potential sales. We had an Ontario-Canada business networking reception that was attended by more than 250 executives, and we distributed a directory of the Ontario delegation with company profiles."
MITI also provided pre-mission assistance, supplying the Ontario delegates with a list of over 200 senior executives representing Value Added Resellers (VARs) from the telephony sectors.
"With Mauricio, it was really like a "trade show in a box" for us," says Jazinga's Wade. "We're using VARs to provide customers with our hardware and software solutions, so to get the right people working with us and selling our products, we need exposure in the industry. We're getting that now. The Miami show was our coming out party, and since then we have attended two other large shows in the U.S."
Wade says that the company is focusing on the North American market to start, with planned expansion to South America, Europe and Asia. To top off its successful industry debut, Jazinga won the "Newcomer of the Year" award at the Miami show, generating even more publicity.
"I don't think we would have won that without the exposure we got through the International Trade Branch," says Wade. "As we grow and our markets expand, I'm sure we'll be taking advantage of their services again."
Website: www.jazinga.com
