|
While some venture capital and private equity firms may view global expansion as a "daunting task" due to limited financial or staff resources, other firms see Internet Protocol (IP) communications—voice applications transported by IP—as a way to overcome those limitations. VC and Private Equity firms can use IP communications to successfully conduct business in multiple countries, with or without in-country offices.
A next generation
converged-communications system combines the
reliability of traditional analog voice telephone
systems with the rich feature set of twenty-first
century technology. These technologically advanced
systems offer innovative unified messaging
capabilities to address your firm’s key business
requirements, provide full voice and data
integration, positioning your firm to meet current
and future business needs. IP communications’
unified messaging capabilities further empower your
firm’s highly mobile workforce, enabling instant
access to business-critical data, no matter the
place or time.
How IP communications can help your firm expand globally
Serving international markets can add significant costs and complexities to your overhead. VC and Private Equity firms can avoid this by implementing IP communications, which in turn, improves productivity, reduces telephony costs, and offers telephony capabilities enabling you to compete more effectively.
IP communication systems rich feature set, such as conference calling, emailed voice messages, and mobility (soft phones) allows firms to communicate better and get deals done faster, regardless of staff location. Your staff can rely heavily on this capability given the demands of their business travel schedule.
A vital component of an efficient IP communications system used to conduct business globally is unified messaging. Offshore partners, limited partners, portfolio companies, and service providers can reach you more easily using the method they prefer. Despite time zone differences, you can respond to them more quickly, because all your voice mail and email messages go into one common inbox.
Rich-media teleconferencing can be a convenient, cost-effective alternative to international travel. You can use it to conduct weekly partner meetings, collaborate with an associate, and meet with limited partners, even check in with portfolio companies all directly from your local office. It also makes it easy for global teams to work together across different time zones. People can collaborate online wherever they are, reviewing and updating documents in real time, rather than going back and forth.
Resources a VC or Private Equity firm needs to get these types of global benefits
You need a secure up-to-date IP network as a foundation. On top of that, you will need to add an IP communications system. The cost of which depends on various factors. For example: Are any network infrastructure elements end-of-life or have expired service contracts? Will you have just a few people accessing IP communications from their laptops? Or will most staffers be using dedicated IP phones?
Designing, installing, and managing an IP communications system requires technical skills in data networking and telephony. You don't need to have all those skills internally. You can access to those skills through a technology partner, such as EveryNetwork.
Typically, it can take between one to three months to get an IP communications system up and running. Where your firm falls within this range depends largely on three factors:
-
Size of company (more employees and locations takes longer);
-
State of the Infrastructure (e.g. old switches that need to be replaced vs. ones in good shape);
-
How much training needs to take place.
Note: The first two factors weigh more heavily than the last one as most firms typically do a day or two of training.
Devoting time and financial resources can be a challenge for a Venture Capital or Private Equity firm. But a challenge is also an opportunity. The fact is, sooner or later, your firm will probably need to address offshore expansion. So why not take the lead, instead of waiting for it to happen? Why not become the disruptor, instead of being the disrupted?
| 
