Costco Selling AccessLine VoIP Phone System

Warehouse giant Costco has agreed to distribute another VoIP phone system, it said on Tuesday.

Costco.com already sells Microsoft Corp.’s Response Point IP PBX, with hardware built by Quanta Computer Inc. The difference is that Response Point targets SMBs with five to 50 users. The newly added product – Telanetix Inc.’s AccessLine package – is meant for businesses with five or fewer employees.

AccessLine is a division of Telanetix, known for video conferencing platforms. AccessLine is a VoIP carrier. Its Digital Phone Service sold through Costco comes with phones and phone service. Features include plug-and-play installation; service quality monitoring; local and long-distance calling; fax mailboxes; and auto-attendant. Costco members can buy the equipment on an installment plan to avoid large upfront charges. The bundle also comes with one contact person so SMBs don’t have to deal with a service provider and an equipment maker.

Costco boasts more than 51 million members. Statistics show that more than 60 percent of all registered businesses in the United States have five or fewer workers. Analysts recently told PHONE+ that competition from Costco is unlikely to hurt the indirect channel because of the size of company it’s targeting.

Both Telanetix and AccessLine sell through channel partners.