BroadSoft has signed Total Network Solutions (TNS) as an exclusive UK reseller for its BroadWorks hosted voice and data convergence PBX system.

The product, aimed at the service provider market, enables enterprises to manage their own dedicated switch which is hosted by a service provider via a web portal.

Colin Sinclair, technical director at TNS, said the BroadWorks product will enable service providers, with the right network infrastructure, to run telephony services over existing IP networks.

TNS will look at each potential service provider customer to establish which have the necessary kit to run the BroadSoft IP telephony enabler.

"We have about 200 active service provider customers. We believe 40 of these have a network that is suited to this product," he said. "It is multi-tenancy PBX allowing hundreds of different organisations to use it as if it were their own."

Sinclair added that traditionally service providers would have a PBX for every customer and the combination of Cisco infrastructure, and the BroadWorks product would offer good margins.

"We make our margin by putting together complex solutions," he said. "We will also manage the products for the service provider, if required."

Keith Humphreys, analyst at EuroLAN research, said the fact that the channel is being chosen to sell this type of product shows the channel is stepping back into the high end.

"It is a pretty big sell and I would usually expect it to be a direct sell," he added.

Scott Wharton, vice president marketing at BroadSoft, said the firm has always used resellers for logistical reasons. "We prefer to focus on support activities while the channel sells and integrates the products," he said.