Westan has developed a channel partner program as part of its push into the unified communications space.

The program will sit under Westan's Business Communications Division, which was announced in early 2007. The division is focused on ShoreTel's unified communications platform and distributes LifeSize for HD video conferencing and telepresence solutions.

Westan director of business communications, Patrick Micallef, said the partner program was still in its infancy as certification requirements were being finalised, but was expected to be up and running by the end of the financial year.

"We expect it to be a major channel for us. The partners involved will be premier partners of ours with better margins, lead generation, pre-sales resources and access to our facilities with demonstration equipment," Micallef said.

Westan will look for 10-15 partners per state. "We're trying to manage the channel with a select number of partners in each state," he said.

Micallef claimed its unified communications platform was winning deals against the major incumbents.

ShoreTel and LifeSize were being marketed as affordable, but high quality alternatives, he said.

"We're finding our telephony partners entering the video space in a strong way as the technology has become less complex, so customers no longer need to go to video specialists," Micallef said.