Finding Your Perfect Match: Evaluating UCaaS Providers for Optimized Business Communication
Efficient workplace communication is a business necessity. As the need for advanced omnichannel solutions increases, business owners and IT decision-makers are coming to terms with the futility of resistance. They’re letting go of outdated beliefs about the necessity of their aging analog infrastructures—and saving time and money in the process—by consolidating the solutions they need to optimize business communication into a single, user-friendly interface with the help of UCaaS providers.
Business owners frustrated with the high cost of maintaining a disparate mix of technologies aren’t the only decision-makers investing in everything UCaaS has to offer. Adoption rates are escalating at such a phenomenal pace that managed service providers, IT consultants, interconnects, system integrators, and other telecom-like business owners are expanding their businesses and building brand equity by partnering with UCaaS providers to broaden their portfolios.
Once you know how companies adding cloud-hosted telecom solutions to their inventories evaluate UCaaS providers to ensure they’re making the best choice for their company and clients, you may also want to consider how easy it could be to earn impressive margins with an optimized business communication platform of your own.
Why Telecom Business Owners Are Partnering with Established UCaaS Providers
In today’s ultra-competitive market, every business needs simple, straightforward workplace communication solutions to support in-house communication, the rapidly evolving needs of remote workers, and customer care.
With UCaaS, companies of all sizes can subscribe to the best combination of cost-effective cloud-hosted communication services for their business. This includes everything from voice and video conferencing capabilities to carrier-class call center services. Plus, there’s no need to invest in expensive hardware upgrades to modernize their phone system.
The demand is so strong that market analysts predict that at least 75% of US companies will be UCaaS subscribers by 2030. Not only do those numbers suggest that UCaaS is the future of modern business communication but also an attractive business opportunity for companies offering telecom-adjacent products and services. Partnering with an established UCaaS provider makes it easy to profit from an in-demand service without having to invest in developing, maintaining, or monitoring a platform.
UCaaS Opportunities: Comparing the Finer Points of Reseller Arrangements
Numerous telecom providers offer reseller opportunities, but many offer a limited number of features. Resellers partnering with a provider that can’t keep pace with the needs of their subscribers risk losing valued clients to the competition as business needs evolve.
Related: Shaping the Future of Work: The Power of UCaaS Solutions
Resellers partnering with the right UCaaS providers have access to the most in-demand communication solutions in the telecom industry. In addition to cloud-hosted voice, video, and data services, subscribers have access to:
- “Teachable” AI-enhanced SMS technology
- Customer relationship management (CRM) tools
- Data analytics software
- Efficiency-optimizing workflow solutions
However, not all UCaaS providers offer the same type of reseller arrangements. It’s essential to understand the finer points of an agreement before committing to a partnership. Although the terms and conditions vary by provider, the following reseller models are among the most common.
UCaaS Reseller Agent Partnerships
Agents sell UCaaS as a partner representative. As an agent, you’ll be provided with the marketing materials and training you need to sell your partner’s services. You’ll likely be responsible for marketing and lead generation but bound to the policies, procedures, service bundles, and pricing established by the platform provider. You’ll most often be paid a monthly commission in exchange for your services.
Although you’ll stay involved with your customers, your service provider takes on the responsibility of billing and customer support once you’ve closed the sale. Some providers offer tiered, performance-driven incentives.
Co-Branded Reseller Partnership
Customers subscribing to a co-branded UCaaS platform see two logos when logging into their portal: yours and your reseller platform provider’s. The arrangement makes it clear to your clients that they’re investing in a communication solution maintained by one company and sold through another. With the co-branded reseller model, resellers leverage the potentially positive impact of name recognition and brand reputation.
You’ll likely continue to provide customer support after closing the sale and may (or may not) have the freedom to set your own prices. If you do, you’ll have an easier time staying relevant in a competitive market and maintaining control over your margins.
White-Label Reseller Partnership
White-label products and services are designed, developed, and produced by one company before they’re offered to multiple vendors to resell for a profit. As a white-label UCaaS reseller, the customers logging into your business communication platform see only your company name, your contact information, and your logo.
For resellers looking for a way to build their business and brand reputation on a turnkey communication solution, white-label reseller arrangements have multiple advantages. With the right UCaaS partner, you’ll still have all the training and guidance you need to support your customers and grow your business, but your subscribers have no way of knowing that you’re reselling a service.
Finding the Perfect UCaaS Provider for Your Business
UCaaS platforms give business owners far more control over their communication costs than legacy phone service providers. As a UCaaS reseller, it’s easy to reap the professional and financial rewards of offering an in-demand service. With so many companies offering platforms ripe for rebranding, you don’t want to get locked into a sketchy arrangement that could undermine your reputation, business goals, or future earning potential.
Related: How UCaaS Benefits IT Resellers
In a true white-label reseller relationship, you retain full control over the customer experience, including your prices. As you imagine some of the many ways reselling UCaaS could benefit your clients, consider how asking the right questions about the following partnership essentials could lead you to the best reseller partner for your business.
Start-Up Fees & Other Cost Considerations
The higher the initial cost of getting your UCaaS platform running, the longer it will take to recoup your investment and turn a profit. Some UCaaS providers charge their reseller partners hefty fees that exceed the actual cost of onboarding and training. Others don’t inflate their startup costs but do charge substantial penalties for contract termination. The best UCaaS partners keep their charges minimal.
Service Reliability & Call Quality
For white-label resellers, call quality and service reliability directly impact brand image and business reputation. With the right service provider, there’s little cause for concern. Reseller partners have access to dashboards displaying the results of real-time monitoring (and network health) through a user-friendly portal. Tests measuring throughput speed, capacity, and data packet quality continually assess the user experience.
Scalability and Business Growth
UCaaS scalability is just as important for resellers as their customers. With the right provider, you choose which features and services to offer your clients. You’ll also have the help you need when your subscribers need customized solutions. Since UCaaS gives resellers access to a complete range of communication and collaboration solutions as technologies advance, there’s less risk of losing accounts to the competition because they’ve “outgrown” your service.
Application Integrations
With UCaaS, business owners and team leaders can incorporate multiple applications and integrations into their interface, including customer relations management (CRM) tools, data analytics software, and workflow solutions designed to optimize efficiency and productivity. As you compare providers, take a few seconds to verify the use of standard-based APIs because they make it easy for UCaaS subscribers to integrate familiar third-party applications directly into their dashboards.
A Comprehensive Onboarding Process
Learning the finer points of running a UCaaS platform takes time. During the first phase of training, you should have access to instructional videos, quizzes, and hands-on activities. If a platform doesn’t offer one-on-one training with an onboarding specialist, keep looking. You should also be able to count on having 24/7 access to a comprehensive knowledge base, guidance, support, and additional coaching as needed.
Billing Services Training
The goal of every dedicated onboarding specialist is to share knowledge, build confidence, and ensure every reseller is fully trained. Learning to operate and manage billing services is an essential part of the onboarding process, not something you should have to figure out on your own. Before going live, you should know how to generate statements, set up customers for billing, create a product catalog, and navigate the tax system. You should also know how to make the best use of billing automation and manage payments.
System Security Features
UCaaS providers use the latest technological advances to ensure your subscribers’ calls are private, their sensitive information encrypted, and their shared files secure. If you or your subscribers have a global reach, look for SD-WAN technology. You may also consider looking beyond standard data storage security to multi-factor authentication (MFA) protected data security, transport layer security (TLS), and secure real-time transport protocols.
Could White-Label UCaaS Be the Perfect Match for Your Business?
Today’s business owners and IT decision-makers are taking full advantage of the cost-effective nature of UCaaS to optimize business communication. Partnering with a fully managed UCaaS platform empowers resellers to expand their business and build brand value. To determine if white-label UCaaS could be the perfect match for your business, visit SkySwitch.
With SkySwitch, you’ll get all the benefits of a premium white-label business model. You can learn and deploy our system in as little as 30 days with SkySwitch University and have the support of an onboarding specialist. To learn more, submit a contact form.