Partnering with the Best Provider for Selling UCaaS
Before Selling UCaaS, a Quick Overview
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies to move from traditional network infrastructures to cloud-based solutions to best support remote work, and the people who are, now more than ever, employed that way. This is driving the demand for unified communications as a service (UCaaS). However many businesses are unable to do this on their own. That’s why IT teams are partnering with experts in selling UCaaS to make the transition smoother and easier.
In today’s busy world, connecting efficiently across multiple platforms is imperative for your customers. In this ever-changing communications environment, UCaaS gives you and the customer an edge to better compete in real-time.
Gartner, a leading IT research and analysis organization explains how UCaaS supports six key communications functions:
- Enterprise telephony
- Meetings (audio/video/web conferencing)
- Unified messaging
- Instant messaging and presence (personal and team)
- Mobility
- Communications-enabled business processes
Instead of relying on traditional telecommunications technologies, it’s essential to understand the six areas Gartner describes to make migrating to UCaaS a more seamless decision. You can lead your customers through this change, not only by selling UCaaS but also by implementing it for them with the lowest operational risks possible. The best way to achieve this edge is to find a partner to make this process straightforward and seamless for you.
The factors below will help you find the right provider and distinguish yourself from your competitors.
Related: How to Choose the Best White-Label VoIP Provider
Selling UCaaS from the Best Solutions Provider
International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates worldwide UCaaS service provider revenue will reach $16.1 billion in 2024. As this is a highly competitive market, understanding what the best providers have to offer is crucial when evaluating your options for selling UCaaS. To deploy this cloud-based model for your clients, you should get a firm grasp of the best practices and types of services available.
You might be offering a few different telecom solutions as an independent consultant already. But, due to frequent changes in the business environment, your clients are likely requesting a more diverse mix of services as they modernize their communications and collaboration methods to best address remote work as well as what they need in the office. That’s why it is essential that you choose a partner who complements your business model and helps you increase your recurring revenue and client base with UCaaS.
The following criteria will ensure you find the most reputable company and stand above the rest when it comes to selling UCaaS.
1) Service Quality and Stability
UCaaS is an excellent option to consider when companies wish to integrate support for all their communication needs in one place. When they come to you for this solution, you need to already have a partner in place who offers excellent customer support and the right mix of technical services for your users’ UC operations. Choose a provider which can deliver 24/7 support, whether over the phone, online, or onsite, to address any issues that may arise with your customers.
You should also choose a service provider who offers training for you and your staff. This training will enable you to successfully introduce new communications solutions to your clients, making it possible to explain to them how to maintain the service and also keep it operational.
It’s also important that you check the uptime history of your potential providers’ UCaaS network. Be sure they can give documentation indicating continuous uptime of at least 99%. You should also look into their long-term sustainability. Ensure that they have been in business long enough to support your customers, both now and in the future.
2) Security
Your UCaaS partner must offer a high level of security and safety compliance. You will need to assess your customers’ security needs first and make sure they match with your provider’s.
You might also be able to provide access to a regional data center for your customers. If this is something your customers need, make sure your service provider meets their requirements. Lastly, it’s important that you select a partner who has embedded disaster recovery capabilities. In comparison to an add-on disaster recovery feature, a fully integrated feature is preferred.
3) Scalability
Your provider must be flexible enough to meet your customers’ demands. Selling UCaaS from them requires your vendor to anticipate your future business needs. Among other scalability-related actions, your provider must make it easy for you to increase or decrease the number of users without causing costly modifications to your clients’ systems.
In addition, ensure that the cloud options they offer will accommodate potential changes in your customers’ bandwidth requirements. When you choose an established UCaaS supplier, you should be confident that their strong position in the industry will let your customers adapt to growth and scale with ease. They will continually invest in people and technology to improve how they operate and support resellers like you.
4) Varied Customization and Features
UCaaS providers offer many different features, but when choosing the best, you should look for a platform that provides a range of options for your clients.
A perfect set of capabilities would include as many as possible of the following:
- Text messaging
- Instant messaging
- Audio conferencing
- Video collaboration
- Desktop sharing
- Personal meeting rooms
- VoIP
- Mobile apps
- Integration of third-party platforms and software
- Geolocation routing
- Web collaboration
- Voicemail
Although most of the items are relatively standard today, third-party integration is something you will want to consider from your UCaaS partner. Chances are, many businesses already have a standard office telecommunications platform in place. So the right UCaaS solutions that can quickly and easily integrate with it will streamline things for your customer.
5) White-Labeling
When you work with a white-label UCaaS provider, you are meeting your customers’ needs under your brand. You can provide next-generation solutions to your customers by selling UCaaS that aligns with the rest of your services mix. As a business owner, you will also generate more revenue directly and maintain a closer relationship with your customers.
If you work with the right white-label UCaaS company, the business model can be a success. That’s why finding an experienced partner will enable you to receive all of the benefits of white labeling. Look for benefits like a quick time-to-market with an easy onboarding process, no capital investment, and operational efficiency. Most importantly, you want an experienced team backing you.
Plus… You Don’t Have to Do the Busy Work
In addition to all the criteria already mentioned, the good news is there is a UCaaS provider on the market that can take care of all the hard work for you. Selling UCaaS is easy with SkySwitch.
As a SkySwitch reseller, you have all of the advantages of streamlined business processes. We even automate billing by providing an all-in-one offering, saving you hours of time by integrating with critical business systems.
In order to bring everything together, SkySwitch provides Application Systems, Operation Support Systems, and Business Support Systems. This all means you can focus on achieving your goals and outperforming your competitors, while SkySwitch maintains the infrastructure, monitors market and industry trends, and constantly expands the platform’s capabilities.
In addition to being founded by veterans in the VoIP industry, SkySwitch offers resellers, interconnects, ISPs, MSPs, VARs, WISPs, agents, and traditional telecom providers a fully managed cloud-based platform that achieves next-generation communications without the hassle. Get started with SkySwitch today.