Reselling UCaaS and VoIP
Everything resellers need to know to build a more successful business
UCaaS is a fast-growing technology expected to increase in market value to nearly $70 billion by 2028 due primarily to its consolidation of key business functionalities required for modern communications, seamless collaboration, and enhanced productivity. Even as 70% of companies expect to invest in UCaaS; many have yet to transition from disconnected cloud services and on-premise voice capabilities.
There is increasing demand for UCaaS as a more cost-efficient, connected communications solution that’s easier to manage and more flexible to deploy. This demand presents an exciting opportunity for MSPs, system integrators, interconnects, VARs, and any business with a customer base that has a need for modern communications. By private-labeling UCaaS and VoIP services under your own brand name, you can increase brand reputation and customer satisfaction, build a larger customer base, and add a new, recurring revenue stream to your business.
Adding UCaaS and VoIP to existing service offerings is easier than you might think when you have the tools and support from a turnkey reseller platform built to drive profitability.
What are UCaaS and VoIP?
UCaaS
Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) is a managed communications solution that delivers enterprise-level communications via the cloud. UCaaS consolidates multiple communications features, such as voice, SMS/MMS, video conferencing, and contact center, designed to modernize telecom functionality to support an increasingly diverse and dispersed employee base.
Forbes says UCaaS is essential in today’s work environment, saying, “UCaaS is such an important service to a company because it keeps a workplace integrated when everyone is spread out” and “is crucial to understand where everyone is and what they’re up to.”
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a phone system that allows users to make and receive calls from any computer or mobile device with high-speed internet instead of traditional, more expensive PBX landlines and desk phones that require on-premise wiring. VoIP is typically a voice service within a more comprehensive UCaaS solution.
More than one-third of all businesses use a VoIP system, most of which are small companies with fewer than 50 employees. VoIP offers excellent call quality and reliability for less money than traditional landlines, effortless remote connectivity, and easy scalability.
Key Differences Between Reseller Platforms
How to Choose
Some businesses have been reselling VoIP and/or UCaaS for years but are ready to transition to a different white-label platform because they aren’t making the revenue they expected or it requires too much work to do so. Others are new to telecom and aren’t sure where to start. Either way, it’s important to recognize the differences between platforms to make an informed decision.
When evaluating providers, the equipment and services are essential; however, perhaps the less obvious differentiators are often the most important when it comes to building a successful business. Essentially, you are looking for a complete ecosystem that is built for resellers. Be sure your provider offers Innovative voice and collaboration products backed by a reputable brand, a full-service reseller-focused platform that’s easy to use, and end-to-end partner support that includes a peer partner community.
Going more in-depth, the following attributes mark an excellent partner:
Expert Support & Accessibility
Support responsiveness is a must, yet many providers struggle in this area, especially after you’re onboarded. You want to know who to call, speak to an experienced person when you have a problem or need advice, and know the issue will get resolved. End-to-end support includes hand-holding in the early stages to make it easy for you to transition from what you may have been selling before to what you’re selling now, plus ongoing support so you can take care of your customers effectively to build your brand.
Onboarding Support
Onboarding should be fast but also easy and complete. Ensure there is a comprehensive onboarding program that gets you up to speed efficiently and includes an accessible knowledge base with sales tips and tactics, implementation procedures, etc.
Innovation
Many white-label platforms are backed by a parent company. Ensure the parent company is financially stable and growing through organic growth or growth by acquisition (or both). This is a sign of market leadership. You also want a parent company with telecom depth and expertise with a strong platform that gets resellers onboarded and successful faster.
Service Reliability & Redundancy
It’s your brand name on the line, so make sure you’re partnering with a provider that offers active-active service nodes you can rely on for optimal uptime. And if there is a problem with a service, you should expect transparency from your provider, notifying you of what’s going on so you can communicate with your customers.
Partner Community
A Partner Community was mentioned before, but it is worth repeating. When you can leverage the experience of other resellers on the platform who are happy to help others set up their business, it makes it easier to get going and be stable.
Compliance
The provider should offer services that ensure you stay compliant with tax regulations.
Reselling UCaaS and VoIP Resources
Some customers may ask for UCaaS and VoIP services, while others may not know they exist. It’s your opportunity to educate and provide these services to modernize your customers’ business communications. Doing so brings greater lifetime value to your customers and build a stronger business with multiple revenue streams.
Learn more about UCaaS and how it is revitalizing business communications. The blog will highlight the top benefits your customers can expect with UCaaS and how becoming a white-label VoIP reseller can benefit your business.
Adding products to your service offering may seem daunting. Still,when you partner with the right white-label platform, it can dramatically increase your business profitability without adding a ton of extra work for you. This webinar walks you through how to resell the right way for greater success in less time.
If you are currently selling UCaaS and VoIP through a supplier but aren’t happy with the results, you may benefit from reading about another telecom company that decided to switch suppliers. Telepath Communications offers insight into their challenges, why they made a move, and what results they experienced after choosing a better-suited provider.
How Reselling Telecom Services Is Building More Resilient Businesses
Resiliency
The past several years have taught us that few things are predictable. Some companies have been able to pivot and thrive in light of change, while others falter. The difference often lies in an entity’s ability to adapt. Resiliency is a long-term, overarching strategy with many components, one of which is diversification.
From diversifying the supply chain to diversifying revenue streams, companies can no longer afford to be narrowly focused on the status quo. Harvard Business Review says diversity is critical: “Invest in heterogeneity of key business elements (products, business models, ways of thinking) to make it possible to react to unexpected change.”
Forbes says, “To build and maintain resiliency in your business, you must minimize the downside while maintaining the ability to act on opportunities that may present themselves to your business.
VoIP
For many, resiliency is expanding product and service offerings to build a broader customer base and retain existing customers considering going elsewhere to find them. Adding a new revenue stream often means adding a new product or service you create, market, and sell. While this approach can lead to great success, MIT says of the nearly 30,000 new products introduced each year, 95% of them fail. Why? According to MIT, companies bring to market products and services consumers aren’t asking for and don’t need.
Since the pandemic, one of the most in-demand business products today is unified communications that support a mobile and hybrid workforce. Thankfully, reselling a “sure thing” is less risky. The challenge is finding a white-label platform and partner that makes it easy to start and quick to earn revenue.
Companies can no longer depend on premise-based telecommunications to empower every employee. A Stanford University and U.S. Census Bureau survey recently found more than a quarter of workers are still fully remote, driving the need for UCaaS and VoIP solutions.
Now is the ideal time to leverage this demand momentum, and many MSPs, system integrators, interconnects, VARs, and similar businesses are now reselling UCaaS and VoIP successfully. They are helping their customers consolidate voice, videoconferencing, messaging, and collaboration into a single platform that’s easier, more cost-effective to manage, and offers unlimited scalability. They don’t have to recreate the wheel, reselling top telecom solutions and getting support from their UCaaS provider, all while adding a healthy, recurring revenue stream to their business.
Strategies for Getting Started with Reselling UCaaS and VoIP
Here are additional resources to help you become a more successful reseller.
Learn what to look for in a white-label partner, including the essential UCaaS solutions they should offer, what those solutions replace or augment in a legacy network, and insightful questions to ask providers you are considering.
Discover the most effective customer engagement strategies that can help you build long-term relationships with your customers and boost customer loyalty.
Whether you’re already selling UCaaS or are ready to dive in, this article offers five strategies to ensure long-term success.
Turning a profit is a priority, so it’s critical to partner with a provider that has a fast and automated quote-to-cash model, gives you access to their volume-discounted products, and offers responsive support. Learn more about these capabilities and more that can help you be more profitable.
Why Partner with SkySwitch? Listen to our Partner Videos.
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