How to Decide What White-Label UCaaS Service Provider Is Right for You
As tech stacks become increasingly complex and communication channels multiply, many organizations are moving towards a UCaaS approach to communication. Unified cloud-based communication is growing in popularity —cloud-based integrated communications platforms saw a rise in subscribers of 29% in 2018, 24% in 2019, and an incredible 41% increase in 2020, accelerated, no doubt, by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated the UCaaS market may be worth as much as $79.3 billion by 2024.
Unified Communication makes everyone’s lives easier, from individual employees to managers, IT heads, and procurement leads. It’s why so many organizations are looking for UCaaS providers. You may not sell UCaaS, but you can through a reseller platform. With more and more white-label UCaaS providers to choose from, how do you select one?
Why is UCaaS so Popular, and What Should You Look for in a White-Label Partner?
Today’s workforce looks nothing like it did even a decade ago. Forbes reports that hybrid work will be the norm by 2024, with survey respondents saying 56% of work will be done offsite. Traditional, legacy communication networks are not equipped to support a hybrid workforce, which can spell disaster for companies that fail to modernize their communications.
UCaaS is a more straightforward, more cost-efficient route to do that. The network is easier to manage with everything they need in one place. Adding and removing locations and users is done through a portal and requires no onsite technical support. Adding new capabilities is also done remotely. From videoconferencing and call recording to voicemail transcription, click-to-call, and dozens more capabilities, employees can access each other, clients, partners, and all of the business systems and data they need without worrying about connectivity issues or having to be physically in the office.
Related: What Is a UCaaS Platform and How Can It Help My Clients?
Top 15 Features of a UCaaS Platform
When choosing which white-label UCaaS provider to partner with, see what kind of UCaaS solutions they offer. Here is a list of some to look for:
- ESSENTIAL: Telephony provision with CRM, calendar, and other integrations.
- ESSENTIAL: Email support with all you’d want from an email server.
- ESSENTIAL: Video meeting capabilities to rival Zoom.
- ESSENTIAL: Videoconferencing for teams.
- ESSENTIAL: SMS and other messaging capabilities, both internal and external.
- ESSENTIAL: Efficient, secure, and spacious cloud storage and cloud-based access.
- ESSENTIAL: Remote access via mobile devices, and desktop/laptop.
- IMPORTANT: File-sharing facilities.
- IMPORTANT: Easy API integrations with other key resources.
- IMPORTANT: Collaborative working facilities.
- IMPORTANT: Readily available and informed technical support.
- GOOD TO HAVE: Scheduling support.
- GOOD TO HAVE: Virtual personal assistant (AI-powered).
- GOOD TO HAVE: Auto recording and call transcription.
- GOOD TO HAVE: Searchable audio and text files for all communications.
There are a host of potential bolt-ons to basic unified communications apps or services. Some providers even have virtual PA systems to prompt salespeople with scripts or price lists. Others use AI-powered assistants to offer solution prompts to customer service or support personnel.
AI has entered the UCaaS sphere like every other area of software service provision. In UCaaS, your customers can often record and preserve all communications, then later search for pertinent snippets by running keyword or sentiment analysis.
It’s easy to see why this is a burgeoning area for software developers. Adopting the perfect UCaaS solution allows companies to retire much of their jaded tech stack.
Streamline the Tech Stack with UCaaS
Here are just a few elements that a good UCaaS platform should replace (or augment):
- Legacy email systems such as Gmail / Outlook
- Local server-based data storage.
- Analog or non-integrated telephony.
- Zoom or other consumer-level video conferencing platforms.
- Use of personal mobiles or work mobiles for text messaging.
- And many others.
Rather than losing time and productivity from jumping back and forth between systems, everything is integrated into one portal and accessible anywhere, at any time.
Questions to Ask Potential White-Label UCaaS Partners
Besides the capabilities above all from one provider, you also want to look at a few other things. First, what is their record of growing resellers’ businesses? As them what their resellers’ average annual growth rate is, their average profit margins, and the platform’s average uptime. Compare their rates with other providers.
Also, look at the reseller platform they offer. Does it enable you to quote, sell, deploy and bill their communication services, so you don’t have to figure it out yourself? They should support you with all the technology, services, and support you need to be successful.
And finally, how quickly can you expect to add this new monthly recurring revenue stream to your business? The faster you generate revenue, the faster you achieve your ROI goals.
Benefits of UCaaS for Your Customers
Ultimately, you want to meet customer needs while increasing your revenue. What do they stand to gain by modernizing their communications to UCaaS?
Considerable Time and Efficiency Savings
Switching between systems is costly in terms of lost efficiency and mental acuity. Studies have shown that it can take over 23 minutes to get back into a “flow state” after an interruption. Moving from one modality to another without a smooth transition will only reduce overall performance.
When everything is at the click of a mouse, as with a well-designed unified communications platform, they should be able to stay more focused and get more done.
Related: Partnering with the Best Provider for Selling UCaaS
Better, Safer, More Complete Data Storage
Because all users are working from the same platform, that platform is saving their data in the same manner, automatically. Nothing is lost, misplaced or incomplete (assuming again that the UCaaS system is well-designed).
Once employees have gotten over the initial learning curve, they’ll love the peace of mind of knowing their meeting notes, transcripts, documents, and action points are all properly recorded and securely accessible when needed.
More Reliable Remote Access
A Good UCaaS system can be optimized to provide all the necessary functionality needed by remote and hybrid workers moving in and out of phone reception and broadband availability. Offline modes allow them to catch up with paperwork, which is later uploaded to the cloud when they are next online.
Integrated Playbooks and Battle Cards
An integrated communication platform can prompt sales and marketing staff to follow specified strategies, including scheduling email drips campaigns and phone calls after a specified number of days have elapsed.
They can often be integrated with a range of productivity tools and apps, including calendars, Trello boards, collaboration, and creativity tools.
Speedy Disaster Recovery
Should headquarters burn down or a power outage occurs, your customers can rest assured that their vital data is backed up and accessible remotely from the cloud. They can get temporary workspaces up and running, or move to remote working quickly when their unified communication platform is readily accessible from any location.
Easy Onboarding and Scalability
Once the core staff is trained on the new system, it should be a straightforward process to have them pass on that learning to new members. Opening branch offices should run more smoothly, and expanding their team involves newcomers learning just one communication tool rather than a host of only partially integrated ones.
Partner with an Experienced, Innovative White-Label UCaaS Provider
UCaaS is a growing service because it simply makes sense for your customers—they use a single system to reach out to the world, with all that vital data and customer feedback securely saved and retrievable from the cloud. But there are plenty of benefits for you as a reseller, too. By partnering with an expert in building such systems and supporting your efforts, you’ll be assured that you can meet all your customer communication needs and that nothing is overlooked.
At SkySwitch, we make reselling UCaaS under your own brand easy and profitable. Get in touch today to find out how we can enable your company to help your clients become more effective, efficient, and prepared for an increasingly flexible working environment.