Why WISPs Should Resell UCaaS
Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platforms offer the flexibility and scalability that today’s businesses need to reduce their communication costs. Not only can subscribers count on exceptional call quality, but it’s also a service that supports the integration of the software they need to streamline workflows and enhance overall productivity. That said, it’s not a one-size-fits-all type of service. With UCaaS, business owners and IT decision-makers have the freedom to choose which cloud-hosted services make the most sense for their organization.
As the demand for cost-effective business communication increases, UCaaS adoption rates are accelerating at a phenomenal pace, levels that have market analysts predicting that up to 75% of companies will be UCaaS subscribers by 2030. What does the popularity of UCaaS mean for wireless internet service providers (WISPs)? Opportunity.
For WISPs, adding UCaaS to their portfolio can be a game changer. Once you know why UCaaS is causing such a stir, it’s easy to see how partnering with the right white-label platform provider will help you establish your brand as a one-stop shop your clients can count on for their current and future communication needs.
Why Business Owners Are Switching to Cloud-Hosted Communication Solutions
Today’s business owners rely on multiple communication channels to relay information, support workplace collaboration, monitor productivity, and ensure consumer satisfaction. For companies still dependent on legacy phone service, the cost of managing and maintaining their increasingly outdated technology is getting out of hand. Not only are they paying for every phone line assigned to their business, but they’re also absorbing the high cost of maintenance and repairs.
While there was a time when most IT decision-makers felt they “needed” analog phone service to ensure connectivity, they’re seeing firsthand how far the technology has advanced since the first internet calls were transmitted. After using various software applications and “as a service” collaboration platforms, they see the futility of trying to run a business with disparate technologies.
Why WISPs Prefer Partnering with UCaaS Platforms Offering Reseller Opportunities
A quick internet search will lead anyone looking for reseller opportunities to multiple companies offering brandable cloud-hosted telecom services. There’s no denying their well-earned reputation for providing a lower-cost alternative to legacy phone service. However, WISPs partnering with service providers who offer fixed pricing on a limited number of communication solutions risk losing clients to the competition. After all, business growth increases their need for more complex, customized services and solutions.
Related: What Is a UCaaS Platform and How Can It Help My Clients?
Reselling UCaaS gives WISPs the ability to leverage their business as a one-stop shop for their customers’ current and future communication and collaboration needs. They can offer solutions whether those clients are best served by a few basic services for a select number of people or a company-wide rollout featuring custom integrations spanning multiple locations. WISPs partnering with experienced, innovative UCaaS platforms future-proof their communication solutions while offering a comprehensive list of advanced enterprise services, including the following examples of today’s most in-demand features.
Cloud-Hosted Enterprise Voice
With UCaaS, your customers’ incoming and outbound business calls are converted to digital packets and transmitted over their wireless internet service. Most can continue using their current in-house phones, provided their system is SIP-enabled (most are). Older models are easily converted with an inexpensive adaptor. It’s a solution that gives your customers access to personalized greetings, auto attendants, voice mail, text-to-speech, call recording, and data-rich call analytics.
Business SMS
Many companies use short message service (SMS) for sending alerts and reminders, marketing campaigns, and customer support. Without access to this business essential, your clients could be missing out on the advantages of connecting with customers who prefer texting to talking.
Secure Video Collaboration
Video conferencing is the “next best” option for groups who can’t meet in person. Of the many people using video for collaboration, over 70% use the technology for remote work. But not all of the time spent in virtual conference rooms is productive. Software issues and system incompatibilities can cause costly delays. With voice and video integrated into the same UCaaS interface, participants don’t lose time logging into multiple applications to share documents, presentations, or images.
Virtual Call Center Services
Traditional call centers charge premium prices, but their services are limited. The virtual call center solutions offered by UCaaS service providers are a cost-effective alternative. It’s a feature that gives your clients (and their teams) the advantages of having receptionists and customer service specialists without the expense of hiring additional staff. Call center representatives can be tasked with everything from booking appointments and forwarding messages to taking calls outside of standard business hours.
Application Integration
WISPs partnering with UCaaS providers have the ability to integrate multiple applications into their clients’ dashboards, provided they’re working with a platform running with standard-based APIs. Having to give up familiar customer relations management (CRM) tools, data analytics software, and efficiency-optimizing workflow solutions can be a dealbreaker for many organizations. Microsoft-approved UCaaS providers also have the ability to augment and expand the voice capabilities of its Teams platform.
How Branding and Reselling UCaaS Can Be a Game Changer for WISPs
Most WISPs are built by entrepreneurs who live in the communities they serve. They’re known for bringing affordable wireless internet service to some of our country’s most underserved communities. For WISPs reselling UCaaS, the impact of also bringing cost-effective, in-demand business communication solutions to their service area can be a game changer for their clients and their brands.
All business owners need to benefit from UCaaS is an internet connection and, of course, a platform subscription. As a WISP reselling UCaaS, you have both requirements covered. Although most of your business clients can continue to use their legacy phone system, UCaaS requires no physical infrastructure. Even owners who haven’t been in business long enough to justify the expense of installing a phone system can benefit from your branded UCaaS platform from any combination of PCs, laptops, tablets, and cell phones.
Related: How UCaaS Benefits IT Resellers
By now, you may be making a mental list of some of the many businesses in your service area that could benefit from the cost-effective nature of unified communication services. You may also want to consider how the following benefits of branding and reselling a fully managed UCaaS platform could impact your business and brand image.
Diversifying Your Revenue Streams
Business owners adding UCaaS to their portfolios have an additional and highly profitable second revenue stream. The income gained from that diversification can go a long way towards providing long-term financial stability, improving cash flow, expanding your network, and fortifying against some of the many challenges in an uncertain economy. With the right UCaaS reseller arrangements, WISPs have the potential to earn up to 70% margins.
Adding Brand Value
Whether you’re the sole source of wireless internet service in your community or one of several providers, your dual role offers the means to establish your brand as the premier provider of the communication and collaboration solutions business owners need. Not only does the complementary nature of your services add brand value, but your second revenue stream makes it easy to expand your business without the expense of increasing the size of your network.
Reducing Communication Costs in Your Service Area
Business owners operating in an area underserved by legacy ISPs may not have previously considered the advantages of cloud-hosted communication. WISPs are changing that narrative. Companies paying for legacy phone service in addition to the applications needed to support remote workers are seeing their communication costs increase substantially. As a WISP offering UCaaS, you’re providing solutions that reduce communication costs in your community.
Giving Your Clients More Control of Their Overhead Costs
Business owners investing in UCaaS pay only for the services they need when they need them. Your subscribers could add an infinite number of active users to their accounts without having to pay their local phone company to install additional circuits. Since there’s no physical infrastructure to maintain, UCaaS can also minimize (or eliminate) the need to keep an entire IT department on staff or invest in expensive hardware upgrades.
Could Reselling UCaaS Increase the Profitability of Your Wireless Internet Service?
Reselling UCaaS is an easy way for WISPs to maximize their earning potential by providing the scalable, cost-effective communication and collaboration services business owners need to keep pace with the competition. Partnering with a fully managed platform empowers resellers to expand their business and build brand value.
Although numerous platform providers offer revenue-boosting white-label reseller opportunities, not every company gives you the freedom to set your own prices or the training and reseller support you’ll need to exceed consumer expectations. At SkySwitch, we help WISPs expand their business, not their workload. Get started today and learn more about our reseller program, top-tier support, training program, and onboarding process.