It sounds like a simple, lucrative business model: MSPs should sell IP phone handsets and then profit from recurring back-end revenues from hosted VoIP, unified communications and more. The challenge: Where can managed services providers find partners for the back-end hosted services? I’m sure there are numerous answers to that question. But here are three potential options that come to mind — from such companies as Telcentris, Intermedia and Fonality.
Telcentris today launched a white-label VoIP platform that is “designed to provide interconnects, ILECs, CLECs, ITSPs, and entrepreneurs a plug-and-play environment that enables them to set up a VoIP company in a matter of weeks with little upfront investment.” Alas, Telcentris didn’t mention managed services providers in that target audience list. But it sure sounds like MSPs are a potential audience for the Telcentris white label channel partner program.
White Label partners can offer the following services to end-customers, according to Telcentris:
- SIP trunking
- Hosted IP-PBX
- Carrier services
- Callback services
- Residential landline replacement services
Other Options
Meanwhile, Intermedia in early 2011 is set to launch a hosted unified communications partner program, MSPmentor has heard. Intermedia already has a loyal following in the hosted Exchange market. Longer term, it seems clear that Intermedia is looking to compete with Microsoft Lync (the successor to Microsoft Office Communications Server).
Intermedia previewed the hosted UC strategy during its mid-2010 partner summit. But some partners initially balked because the Intermedia platform didn’t support familiar front-ends and back-ends like Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange. Intermedia went back to the drawing board, adjusted its technology strategy, and is now set to support those Microsoft options. TalkinCloud, MSPmentor’s sister site, expects to have complete details about Intermedia’s hosted and cloud strategy within the next few days.
Also of note: Fonality in the past year has repositioned from an open source IP PBX provider to a hosted PBX and cloud communications provider. The company has a partner program — though we haven’t heard from many Fonality partners since the company began emphasizing a cloud strategy earlier this year.
Sense of Urgency
As cloud computing continues to gain momentum, some VARs and MSPs are looking to use all types of endpoints — PCs, laptops, printers and IP phones — to drop multiple anchors into small business environments. Grab onto those endpoints, the advocates believe, and you’ll never lose hold of your SMB customer base. At the same time, MSP-centric software companies like Tigerpaw Software are connecting the dots between traditional IP networks and telecom networks.
Still, selling IP phones and hosted VoIP services can sound complicated. We’ll be curious to see how many MSPs succeed in the VoIP market.
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Posted In: Hardware as a Service | North America | Partner Program | Service Level Agreements | Software as a Service and Hardware as a Service
Tags: Fonality | Hosted Unified Communications | Hosted VoIP | Intermedia | Telcentris
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Take a look at our 
White label VoIP has been going on for years, sold typically via interconnects and XLECs. I was VP WW Sales at Whaleback Systems, a VoIP/IP-PBX MMSP. Our main channels were agents and interconnects (PBX resellers). MSPs (data-centric) shyed away from VoIP (that was 2 years ago). I am now seeing MSPs getting into the VoIP game. I strongly recommend that. It’s another piece of recurring revenue real estate.
Todd Hussey
http://www.mspexcellence.com
Todd: I guess it’s a classic case of everything old being new again. But I think the fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) associated with hosted PBX has faded away in the past couple of years. I don’t want to jinx anyone but I rarely hear about hosted PBX outages. To your point, it’s definitely another piece of the recurring revenue real estate, plus you can hold firm to the customer’s end point(s): Soft phones or IP phones.
-jp
One key point here, to be able to justify a good amount of $, the IP phone on the desktop can’t be simple dial tone. It must be more complex (eg UC etc).
Prediction about the Intermedia news.
Intermedia will announce a buy out of Unison
and this will be the Unified Communication & Collaboration
offering which they will make available to MSPs to resell.
Shahab: My best guess — I don’t think it will be a Unison buyout. Intermedia has a relationship with Unison but the UC solution involves components beyond Unison.
-jp
We have been playing with a few open source flavors for our Hosted VOIP Solution over the last 6 months.
During our testing we have been able to add multiple Value Add services to our beta customers such as, Internal Instant Messaging, Click to dial, and Heads up display. Using open source software and developing our own product will increase our bottom line..
The biggest advantage we did find during the testing of our product on client sites is the back end revenue model I never knew existed.
During the testing we have been trying different SIP Providers and found many wholesale providers to provide our SIP trunking and PRI’s. There is more revenue on the reselling of Minutes and Long Distance than the forward facing revenue from the client.
Itech Las Vegas