Unified Communications as a Service: Dealers Making the Push into SMB Markets

Recurring revenues have quickly become the lifeblood of the office technology dealer universe. The concept of everything/anything-as-a-service is music to a dealer executive’s ears. That’s become heightened in a post-pandemic landscape that encapsulates supply chain challenges—however long they continue to vex the business community—and the reality that remote/hybrid work is likely here to stay.

Obviously, we know this doesn’t bode well for the future of MFPs as the cornerstone offering in a dealer’s arsenal. We’ve heard all the statistics surrounding dwindling office print volumes but can’t work on the assumption that print is here to stay, or at the very least, not hammer out long-term planning around that notion. Many of the more successful dealers have long since absorbed that message and widened their product/service menu with a strong variety of ancillary offerings, not the least of which is VoIP phone systems and, more specifically, unified communications as a service (UCaaS).

A number of dealers are marketing their UCaaS offerings in a major way, developing branded programs to more effectively drill deeper and wider into existing accounts with whom they’d forged solid relationships through MFP offerings and other managed services. It’s the king, prince and sultan of no-brainers all rolled into one—after all, every client has a need for communications systems. UCaaS offers many features beyond voice, from video conferencing to team/group messaging, presence detection, screen sharing, calendar integration, call recording and the ability to access functions from a mobile device or tablet.

It’s not a matter of evaluating clients to ascertain whether they have a need. Ferreting out pain points in the discovery phase is what dealers do best. It’s low-hanging fruit at eye level, but it may take a more forceful tug at the vine, especially in an SMB space that’s reticent to switch systems and providers. Luckily, the pandemic has forced the end-user landscape to be more receptive to change, just as it’s coerced resellers to open their eyes to opportunities that can bolster the bottom line.

For those dealers that haven’t seriously pondered UCaaS in a meaningful way, the communications technology players may be largely foreign to them: RingByName, RingCentral, Intermedia, Cisco, Mitel, Poly and Konica Minolta, to name a few (OK, so maybe you’re familiar with some). We have a roundtable on page 24 that serves as an introduction and backgrounder on their offerings and market approach.

But don’t take our word on the viability of phone systems/UCaaS as a meaningful profit center. We’ve canvassed a number of dealers who’ve traveled the road to recurring revenues in helping their increasingly mobile clients become more efficient with added tools that can enable them to better reach their customers.

Tipping Point

Roland Tolan could see the writing on the wall. The COO/partner of United Office Technologies Group (UOTG) in Irvine, California, sensed the need to diversify beyond MFPs and copiers even prior to the pandemic. The shutdown only solidified the belief that bundling services such as IT and unified communications would provide the boost in recurring revenue to offset lost print volumes. That prompted UOTG to tap Konica Minolta and its All Covered division to take full control of its IT operations, including VoIP.

Tolan didn’t need convincing to choose Konica Minolta, which had served the dealer well on the MFP side. UOTG has a private-label agreement that taps into the strength of the OEM’s call center fortified with hundreds of CSRs, but still maintains control of the contract. Konica/All Covered’s strength is now UOTG’s, and unified communications is a big part of the offering. In fact, Tolan noted his dealer was (at press time) in the process of closing several large deals that encompassed both IT and VoIP.

“It’s all about the talk track and how you uncover the pain points that customers have,” he said. “VoIP is a very hot topic with SMBs. It’s surprising to see how many of them are still using analog lines, and we win them over with the cost savings that we offer. We’ve already earned credibility with the customers through servicing their MFPs, and they’re more likely to select someone they know for phones because they’ve enjoyed that high level of customer service and efficiency. Plus, we’re backed by a half-billion dollar entity, with three data centers nationwide.”

VoIP is a very hot topic with SMBs. It’s surprising to see how many of them are still using analog lines, and we win them over with the cost savings that we offer.

– Roland Tolan, UOTG

The first step in the discovery phase is obtaining the client’s phone bill. Occasionally, Tolan notes the resistance comes from customers that may have dipped their toes into the VoIP pool 10 years ago and found the viability and clarity of the systems to be lacking. That’s when a demo can often help capture the contract, especially when presented with the enhanced feature sets for email, voicemail and messaging, through the computer, traditional handsets and mobile devices.

“Some clients are under the impression that the transfer could take weeks, and they’re afraid of missing calls and sales,” he said. “We’ll provide a trial period and show them how the process will go, step by step, how painless it is and how quickly we can turn it on without disrupting their system. All of the previous VoIP issues have been overcome; it’s certainly more reliable than a landline system.”

Growing a Competence

The growth of IT and unified communications has been well orchestrated for All Copy Products (ACP). The Denver-based firm acquired three IT specialist companies during 2015-2016, including Verticomm Technologies (now a division of ACP), and each of the firms had their own telecom solutions. Initially, ACP carried a white-label offering that was a basic VoIP system with voicemail to email and a mobile application as their UCaaS solution while the cloud continued to garner traction.

According to Mike Gilly, division manager, communications services for Verticomm, the company sought to expand its feature set and went through a rigorous, year-long vetting process of white-label partners in the market. That quest led to Intermedia’s front steps by virtue of the provider’s comprehensive array of 100-plus features, and award winning 5-9’s network reliability. Intermedia’s solution includes chat, SMS, video conferencing, file storage, call recoding, presence, contact center (CX), softphone and a mobile application.

Verticomm’s UCaaS offering dovetails nicely with its burgeoning IT competence. It now has 750 stand-alone UCaaS clients as well and many customers who have bundled it with IT services. While ACP/Verticomm has more unified communications clients than IT customers, the price per seat for an IT client is five times that of phone seat. Either way, it’s a win-win for the dealer.

“It’s a very crowded field; there are hundreds of UCaaS providers in the market, with most selling directly to the client and providing direct support,” Gilly noted. “We’ve focused on a white-label solution, so we’re providing the support, doing the onboarding and the entire project management from start to finish. We control the customer experience. That’s allowed us to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace. Clients are calling the same number that they would for support on their copiers; it just gets routed to the voice team.”

We’ve focused on a white-label solution, so we’re providing the support, doing the onboarding and the entire project management from start to finish. We control the customer experience.

– Mike Gilly, Verticomm

Verticomm primarily targets existing copier clients, but also ferrets out opportunities with prospects that are locked in with other dealers for their MFP needs and are seeking an upgrade to their current phone system. Gilly stresses that the key to selling new clients is understanding their pain points and extolling how the benefits of unified communications can drive efficiency and improve the customer experience.

“Remote work has accelerated UCaaS sales the last 18 months,” he said. “With people working remotely, the on-premise systems don’t provide the flexibility and feature-rich applications clients need when working remotely off a laptop or a mobile application. Presence is a popular feature; it lets you see that someone you want to reach is on the phone or available, so you can call someone else as opposed to calling and leaving a voicemail and playing voicemail tag. It’s about efficiency and saving time for an organization, and improving how (a customer) is communicating with its clients.”

The all-in-one UC product is a great solution to organizations to consolidate a rash of different solutions that have grown during the pandemic, such as Zoom/Microsoft Teams for video conferencing, Slack and Dropbox for file sharing. Through Verticomm’s Intermedia-driven application, everything can be bundled into one solution for clients, in tandem with a full universe of other business-enhancement communication features.

A UCaaS Evolution

Coordinated Business Systems of Burnsville, Minnesota, embarked on unified communications in 2012 when it acquired a local Avaya reseller. While the initial foray was less than ideal, it served as the launching point for an evolving solution, according to President Kirk Studebaker. Coordinated weaved through various platform iterations—the selling-through-an-agency model with access to virtually any platform, and then hosted solutions—before landing in a cloud-based solution courtesy of Intermedia’s Elevate offering.

According to Studebaker, the phone division falls under its MNS umbrella, but is sold through the dealer’s traditional imaging reps, with techs and presales specialists reporting to MNS. “Intermedia is the best fit for us as it allows us to control the customer,” Studebaker offered. “We bill it and take all service calls. This is helpful because when we worked with hosted platforms or through the agency model, it was confusing to the customer as those deals were handoffs. They weren’t our customer anymore.”

Studebaker noted that UCaaS was a fairly logical match for Coordinated’s existing offerings, and it plays well for clients that value technology and customer service—all tied together in a consistent monthly payment. End-users driven only by price will find no lack of alternatives that lack the service component.

“There are lots of cheap cloud-based platforms out there,” he added. “Users can ‘click here’ and some phones will show up, along with the first monthly bill. The rest is up to you.”

Coordinated’s value proposition is augmented by a great sales force, strong product and a support system that understands telecommunications. A healthy list of prospects has enabled the dealer to truly gain traction in a field of providers lacking the aforementioned components. And given the WFH influx, the “need for this product is immense right now,” Studebaker said. Businesses are keen to maintain the ability to communicate seamlessly, regardless of their location.

We bill it and take all service calls. This is helpful because when we worked with hosted platforms or through the agency model, it was confusing to the customer as those deals were handoffs. They weren’t our customer anymore.

– Kirk Studebaker, Coordinated Business Systems

“It’s that simple, or at least the concept is that simple,” he said. “You also have to have a team that understands how to design a system to accomplish this outcome. That isn’t simple. It requires phone people with experience to accomplish it.” 

Branded Brilliance

Fraser Advanced Information Systems of West Reading, Pennsylvania, has enjoyed solid growth courtesy of its Smart Connect Unified Voice solution, which is part of the dealer’s overall quest to guide the clients’ journey to the smart office and help consolidate vendors in the process. Melissa Confalone, vice president of sales for Fraser, notes the pandemic has greatly impacted the way businesses view their technology and their vendors. With a UCaaS platform that integrates into the IT infrastructure of its clients, Fraser can address the tech and vendor points.

The dealer’s UCaaS success rests on three value points. Fraser hired a well-respected UCaaS expert who specializes in both presales and back-end implementations, which has enabled it to scale quickly. The second point is the depth and quality of the relationships Fraser has forged with its client base; they trust the dealer’s service competency, and the bonds have yielded “an amazing jumping-off point to bring our offering to market,” she said.

Naturally, success certainly wouldn’t be possible without the third point: the quality and comprehensiveness of Fraser’s UCaaS solution. “From design, implementation, training and support—without outsourcing any aspect of our offering—we provide solutions that businesses need to be successful,” Confalone added.

Our position is that if you listen to the frustrations that customers are experiencing with their current provider, you can help them with a solution that best meets their needs and gain new business from traditional UCaaS providers.

– Melissa Confalone, Fraser

Another factor behind Fraser’s success in this space is resisting the urge to jump in the commodity pool as a price-driven proposition. Confalone notes that while Fraser prices UCaaS competitively, the dealer primarily focuses on service, support and the effective utilization of the technology customers crave. The conversations are steered toward the needs of employees working in a hybrid office environment, the ability to work anywhere at any time via the UCaaS mobility app, and how the UCaaS system can seamlessly integrate with the client’s current technology to simplify business.

“Too many vendors have commoditized this industry,” she said. “Our position is that if you listen to the frustrations that customers are experiencing with their current provider, you can help them with a solution that best meets their needs and gain new business from traditional UCaaS providers.”