Selling Telecom Blog

20 "Happiness Questions" for Buying BYOB Hosted VoIP, Get a Free Agent Listing

Posted 11/23/10 By Dan Baldwin, TA Executive Director, 951-251-5155 email

Will your business customers and prospects be happy with BYOB ("bing your own broadband") hosted VoIP? Passing voice calls over the public Internet is great when it works and miserable when it doesn't.

To help multi-location business customers decide if BYOB hosted VoIP is worth the risk for their businesses (many business customers are VERY happy with it) Telecom Association hosted a BYOB hosted VoIP "Solution Shootout" earlier this month between our four vendor members that support hosted VoIP solutions over the public internet.

Click here to view the 25-minute video presentations from TA's four BYOB hosted VoIP vendors. 

Click here to view the 20 BYOB VoIP "Happiness Questions" (and answers) that business customers need to ask themselves and their vendors prior to moving forward with a BYOB hosted VoIP agreement.

 

Get a Complimentary Hosted VoIP Agent Listing for 30-Days

Are you a telecom agent or channel partner with experience helping business customers choose between competing hosted VoIP vendors?

If so you can get a complimentary 30-day hosted VoIP agent listing on TA's BYOB hosted VoIP buyer's guide by watching the four 25-minute videos listed above and then completing the TA member BYOB hosted VoIP survey.

Once you watch the four videos and complete the survey send your contact information to [email protected] to get your complimentary 30-day hosted VoIP agent listing.

 

First Friday Conference Call: 9 TA Member Judges Choose Best of 4 BYOB Hosted VoIP Vendors

Posted 11/3/10 By Dan Baldwin, TA Executive Director, 951-251-5155 email 

Last month TA launched our monthly "First Friday Conference Call" series where on the first Friday of every month TA updates and educates TA's members and vendors via an audio and web conference call. First we update members and vendors about what TA's doing for them and how they can take advantage of upgrades benefits. Second we host a vendor "shootout" so members can learn the differences between different vendor solutions.

8:00 - 8:55 am Pacific - TA Member & Vendor Updates:  Call 605-475-6402, PIN 804429  TA's Executive Director Dan Baldwin will discuss upgrades to TA's agent and vendor programs including what has transpired over the last month and what is scheduled for the rest of 2010 and planned for 2011. The call will cover agent specific matters first and then vendor related matters second. Questions will be entertained.

9:00 - 10:55 am Pacific - Shootout Vendor Presentations:  See time & access information below

11:00 - 11:55 am Pacific - Judges Comments & Recommendations:  Call 605-475-6402, PIN 804429

 

BYOB Hosted VoIP Solution Shootout

November's TA vendor "Solution Shootout" on the 5th is going to compare BYOB hosted VoIP vendors (vendors that allow customers to use their existing Internet connection) where BYOB stands for "bring your own broadband". This event will educate TA's members about the pros and cons of one vendor's BYOB solution over another BYOB solution and hopefully answer the following questions:

    A. What sort of business customers (size, verticals, geography, etc.) are most attracted to your solution? How many customers do you have and what has been the "evolution" of the solution?

    B. What specific applications or unique features/benefits does your solution deliver that is most valued by your customers and distinguishes you from your competitors in the space?

    C. How is the solution configured, what phones are used, what sort of platform is it riding on (Broadsoft, Asterisk, other, etc.) and how "big and strong" is your hosted VoIP network?

    D. Anything else that specifically shows how your solution is better or different from your competitors explained in a manner that customers can easily understand and appreciate.

Shoot-Out Participants  The following TA vendors that provide BYOB hosted VoIP solutions have agreed to participate:

Broadview - Based in New York, Broadview has been providing their solution for some time and have recently announced 50,000 hosted VoIP "seats in service". 

Broadview's presentation will be from 9:00 am - 9:25 am Pacific on 11/5/10. The webinar dial-in information will be posted here shortly.

MegaPath/Speakeasy - MegaPath's acquisition of Speakeasy this year evidenced their commitment to the BYOB hosted VoIP space.

MegaPath's presentation will be from 9:30 am - 9:55 am Pacific on 11/5/10. The webinar dial-in information will be posted here shortly.

SimpleSignal - SimpleSignal defines their competitive advantages in their unique unified communications applications like hosted call recording and others.

SimpleSignal's presentation will be from 10:00 am - 10:25 am Pacific on 11/5/10. The webinar dial-in information will be posted here shortly.

Vocal IP - With over 1,500 customized IP installations to date, Vocal IP positions itself as the TA vendor that specializes in VoIP installations that treats every customer opportunity as a unique project.

Vocal IP's presentation will be from 10:30 am - 10:55 am Pacific on 11/5/10. The webinar dial-in information is:

Video: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/793316459,
Audio: Call 646-558-2105, Access Code: 793-316-459

(If you're a TA vendor with a BYOB hosted VoIP solution that would like to participate, please contact [email protected] ASAP)

Judges Review - From 11:00 to 11:55 am Pacific, the nine BYOB shootout judges below will discuss what they liked or disliked about the shootout presentations and then give their agent and end-user recommendations about how to best choose hosted VoIP. To listen call 605-475-6402, PIN 804429.

Shoot-Out Judges  The following TA members have sales and marketing experience in the area of BYOB hosted VoIP and have agreed to listen to the shootout participants and then share their opinions about the material the vendors presented and clearly state "who they'd lead with and why" qualified any way that they like. The judges will also be allowed a couple minutes to comment on the subject in areas not related to the vendor's specific presentation.

Andrew Cohen - VP of ATEL Communications, a full service business technology solution provider in San Diego that started 25-years ago as a NEC phone system dealership, Andrew specializes in selling IP-PBX, hosted VoIP or even TDM business phone solutions to ATEL's 3,800 business customers and prospects.  

Ben Hanni - Co-Founder of BP Innovations, a telecom VAR that's an Avaya, Digium, Switchvox and ShoreTel partner that also provides Hosted PBX offerings, Ben's company manages their customer's needs from the dial-tone to the desktop phone and from the data access loop to the router & firewall.

Braun Mincher - President of PCG Telecom, Braun is a VoIP sales pioneer. He literally made a million dollars building and selling a successful Altigen dealership (one of the first business IP-PBXs). Braun is now equally adept at selling IP-PBX or hosted VoIP to his customers. He's even written many vendor neutral "Business VoIP Buying Resources".

Daniel Pentecost  - Founding Director of Anyion Group, over the last 7 years, Daniel has personally trialed, tested and done due diligence on over 54 VoIP Trunking and and Hosted PBX providers for clients of his enterprise services consultancy.  He maintains an active test bed in his office and home office.  Daniel is considered by many to be the first person to call when Google does not turn up needed information.

Jeff Ott - President of Total Carrier Solutions, Jeff is consistently one of the highest producing agents in the telecom network services industry month after month. If Jeff likes it, and he thinks it's right for his customers, he can sell it.

Jeff Uphues - Having held executive level positions for Bandwidth.com and Voila IP, Jeff has seen our industry from all sides. He knows most of the C-level executives at most of the VoIP companies and knows who's got the "DNA to succeed".

Harry Brelsford - After founding SMB Nation to help IT professionals manage Microsoft business servers, Harry founded TelephoneNation to help telecom VoIP professionals and business end-users with their hosted and IP-PBX challenges.

Larry Lisser - Larry's expertise is understanding and evaluating a service provider's "go to market" strategy and message. He can answer, "Will anyone buy what this firm's selling?"

Laura Bernstein - Owner of Cost Recovery Associates or "CRA", Laura has a rich experience with selecting BYOB for her business clients and her own office. CRA brings 35 years experience to their corporate clients.

(If you're a TA member with experience evaluating and choosing BYOP hosted VoIP solutions for your business customers and would like to participate as a judge, please contact [email protected] ASAP)

 

Upcoming Shoot-Out Events  The following shoot-outs are tentatively scheduled for the coming months (dates are subject to change). Email [email protected] if you're a TA member or vendor and you're interested in presenting, being a judge or suggesting a shoot-out title.

Date		Title		Description		Invited Vendors & Judges
12/3/2010		Mid Level Hosted VoIP		Dedicated T1 connection required		Broadview, ColorBroadband, MegaPath, NewEdge, SimpleSignal,
		New York Metro		CLECs & Master Agents, etc.		Broadview, One Communications, OutReach, Transbeam
1/7/2011		High End Hosted VoIP		MPLS required		Alteva, Smoothstone, Telesphere
		LA Metro		CLECs & Master Agents		TelePacific, WTG,
		Energy		Energy savings & resale		AUS, 5 Star, Great American, Outreach, WTG,  R. Stevens
2/4/2011		IP-PBX		Premises based solution		ATEL Communications, PAETEC
		Chicago Metro		CLECs & Master Agents
3/4/2011		SIP Trunks		SIP carrier providers		AireSpring,
		Dallas/FW Metro		CLECs & Master Agents

 

Which TA Vendor Has the Best Hosted VoIP Solution for SMBs?

Posted 10/21/10 By Dan Baldwin, TA Executive Director, 951-251-5155 email 

While TA vendors Alteva, Smoothstone and Telesphere certainly seem to have a comfortable lock on the hosted VoIP market for enterprise-class customers, high quality Fortune 5,000 leads are kinda hard to come by for some of us lowly agents scratching out a living with our SMB ("small and medium-sized business") customers and clients.

As a matter of fact we're awash in opportunity when it comes to business customers that have smaller locations that can't cost justify a business-class T1 connection or are perfectly happy with their DSL or cable connection for Internet. 

These "low end" hosted VoIP or hosted PBX prospects are often called BYOB ("bring your own broadband") prospects because they want to use their existing DSL, cable or even wireless Internet connections to connect their hosted VoIP phones together. There's an awful lot of these prospects out there and they want access to hosted VoIP's promise of unified communications (or cheap replacement phone systems) just as much as their enterprise-class business customers?

So which TA vendors do the best job of delivering solutions to the SMB/BYOB crowd?

TA's "First Friday Solution Shootout" on November 5th aims to answer that question. All TA vendor members that have hosted VoIP solutions are invited to participate by presenting their case in a 25-minute webinar that TA members can listen to and that TA will record.

If you're a TA vendor with a BYOB hosted VoIP solution and you'd like a 25-minute slot to present why your solution is the best please contact Dan Baldwin at [email protected] and make sure you have "BYOB" in the subject line.

All 25-minute presentations need to follow the following guidelines:

1. Provide your own webinar bridge and access instructions.

2. Present a Power Point presentation or similar webinar.

3. Address the following:

    A. What sort of business customers (size, verticals, geography, etc.) are most attracted to your solution? How many customers do you have and what has been the "evolution" of the solution?

    B. What specific applications or unique features/benefits does your solution deliver that is most valued by your customers and distinguishes you from your competitors in the space?

    C. How is the solution configured, what phones are used, what sort of platform is it riding on (Broadsoft, non-Broadsoft, etc.) and how "big and strong" is the hosted VoIP network?

    D. Anything else that specifically shows how your solution is better or different from your competitors explained in a manner that customers can easily understand and appreciate.

4. Provide links to supporting content like customer PDFs and email blast pieces that TA members can email to their customer base and prospects to generate leads.

You're also invited to present if you're a TA vendor with a solution that compliments a BYOB hosted VoIP solution.

Finally, we'll have a 25-minute session featuring agents and master agents that specialize in helping customers implement BYOB hosted VoIP solutions. If you're a TA member that wants to be featured as specializing in helping customers choose among BYOB hosted VoIP solutions please email me at [email protected] a 5-minute summary of what you'd like to share (who you use, lessons learned, marketing angle, etc.)

All TA recorded presentations will be archived and published by TA to TA's 3,800 members. TA will create an "moderator's write-up" to go along with the presentations and will invite TA's members to vote on the best solution presented.

Again, if you're a TA vendor with a BYOB hosted VoIP solution and you'd like a 25-minute slot to present why your solution is the best please contact Dan Baldwin at [email protected] and make sure you have "BYOB" in the subject line.

NOTE: This shootout is only for BYOB hosted VoIP solutions. We'll have a separate shootout for higher end hosted VoIP that REQUIRES a QoS enabled MPLS network or similar. We'll also have a separate shootout for premises based IP-PBX solutions. If you want to pre-reserve your spot on these December or January shootouts please email me at [email protected] and make sure you have "MPLS VoIP Shootout" or "IP-PBX Shootout" in the subject line.

PS. The "private labeled" audio and web conference solution presentations from the October shootout is almost ready and will be published next week.

The "Easiest-to-Sell" Hosted VoIP & UC Vendor: What Agents Need to Know About SimpleSignal

"Easiest to Sell" Hosted VoIP Vendor, SimpleSignal, Brings Their Kool Aid to the DC Show

Need Microsoft-in-the-Cloud to Close a Big VoIP Deal? Meet Alteva

How Transbeam Beat Big 3 in NYC & Boston for 170 Seat VoIP Deal

How Should TA Sub-Divide the "Hosted VoIP" Vendor Category?

How MegaPath Mergers Benefit Telecom Agents & Channel Sales Partners

Posted 8/5/10 By Dan Baldwin, TA Executive Director, 951-251-5155 email

How do the recently announced MegaPath mergers with Covad and Speakeasy/Best Buy benefit telecom agents and channel sales partners?  I put that questions and others to Craig Young, MegaPath's Chairman & CEO recently to get it straight from the top.

Click here to download the MP3 recording of the interview or the player below to listen now. Scroll down a bit further to read a rough outline of what I think Craig highlighted.

Please share your comments below.

 

(Please note that the following is not an exact transcript but my own notes.)

Is Nuvio the Best Hosted VoIP Provider in the Under $500/mo Segment? (Look Out, Cbeyond!)

Posted 6/22/10 By Dan Baldwin, TA Executive Director, 951-251-5155 email

Nuvio Communications recently joined Telecom Association as a vendor member. Nuvio distributes SIP trunk service and hosted VoIP, the latter of which is offered through a unique, "IP-PBX like" pricing program and aims to dominate the market for business customers that spend under $500 a month for monthly phone service that many telecom agents, channel partners and equipment VARs have ceded to Cbeyond.

Nuvio's offering is a tonic to many agents that like to swap leads with small interconnects and IT consultants who typically have small customers that have phone bills under $300. For the past several years Cbeyond has spread like an unstoppable force through this market segment but now providers like Nuvox have the "Cbeyond alternative". 

Cbeyond's solution for this market has been to say, "Your phone bill, Internet bill, cell phone bill and 'managed services' are all over $500. We'll charge you just $495 and give you 'better service'". It's a decent enough pitch if you really want or need all the extras Cbeyond throws in and you don't have time to read the details of the iron-clad Cbeyond contract. 

While Cbeyond has the right to run their program any way they like, it's my personal opinion that ...