Many Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are planning to partner with a UCaaS vendor to meet their customers’ evolving needs. If you’re one of those MSPs, evaluating a UCaaS vendor effectively is critical to ensuring that you’re providing the best partnership for your clients and for you. Here are the main issues you need to look at to make the most informed choice.
1. Superior Technology
UCaaS technology is always changing. Make sure you look at the technology the UCaaS vendor uses. You should see leading edge technology, and the vendor should be known for being a forward-thinking organization that is often pioneering the next best thing.
For example, business mobility is a big issue right now, and will be in the future. The pandemic turned the business world on its ear, resulting in lasting remote-work arrangements. Employees grew accustomed to remote work during the recent lockdowns, and many employers are taking a hard look at a remote-work or hybrid model. It’s critical that your UCaaS solution supports business mobility.
In addition, make sure that the vendor provides the flexibility your customers will demand. For example, are your customers in education, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, or another key industry? A UCaaS vendor with the depth of knowledge to customize their system for different industries will help you convince your customers that you understand their challenges and opportunities.
2. Extensive Set of Solutions
Your customers aren’t going to have a single set of requirements. Some of your customers may be small and some might be large enterprises. You’ll need a UCaaS vendor who can satisfy a variety of needs, rather than one that promotes a one size fits all philosophy.
Your small business customers may be looking for high-definition voice and video calls, messaging, and file sharing. Your enterprise clients may need a wide variety of UCaaS capabilities such as Cloud Voice for MS Teams. They may have multiple locations and need to find a more cost-effective communications solution and move away from an inflexible MPLS network. That customer may find that SD-WAN technology is the answer.
3. Reliability
UCaaS in all its forms is needed to let your customers complete mission-critical operations. A UCaaS vendor must be able to provide the “always-on” benefits that your customers count on. If you’re evaluating a UCaaS vendor, look into a UCaaS vendor’s reputation, track record, and customer churn. Find out if the vendor is recognized by any industry groups. Review testimonials or case studies that will tell you how their customers view the service they receive.
4. Support
Your customers aren’t UCaaS specialists, and you probably aren’t either. Support is essential to customer satisfaction. Find out what type of telephone support is available, whether it is available 24/7, and if the support staff is U.S.-based. Discover whether the vendor provides training and implementation services.
5. The Partner Program
Evaluating a UCaaS vendor isn’t complete until you take a hard look at their partner program. This is all about you and how happy you will be with your partnership. Some of the questions you need to ask are:
- Does the vendor guarantee your customers’ satisfaction?
- Are there minimums, quotas, or exclusivity clauses?
- Will you have control over margins?
- Is there an option to white-label the services?
When you’ve finished evaluating a UCaaS vendor, determine how they stack up against the competition. At UniVoIP, we believe that you’ll be impressed with what you find about us. Learn more about our channel partner program. Or contact us directly to get all of your questions answered.
