IT companies could add unified comms to their portfolios and get a share of this profitable market. Classic phone systems that use stand-alone PBXs and ISDN often run separately from internet connectivity are being replaced with modern unified communications systems that include; video, chat, voice, advanced call features, computer-based phones and mobile all with the same number. Our five key facts will help you understand why now is a great time for you to consider getting into the unified comms space.
- IT and telephony go hand-in- hand
In the past an organisation purchased an expensive on-site phone system that was managed by a dedicated in-house resource or outsourced to PBX maintainer. The advent of the cloud has made the traditional capital expenditure model outmoded. The service provider now bears full responsibility for the running and updates of the phone system. For businesses, telecoms is now simply another IT application, simple to deploy much like email systems and firewall configurations. If you are an IT company not selling telecoms alongside your other IT applications, you are missing out on extra revenue.
- Subscriptions sell
Office 365, Salesforce, and Dropbox are great examples of how subscription-based billing has taken over from the old way of upfront invoicing. Customers want convenience and simplicity; and delivering unified comms as-a-service (UCaaS) gives them just that. For IT companies, this means you can be assured of a regular monthly revenue to cover your ongoing costs.
- Satisfy the IT manager and keep the Boss happy
Of course, your prospects want to know what features they are going to get, but what they are really interested in is how it will make their life easier and benefit their business. If you are pitching to a company IT Manager, he or she may be interested in hearing about ease-of-use and deployment, resilience and call quality. Talk to the business owner about improved productivity and cost-savings in the form of self-managing the unified comms system in-house and free upgrades and you’ve got their attention.
- Work remotely, in a hybrid environment or on the road
Modern businesses rely on the ability to communicate from any location and from any device. Your customers will have remote, office and hybrid workers, sales staff on the road, or multiple offices. With unified comms, softphone, mobile applications, video conferencing and Microsoft Teams integration are all an integral part of a unified comms service allowing employees and businesses to work where they want, when they want and how they want.
- Future readiness is key
Telecommunications is now moving so fast that if you snooze you lose. Customers no longer want to shell out for expensive equipment that is likely to need replacing or upgrading in five to ten years. Not only does cloud based telephony make for easy budgeting in the form of a fixed monthly bill, but it also brings the latest technology and features to your client base as part of the package. Smaller customers can start out with a couple of subscriptions and scale up as they grow adopting new technology as they need it.
In an increasingly competitive marketing space, IT companies are constantly striving to get ahead of the competition. Adding cloud telephony to your portfolio is a natural fit; you will already have the skills in-house and most unified comms providers offer free training and support to their partners. Small and medium sized businesses can easily adopt the technology enjoying full functionality without buying a complex system upfront. IT businesses should seriously consider maximising this opportunity. Not only will you enjoy recurring monthly revenues from new and existing customers, but you will become a one-stop shop for all their IT needs, giving you more customer value and loyalty
