Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

Demand

According to BT, 3.2 million ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines will be replaced over the next ten years with VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Companies have the option of replacing their phone system with a cloud-based solution or retaining their phone system and replacing their ISDN lines with SIP. SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is a protocol used in VoIP communications. SIP trunking is a standards-based replacement for traditional ISDN. It connects the PBX (Private Branch Exchange) to the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) via broadband or private circuit.

Save money

SIP is compatible with all the major PBX manufacturers. With SIP, physical trunks are replaced with virtual trunks called SIP trunks. When deciding how many SIP channels your customers need, ask how many simultaneous calls they need to make. Customers upgrading to SIP can save up to 40% on their phone bill.

Scalable solution

SIP is scalable, if you need more simultaneous calls, it is easy to add additional SIP channels. You can port existing numbers or choose new non-geographic numbers.

Reliable

By switching to SIP, platforms are hosted across multiple geographic locations, so if one data centre goes off line, the other will support the service. Support is available 24/7.

Demand from large corporates across Europe is increasing for simple 4G back-up solutions for primary circuits. Companies want fully operational, reliable solutions across multiple sites, which are cost-effective and easy to manage.

How much data do I need?

Predicting monthly usage per site is challenging in some industries, where usage patterns are erratic. Knowing how much data to order for each site can be challenging and also expensive, when you factor in overage charges.

Which network do I need in each site?

4G signal strength varies by location. Online checkers are available and engineers can be sent to site to measure signal strength, however if a mast fails, you are still vulnerable.

Shared data options

If you know how much extra data you need, you can order a pool of data for your SIM estate to share. If you have a growing estate, you can create an aggregated pool. Every time a new data SIM or bolt-on is added to the pool, the extra data can be shared with other assets assigned to the pool.

Multi-network SIMs

Multi-network EU roaming SIMs are designed to provide 24/7 internet access, even when one or more mobile networks fail. They have no preferred network, but always connect to the strongest 4G signal available. Jola’s multi-network SIMs operate in 42 countries in Europe and work on Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three in the UK. Pricing starts at £7 per month.

If you sell M2M SIMs to corporates for monitoring, or data SIMs for 4G back-up solutions, one of the first things you will want to know is, which network has the strongest signal in each location. Many partners use engineers to go to site to measure signal strength, to ensure the right network is deployed. Engineers charge on average £125 per visit. The second consideration is what happens if the primary network fails. With multi-network SIMs, you don’t need to worry about either problem, as they have no home and always connect to the strongest 4G signal. You may think that multi-network SIMs are expensive and still favour one network over another, but this is no longer the case.

Once you have a pool of candidates that have the desired skills and experience on paper, you will be filtering candidates for interviews. Many partners start by calling candidates and asking preliminary questions over the phone. If you do need to do this, be clear on your filtering criteria.

Telephone interviews

When conducting telephone interviews, it is useful for companies to go through employment history to understand why the candidate is looking to make a move. For candidates, telephone interviews are a good opportunity to ask questions to understand the role and remuneration on offer.

Face to face interviews

At Jola, we use a set of behavioural questions for face to face interviews. They generate real examples and allow us to probe further into the experience of each candidate. Can you tell me about a time when you…? How did you handle this? We look for evidence of each of our criteria and note down the positive, negative or no evidence presented. We avoid hypothetical questions and use probing questions to drill down further into answers given.

As a growing business, Jola recently advertised for a range of positions in sales, marketing, support and finance. We were lucky to have access to a pool of experienced staff, who share our values and have years of experience in the industry on our door step. Partners looking to grow their business by partnering with Jola, often recruit additional staff and sometimes struggle to find the right people. To help we have drafted a few blogs on recruitment, based on our own experiences.

Step 1 – get the job description just right

Writing a very specific job description, outlining key skills and experience, rather than copying a standard template is important. Think about your corporate culture, your company values, the role and how it fits into your organisational chart. What are your expectations in terms of performance? What skills and experience are essential? What can be learnt on the job?

Step 2 – decide on how to advertise the role

Do you invest in a recruitment agent or advertise the role yourself?

If you only advertise on your own website, your reach is limited. You can advertise on the top-ranking recruitment websites for as little as £55. It is worth researching how long your vacancy will be advertised for and analysing the web traffic.

LinkedIn recruitment offers a cost-effective way to post a job and receive filtered applicants based on your criteria. You can share the job and encourage others to share the job within your industry, with the aim of attracting a candidate with the skills and experience you require.

For some roles, specialised recruitment agencies are useful to headhunt on your behalf.

Advertising roles internally and offering refer-a-friend schemes are also very effective, low-cost ways of generating a pool of candidates to interview.

Ofcom estimates that there are 2.1 million ISDN30 channels and 0.87 million ISDN2 business channels in the UK. Openreach has begun its consultation with ISPs on the planned withdrawal of ISDN services by 2025. This is a huge opportunity for the voice and data channel.

How can my customers benefit from VoIP?

VoIP offers more features than traditional phone systems, such as mobile apps and is plug-and-play at any location with a reliable internet connection. It is more cost-effective, as many packages come with inclusive minutes to UK landlines and UK mobiles. It is really flexible, as you can pay per seat on 30-day terms, adding and cancelling seats as required. It is easy to manage, via an online portal and has disaster recovery, so if your broadband goes down, calls can be diverted to mobiles.

How can I benefit from VoIP?

Many telecommunications and IT companies earn healthy recurring revenues from hosted voice. They benefit from increased ARPU and decreased churn.

How do I go about adding VoIP services to my portfolio?

Step 1

Partner with a hosted voice provider, one that meets your specific requirements. Research the market to see who has the broadest offering at the best pricing. What price do you need to sell at to win new business? What margin do you need to make to cover costs? Can you support and bill new services in-house? Who do you trust with your customers? When you have a selected a partner, get trained up on the solution.

Customisation

Our most successful partners integrate our products with their core services and tailor packages to meet the needs of their audience. For example, internet connectivity is packaged and installed with hosted applications managed by the partner. Hosted voice is tailored to meet the needs of target verticals. SIMs are integrated into multiple devices and sold as bespoke solutions. The objectives are to increase products per customer, increase customer satisfaction and decrease churn.

Visibility

Successful partners are very visible to their customers and target audience. They attend local events, pop up regularly on Google, post regular updates on social media and have regular contact with their customers and potential customers. They let their audience know what they sell and what problems they solve.

Credibility

Successful partners demonstrate their success on their website using testimonials, case studies and in some cases award wins. They promote their success to their target audience, using press and email communications.

As business owners, there was a time when every lead we generated was followed up by us personally, but as the company grew so did the sales team. Now when you uncover a good lead you are more likely to hand it to the sales person who manages that area. How annoying is it when leads you generated personally go cold due to a poor follow-up process? Very… so what can we do about it?

Follow up every lead personally within 24 hours

The timeline here is very important. Whether the lead is a personal friend of the MD, or a new web enquiry, every lead needs to be personally contacted within 24 hours. There is a chance that you are not the only supplier the prospect is talking to and first impressions count. Reply with the information requested within the timeframe and try to get in a personal call to get a more detailed view of their requirements.

Good leads are like gold dust. They are difficult to find, but worth a great deal. How satisfied are you with the leads your organisation generates? You don’t have to invest a small fortune to start a successful lead generation programme.

Jola, like many other wholesalers have a mixture of partners, ranging from large multi-sited organisations to one-man bands. Each have a different view on marketing and how it can impact their business. Companies with sales and marketing teams who share an interest in promoting and selling our services, tend to be the most successful at generating leads. Why is this?

Shared Vision

Both departments understand how Jola products fit into core business strategy. They are both targeted to deliver results and are measured regularly. Roles and responsibilities are clear, marketing engage the target audience and generate leads, sales convert leads and bring in the revenue and marketing promote their success.

It is well documented that 4G internet connectivity is expensive if you go over your monthly allowance. Businesses need to predict their average usage accurately to avoid data overages. Bill shock causes churn, which puts off many suppliers, as someone needs to foot the bill, but what if there was a guarantee of no bill shock?

Jola

Jola is a wholesale provider of 4G solutions to the voice and data channel. We have a managed 4G solution which consists of a managed 4G router and a choice of data-only SIM packages. We offer SIMs from all major UK mobile operators and can provide fixed IP addresses as well as multi-network roaming SIMs.