Resellers looking to add hosted voice to their portfolio often feel that hosted voice propositions are all the same. Is this the case?
Inclusive Features
Each supplier packages their offering differently. Some have stripped out basic features to offer an attractive headline price. When you start to add key features back in, you may see a very different price per seat. Others have bundled in all the common features and have competitive add-ons to customise offerings. In either case it is important to know what your customers expect as standard and what options they are willing to pay for.
Free Calls
Which suppliers include free calls to UK landlines and mobiles? Is this something your potential customers will require? Is there a licence-only price without calls? Are you able to pool allowances across customer sites and what happens when an individual user or customer exceeds the Fair Use Policy?
Call Director
What happens if your customers lose internet connectivity or power? Can customers dial out from their mobiles? This is a useful benefit for customers concerned about reliability. Some suppliers offer an ‘Anywhere’ feature so you are never without a phone system.
Shared Call Appearance
Can you add additional handsets, soft clients and mobile applications to your licence without additional fees? This feature can make significant savings for some customers.
Integration
Do your customers need to integrate their hosted voice platform with in-house software? Do they need to screen-pop caller details or click-to-dial from documents and web pages? Do they need to integrate Skype for Business with their telephone system? Some integrations come as standard, others like CRM integration may attract an additional cost.
Support
Some resellers have been burnt in the past by hosted voice suppliers and don’t want to waste time repeating the experience. Before signing contracts, it is worth asking for reference sites. How responsive are their Account Managers? How effective is the on-boarding and training programme? How effectively are orders provisioned? Are there any white label services for billing or support? What sales and marketing support is available? How are issues dealt with?
If you are looking for a good hosted voice provider, consider Jola.
