Posts by Emily Vasquez

An Important Update About Vectors 2020

in SkySwitch Blog by Emily Vasquez August 7, 2020

From the beginning, SkySwitch has always put our resellers first, along with our partners and team. We have worked diligently over the years to build up a community that feels very much like family. With considerations of the health, safety and welfare of all in our community, the SkySwitch leadership team decided to not hold Vectors 2020 this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It’s our goal to resume Vectors once again in the future when events of its type can be held in a safe and healthy manner. In the meantime, our team has increased the frequency of value-driven, educational webinars and email newsletter communications in an effort to stay engaged with the community at large during this “virtual-first” period that the global pandemic has presented to us.

We look forward to staying connected with you virtually in the coming months, and to eventually being together once again at a Vectors conference in the future.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions you may have.

Best Regards,

The SkySwitch Team

Webinar Rewind: Learn How SkySwitch Resellers Can Save Time and Money Each Month With the Glance App

in SkySwitch Blog by Emily Vasquez July 29, 2020

This week, we had a very special guest join us on our webinar series: SkySwitch reseller Guy Fawkes of TELEPATH Communications. Here at SkySwitch, we encourage community engagement, so it’s always a pleasure when we have our very own resellers with us on webinars. But, what made this webinar so interesting in particular, is that it was another shining example of Resellers Helping Resellers within our community. Guy walked us through the SaaS app he developed that helps other resellers save hours of time and money every single month.

The name of the app is Glance, and a number of SkySwitch resellers have already been using it with great success. In fact, we even had two SkySwitch resellers give their testimonials live on the webinar and had comments in the chatbox pouring in from resellers who love using the Glance app.

If you weren’t able to join us live on Tuesday, July 28th, you can watch the full webinar recording below and read on for the major highlights.

What Is Glance?

In a nutshell, Glance is a troubleshooting app for the SkySwitch platform that provides resellers with fast access to key domain data points. So, if a SkySwitch reseller wanted to see — at a glance — whether a phone is registered or SIP ALG, they can see it all in a matter of seconds right in the palm of their hands. Glance app users can also set up automated reports so that they’re able to provide proactive service for their clients.

During the webinar, Bill McClain wrote in the chat, “Love that Glance is smartphone compatible. I get my report at 6:00 AM while still in bed and can jump on any issues quickly.”

Why Should SkySwitch Resellers Use Glance?

The Glance app makes the lives of SkySwitch resellers far more convenient by providing quick and easy access to key data. That increased efficiency translates into:

The ability to accurately resolve customer issues quicker
The power to be proactive with clients
The freedom to resolve issues remotely — without having to spend time, money or resources to troubleshoot on-site

That last point is a big deal. Think about it: just one truck roll to a site to troubleshoot common, simple problems can cost more than $100 when you factor in the cost of a technician being out of the office, the additional amount of time spent on one support ticket, automotive expenses and more.

Another webinar attendee, Jeff Hawkins of Telepath Inc., wrote in the chatbox, “I have not charged for a truck roll in 8.5 years — that is my commitment to my customers. My commitment to myself is to NEVER need a truck roll. Glance helps me make BOTH commitments.”

Along with the praise that we saw come in through the webinar chatbox, Dan Napolitano of HighBridge Communications and Louis LeBlanc of Oregon Phone Systems, spoke live on the webinar about their experience using Glance and how it’s significantly helped their teams become more efficient with troubleshooting and client support. Make sure to listen to the full recording above to hear more about their unique stories.

Key Features of the Glance App

During the webinar, Guy Fawkes went over the key features of the app, how the features are visually presented in the app’s interface and how to utilize each feature. This includes:

Domains
Endpoint Control
Offline Endpoints
Offline Endpoint Email
SIP ALG Detection
911 Reporting
911 Weekly CSV
MOS Scores
Vulnerability Check
SIP trunks
Users
Branding
Security

If you want to learn more about how each of these features are used within Glance, and how they benefit you as a reseller, then make sure to listen to the full webinar recap.

SkySwitch Named One of Three 3CX Titanium Solutions Providers in North America

in News by Emily Vasquez July 21, 2020

TAMPA, FLA., July 21, 2020 – SkySwitch, the leading channel-exclusive white label Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) provider, has achieved the esteemed title of 3CX Titanium Solutions Provider, earned by annually distributing 3CX licenses to the reseller channel at the highest watermark. This achievement positions SkySwitch as one of only three Titanium-level Solution providers in all of North America.

“Reaching the 3CX Titanium Solutions Provider status is a testament to the expertise, breadth of knowledge and strong support that SkySwitch is able to provide 3CX resellers,” said SkySwitch Director of 3CX Channel, Ben Macalindong. “Our team is staffed with a number of 3CX-certified experts who provide resellers with leading solutions and recommendations that are needed to run a successful UCaaS MSP practice. It’s that expert knowledge which has distinguished SkySwitch among other providers and has led us to our achievement of Titanium status.”

3CX Solution Providers are required to provide a “one-stop-shop” approach to resellers by offering fully-certified, managed and supported 3CX hosting services. SkySwitch’s unique channel-only model equips both new and experienced 3CX resellers with full control and total client ownership to provision SIP Trunks and other complementary telco services, like Business SMS and E911.

“I’m excited to announce that SkySwitch has achieved our exclusive Titanium Partner Level as a Solution Provider,” said Greg Stenig, 3CX Vice President of Sales. “Their meteoric rise is due to their comprehensive reseller platform that allows partners to ‘plug and play’ with 3CX.”

With an unmatched channel-only model offering 24/7 support, a suite of innovative services and tools that integrate seamlessly with 3CX, SkySwitch has reached the ranks of being a preferred 3CX Solutions Provider for resellers ranging anywhere from a small telco company to a large MSP practice.

About SkySwitch
SkySwitch is the US-based, next-generation communications platform provider offering white-labeled Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) solutions to telecommunication Customers include MSPs, agents, interconnects, ISPs, WISPs and VARs. SkySwitch provides resellers with the competitive advantages required to succeed in today’s overcrowded marketplace by combining best-in-class customer support, with an advanced cloud-based UCaaS platform, delivering feature-rich voice, video, text and fax communications.

About 3CX – Affordable Business VoIP Solution
3CX is a global leader in business VoIP and Unified Communications (UC) technology. It offers customers a simple, flexible and affordable solution that dramatically cuts telephony costs and management headaches. With 3CX you are guaranteed to increase productivity, reduce business travel and telco costs, streamline operations and improve customer service.

Webinar Rewind: Learn More About SkySwitch’s CamCommand Solution & How to Create a Cloud Video Sales Strategy

in SkySwitch Blog by Emily Vasquez July 8, 2020

On our latest weekly webinar, the SkySwitch team discussed everything you need to know about CamCommand and how to best sell the CamCommand solution. Earlier this year in April, we hosted a webinar about Safe Workplace Solutions, where we touched on our Cloud Video solution, CamCommand.

So on Tuesday, July 7th, we had SkySwitch VSaaS Specialist, Justin Baker, and SkySwitch CMO, Andy Abramson, take resellers through a deeper dive into how the CamCommand cloud video solution works. Additionally, we invited SkySwitch reseller, Gary Lee of Converged Technologies, to speak candidly about his experience selling CamCommand to help others in the SkySwitch Community who are interested in building another recurring revenue stream with VSaaS.

If you weren’t able to make the live session, make sure to watch the Webinar Replay below, download the slide deck and catch up on the highlights from the webinar.

What Is CamCommand and How Does It Work?

CamCommand is a cloud-based video storage solution. By taking video to the cloud, CamCommand is easier to deploy and simpler to manage than premise-based video monitoring solutions. In the webinar, Justin Baker explained that certain regulated businesses may be required to store video a certain minimum distance away from the physical location, which also plays into how cloud video can be more secure than premise-based solutions.

Additionally, resellers and end-users will typically both see significant cost-savings with a cloud-based solution like CamCommand, which comes with 7-Day, 14-Day, 30-Day, 60-Day and 90-Day storage plans.

For SkySwitch resellers who want to get started with CamCommand, they have multiple options of premium “plug and play” cameras that work with the CamCommand solution. One of those camera brands, Amcrest, is conveniently accessible through the online SkySwitch Store. Resellers will also be happy to hear that “plug and play” is not an exaggeration by any means — in the webinar, Justin Baker confirms that it really is that simple with minimal set-up.

Cloud Video VS On-Premise Solutions

We’ve already touched on how CamCommand is incredibly quick and easy to deploy, especially with the use of premium “plug and play” cameras that require virtually no set-up. Another huge advantage of the CamCommand solution, for end-users, is the ability to view camera footage from anywhere in the world, instantly, using the mobile app or web browser interface. Later, when SkySwitch reseller Gary Lee shares his success story, he notes that this feature was huge for his customers who purchased CamCommand. And, not only can end-users view footage in real-time from anywhere in the world — they can also receive real-time alerts from pre-configured event triggers, such as motion detection, via mobile phone push notifications or by email.

Another advantage of CamCommand is how cost-effective it is and its scalability. The reseller’s customer can take advantage of a small number of cameras, or even just one camera, to start with. From there, they can easily grow their cloud video monitoring solution however they wish. That also means that customers can have unlimited camera connections, installed on an infinite number of locations, all pointing to a single, convenient point of access.

Identifying Cloud Video Customers & Creating a Sales Strategy

To help resellers identify which of their customers, or prospects, would be good candidates for CamCommand, Justin Baker explained three main business categories that can usually obtain great value from the CamCommand solution. This includes businesses with multiple locations, like retail franchises, regulated businesses, such as liquor handling facilities, and large or scaling locations, like HOA’s, hotels or resorts.

Once you’ve identified potential customers, you can utilize some of the tips that Justin Baker suggests when creating a cloud video sales strategy. Justin identified upselling to existing customers, bundling VSaaS service with hardware, bundling with supports, or including one license of cloud retention to every new sale. For more details on these tips, and to hear straight from a fellow SkySwitch reseller who has successfully sold CamCommand, make sure to listen to the webinar above.

Congratulations to Our Prize Winners!

On most of our webinars, we like to give away prizes to live webinar attendees who are engaged with the presentation and take the time to ask questions. Picked at random, we’d like to congratulate the following resellers on their new, free SkySwitch Swag Packs.

Congratulations to…

Tyler Berger of Techcure
John Adams of AdamsComm
Daniel Millington of Northwest Cloud Talk

Join Us on Upcoming Webinars

As mentioned in the webinar, SkySwitch will be taking a short 2-week “Summer Break”, to give everyone a chance to recharge. We’ll be back on Tuesday, June 28th, at our usual time of 11 AM ET, chatting with SkySwitch reseller, Guy Fawkes of Telepath Communications, about his Glance solution that he has built specifically to help SkySwitch resellers save time and earn more money. You won’t want to miss out on that one, so make sure to keep an eye on your inbox for the webinar invitation next week!

Webinar Rewind – Resellers Helping Resellers: Telecom Advice for the SkySwitch Community

in SkySwitch Blog by Emily Vasquez June 24, 2020

This past Tuesday, the SkySwitch team hosted a very special webinar that was a first in a few areas — and based on the wonderful feedback we’ve received, it definitely won’t be the last. After tuning in, SkySwitch Reseller, Bill Smith from Ingenious Technology said, “The webinar yesterday was excellent. Thank you and the team for presenting this timely and valuable information. You can count on me to take in as many of your great webinars as possible.”

For starters, if you joined in live, we connected with the audience on camera, which was a nice change during this time of social distancing. Secondly, and most importantly, this webinar wasn’t focused on a service or product offering⁠ — instead, a panel of SkySwitch Resellers that were eager and happy to help their fellow resellers were put in the spotlight.

We gathered our panel of SkySwitch Resellers from around the country to talk about what’s been working for their business and the advice they have for the SkySwitch Community. What inspired this new webinar series was all of the feedback from resellers who have attended our annual event, Vectors. Many resellers have praised the family-feel and collaborative environment at SkySwitch’s Vectors, so during unprecedented times like now, it’s more important than ever to recreate that — even in a virtual setting.

SkySwitch CMO, Andy Abramson, chatted with our panelists Dan Crabill of Intellivoice, Christopher O’Neill of Net Tel One Communications, Louis LeBlanc of Oregon Phone Systems and Dan Napolitano of Highbridge Communications. Make sure to listen to the full recording below to learn more about them and the amazing insight they had to offer, and read on for brief highlights from the webinar.

What is the one thing you would have done differently, or wish that you knew, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?

It was unanimously agreed that finding power supplies was akin to trying to find hand sanitizer or toilet paper during the initial COVID-19 outbreak. In response, Dan Napolitano of Highbridge Communications said, “I believe that whenever you experience a bump like that — what’s the learning opportunity?”

Having learned from that experience, now Highbridge Communications’ process is to always sell a power supply with a phone no matter what, so in the case of something like this happening again, the customer is covered.

Dan Crabill of Intellivoice and Christopher O’Neill of Net Tel One spoke about SkySwitch’s Business SMS and Mobility offerings and how they wish they would have pushed these features earlier. Recently, Intellivoice has seen a lot of success with their Business SMS offering, specifically for their customers in the restaurant industry who benefit from utilizing the SMS bot and Appointment Reminder features to make curbside pick-up and carry-out orders much more seamless for their customers. Dan said, “We’ve actually locked in quite a few deals just by having the SMS feature. I wish we would have thought of that of that at the beginning of all this — I think we could have picked up some more clients.”

Similarly, Christopher O’Neill noted that with so many of his clients utilizing the ReachUC Mobile app to accommodate working from home, he wishes that he would have pushed the mobility aspect from the start of onboarding new customers to make times of crisis like this more seamless.

Louis LeBlanc of Oregon Phone Systems discovered that many of his customers were very open minded to owning multiple phones than he initially thought. Since the SkySwitch platform supports up to five devices per extension with no additional seat charges, Louis was able to be the hero for his clients by adding a new device to their home office easier and affordable.

What kind of impact, negative or positive, did COVID-19 present to your business?

There’s no way to predict what to expect when a global pandemic occurs. Christopher O’Neill said, “My first thought was that it was going to be bad because we have a lot of small businesses, and if they take the hit, we take the hit with them. But it hasn’t turned out to be that way. It’s turned out to be an opportunity.”

Our panelists all discussed how impressed their customers have been with how quickly they can pivot, and the mobile features that the platform is capable of. Dan Crabill said that he predicts that SkySwitch Resellers will see a “gold rush” in the next few months, as people are realizing the benefits of cloud voice versus on-premise systems, especially for its ability to respond and adapt quickly during times of crisis.

Louis LeBlanc said, “I think like everybody, we had an increase in support tickets, which was expected. But, I looked at it as an opportunity. And that opportunity was to really show clients how flexible the system was and how fast we could implement change.”

Louis LeBlanc’s team was able to provide a client who specializes in fitness equipment great advice on how to best use the platform to take advantage of the surge in demand for at-home fitness equipment. After great success, his team was able to pass that knowledge onto other clients who were all extremely happy and grateful for the assistance.

“When you’re selling now, tout those success stories like that about not just how good this system is in terms of performance, but its flexibility, how fast you can turn features on and off, and really customize it for the customer,” Leblanc said.

Dan Napolitano also had great things to say about his client base, with one of the biggest positive things coming from this being the overwhelming pleasure that his customers expressed about Highbridge Communications. At Highbridge Communications, after Help Desk tickets are closed, a customer satisfaction survey is always sent out. In the past few months, the customer satisfaction surveys nearly doubled in quantity and remained high in quality, nearly all coming in with perfect 5’s. Highbridge Communications was able to leverage this by asking their customers for testimonials, which they’ll be able to use for future sales and marketing efforts.

How did you leverage your knowledge and expertise in working from home to help your customers?

Louis LeBlanc has always worked from home, and aside from providing his customers with the right technologies to efficiently work from home, he has been able to offer great consultative snippets of wisdom to his customers. On working from home, he said, “It requires a different mindset. It’s a certain discipline because it’s very easy when you work from home to put things off and work on other little things as they happen, and all of a sudden you’ve lost hours out of your day.”

Being experienced in working from home, Louis is able to consult his customers on how to work efficiently and shift their mindset.

During this pandemic, Dan Crabill has had clients who were worried about their employees not putting in their hours or slacking off while at home. Dan explained that his company is very results-driven, which means that if his employees can meet deadlines and produce amazing results, then it doesn’t matter when they do the work or how long it takes. In the webinar, Dan specifically recounts a story about one of his clients, who after listening to his advice about a results-driven approach, decided to permanently move to a work from home model because their employees’ productivity went through the roof when given the flexibility to work from home.

Our own VP of Support, Corey Stoker, also chimed in and explained that since nearly 50% of the SkySwitch works remotely, and has since the start of the company’s inception, our team has been able to offer tips and advice on proper work from home mindset to our resellers who want the help.

Watch the Full Webinar Rewind

Whether you’re a long-time SkySwitch Reseller, newly onboarded, or checking out SkySwitch, make sure to carve out some time to watch our sixty-minute webinar and take in all of the advice our panelists had to offer for their peers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and post-pandemic.

If you want to learn more about SkySwitch and how our platform has made it easy for our resellers to pivot and see success during a global pandemic, you can schedule a demo below.

SkySwitch to Exhibit at ConnectWise’s IT Nation Explore Free and Virtual Event

in News by Emily Vasquez June 16, 2020

TAMPA, FLA., June 16, 2020 – SkySwitch, the leading channel-exclusive white label Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) provider, will be participating in the first-ever all virtual partner conference presented by ConnectWise, IT Nation Explore. This event, taking place from June 23 to June 26, 2020, is free to attend and completely virtual to abide by social distancing requirements recommended by the CDC.

“ConnectWise represents one of the largest communities of MSPs in the world,” said SkySwitch Chief Marketing Officer, Andy Abramson. “Since we launched our integration with ConnectWise Manage and Datagate, a good number of ConnectWise resellers have joined SkySwitch, successfully introducing telephony services under their own brand, with the ability to easily bill their customers from within a single interface.”

During all four days of the event, members of the SkySwitch executive and sales team will be available online for attendees to schedule one-on-one meetings to discuss some of SkySwitch’s most popular UCaaS products, including Cloud Voice, Business SMS, SIP Trunking and Virtual Fax, as well as 3CX licensing. The virtual SkySwitch booth will showcase the full suite of UCaaS solutions and explain how resellers and MSPs can increase their revenue by reselling Cloud Voice.

“We adopted ConnectWise Manage and ConnectWise Sell about six months ago,” said SkySwitch reseller, Gregg Haughton of Granite Communications. “The integration with SkySwitch was an added benefit and we’ve been using the ConnectWise Sell product now for about two months, and that’s been really successful.”

IT Nation Explore attendees will have access to hands-on ConnectWise product training, breakout sessions with product experts, presentations from the ConnectWise leadership team and networking opportunities. The IT Nation Explore content will tackle the challenges that technology solution providers (TSPs) need to conquer across the entire suite of ConnectWise products and solutions, and give attendees the opportunity to experience partner-led sessions.

“We’re very excited about our first virtual IT Nation Explore and we truly appreciate the support from SkySwitch as one of our virtual exhibitors,” said Travis Vigneau, Solution Partner Strategy Director for ConnectWise. “We know that attendees have always found IT Nation Explore to be a great way to learn more about our third-party vendors and their offerings, and we’re sure this year will be no different.”

During the event, attendees who schedule a one-on-one meeting with a SkySwitch team member will be entered to win a SkySwitch Swag Pack filled with various SkySwitch branded products, including a t-shirt, socks, PopSocket, hat and lanyard.

Visit the virtual SkySwitch booth to connect with the team, learn more about SkySwitch’s channel-only white label UCaaS solutions and to participate in the giveaways.

About SkySwitch
SkySwitch is the US-based, next-generation communications platform provider offering white-labeled Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) solutions to telecommunication and business technology resellers across North America. Customers include MSPs, agents, interconnects, ISPs, WISPs and VARs. SkySwitch provides resellers with the competitive advantages required to succeed in today’s overcrowded marketplace by combining best-in-class customer support, with an advanced cloud-based UCaaS platform, delivering feature-rich voice, video, text and fax communications.

About ConnectWise
ConnectWise is an IT software company that empowers Technology Solution Providers to achieve success in their As-a-Service business with intelligent software, expert services, an immersive IT community, and a vast ecosystem of integrations. The unmatched flexibility of the ConnectWise platform fuels profitable, long-term growth for ConnectWise Partners. With an innovative, integrated, and security-centric platform, ConnectWise enables TSPs to drive business efficiency with business automation, IT documentation, and data management capabilities. And increase revenue using remote monitoring, security, and backup disaster recovery technologies. For more information, visit ConnectWise.com.

Webinar Rewind: Learn More About the New Microsoft Teams Integration for SkySwitch, Created by TeamMate Technology

in SkySwitch Blog by Emily Vasquez June 10, 2020

This past Tuesday, our team invited TeamMate Technology Managing Director, Micah Singer, to our latest weekly webinar segment. In the past few months, SkySwitch resellers have already shown interest in joining the Microsoft Teams Integration Beta by TeamMate Technology, so we were very excited to have Micah join us and chat about why this Microsoft Teams integration for SkySwitch is so important for the Reseller Community.

On the webinar, moderated by SkySwitch CMO, Andy Abramson, we tackled how timely and relevant Microsoft Teams is, the traction that Microsoft Teams has been gaining over the past few months, and the significant value resellers bring to their customers by offering a combined white-labeled telecom service with native Microsoft Teams integration to customers.

If you watch the replay below, you’ll be able to view a live demo of the integration and listen in on the engaging Q+A session. We had so many great questions from the audience, all of whom were entered into the drawing to be one of three prize winners! Read on for all of the webinar highlights and to discover who the lucky winners were.

Why Microsoft Teams?

In order to understand how significant the Microsoft Teams integration is and the opportunities it provides resellers, it’s important to highlight what’s been going on in the world of Microsoft Teams. For starters, Microsoft Teams is free and included in Office 365 subscriptions. With it’s fully-integrated framework and no real, viable competitors out there, we see 75 million daily active users of Microsoft Teams, and around 10 million mobile app downloads.

The numbers don’t lie, and it’s clear that use of Microsoft Teams is growing rapidly — creating a massive opportunity for SkySwitch resellers to offer a solution that seamlessly integrates Cloud Voice with Microsoft Teams, and offering lots of added convenience to Office 365 power-users.

Direct Routing VS The TeamMate Integration

Recently, Microsoft has made Direct Routing available, which if configured, allows users to use native Teams dialing to make and receive PSTN calls. That user is essentially a SIP trunk user who can make and receive phone calls using Microsoft teams — but the TeamMate Integration takes it one step further.

If you watch the webinar replay above, you’ll get a first-hand view of all the additional features that make the TeamMate Integration a robust solution that provides a much more intuitive, natural experience for the end-user. With the TeamMate integration, Microsoft Teams becomes a softphone with the ability to configure custom features.

Congratulations to Our Lucky Winners

As always, the SkySwitch team gave away prizes with all of the attendees who participated in the Q+A session entered to win! For this week’s webinar, we gave away three SkySwitch Swag Packs, each of which includes a T-Shirt, socks, popsocket and hat.

Congratulations to…

Gordon Beck of USA Phone
Andy Aloia of Nexus VoIP
Jacob Wiley of Integrity Computers, Inc

We hope you enjoy your Swag Packs and the webinar!

Join Us for SkySwitch’s Next Weekly Webinar

If you enjoyed this week’s webinar, make sure to join us next Tuesday, June 16th at 11 AM EDT for “Your Customers’ Journey Fueled By Content and Support From The Cloud Voice Alliance”. CVA Managing Director, Jeff Dworkin, will be joining us in a discussion about what the Customer Journey looks like from acquisition to close, the type of content that you need to provide along each step of the Customer Journey, how to access this content through the CVA portal and the CVA’s roadmap for additional content. Watch “Your Customers’ Journey Fueled By Content and Support” webinar replay now.

Case Study: SkySwitch Uses Datagate to Give Telecom Resellers ConnectWise-Integrated Billing

in SkySwitch Blog by Emily Vasquez June 4, 2020

At SkySwitch, we are proud to have such a rich ecosystem of partners and vendors. Recently, Datagate published a Case Study that dives into how the SkySwitch and Datagate relationship brings a unique and powerful offering for telecom resellers with billing that is integrated with ConnectWise Manage.

Take a look at the case study below, which also includes insight from SkySwitch President and Founder, Eric Hernaez. If you want to learn more about how SkySwitch is the premier telecom choice for MSPs who use ConnectWise, make sure to schedule some time with us at ConnectWise’s now 100% virtual and free-to-attend event, IT Nation EXPLORE.

Webinar Rewind: Learn All About NTS and the New Grandstream and Fanvil Products and Promotions You and Your Customers Will Benefit From

in SkySwitch Blog by Emily Vasquez June 4, 2020

This week, the SkySwitch team invited NTS Direct on our weekly webinar segment to talk about the great promotions they are offering SkySwitch Resellers with Grandstream and Fanvil, and the advantages of using NTS Direct as your distributor through the SkySwitch Store.

SkySwitch CMO, Andy Abramson, gave a welcoming introduction to NTS Vice President of ITSP Sales, Marc Magliano, and NTS Director of ITSP Sales, Chris Turcotte. As SkySwitch’s newest distributor, this webinar served as an introduction of sorts for SkySwitch Resellers to get to know the NTS Direct Team, learn about NTS Direct’s unique offerings and to learn more about the Grandstream Try and Buy Program and Fanvil Seat Credit Promotion. We were also joined by representatives of Fanvil and Grandstream on the webinar.

Make sure to check out the full recording, downloadable slide deck and webinar highlights below.

NTS Direct’s ITSP Advantage and Represented Brands

The NTS Direct team has prioritized building strong relationships with the executive teams of every single brand they carry — so when it comes to product information, support and special pricing or promotions, like the current ones they are offering with Grandstream and Fanvil, you know you can count on NTS. According to Marc Magliano, this is one of the biggest differentiating factors between NTS and other distributors. Some of the brands that NTS Direct carries include Grandstream, Fanvil, Jabra, Peplink, TP Link, Yealink and Avaya — and you can hear more about those brands and relationships on the webinar recording above.

Other advantages of NTS Direct include their incredibly flexible Trade-In-Trade-Up Program, 3PL and soon-to-come Device as a Service (DaaS) offering, which is promised to have minimal barriers to entry and low, reasonable commitments to participate in. To hear more about these advantages from the team, make sure to listen to the full replay above.

Fanvil Seat Credit Promotion Details

To kick off the arrival of Fanvil products introduced to the SkySwitch Store, and available exclusively from NTS Direct, all SkySwitch Resellers are eligible to earn bonus reward points that will be credited to their billing statements. This is how the Seat Line Promotion works: for every order containing three or more qualifying Fanvil devices from the SkySwitch Store, resellers will earn 2,500 reward points. This program, which runs for three months starting on June 1, 2020, had no cap on reward points.

For more information about what makes Fanvil devices a unique offering for your customers, make sure to watch the Webinar Rewind above and check out this news release published earlier in May.

Grandstream Try and Buy Program Details

Recently, Grandstream has made significant improvements to their device quality and added new, improved features to their line of desk phones. On the webinar, the panelists all admitted that some of the previous shortcomings that Grandstream had in the past led to reseller aversion, and explained this is why all parties — SkySwitch, NTS Direct and Grandstream — worked hard together to bring to life the “Try and Buy” program.

With this program, every single SkySwitch Reseller is eligible for a GRP2612w desk phone completely free of charge. This program affords all of our resellers with a risk-free, zero-cost ninety-day evaluation period to try out the device. If you don’t like it, you can send it back for free with your feedback. If you like and end up purchasing ten or more Grandstream devices during the ninety-day evaluation period, you get to keep the GRP2612w for free.

If you’re a SkySwitch Reseller and haven’t signed up for the program yet, we highly encourage you to do so because there’s absolutely no cost, risk or harm in participating and giving the new and improved Grandstream a chance. You can sign up for the program through this form here.

Congratulations to the Webinar Winners

At the end of the presentation, we moved into a great Q+A session with the audience and selected at random three lucky winners! Congratulations to Demetrice Rogers of Rogers Technology Solutions on your new Jabra Evolve 75 Stereo Bluetooth headset, courtesy of NTS Direct! And congratulations to Chad Shields of Rocky Mountain Computer Solutions and Mitch Welin of ComRes on your SkySwitch Swag packs, complete with a SkySwitch branded t-shirt, socks, popsocket and hat.

If you enjoyed this webinar, make sure to join us again next Tuesday, June 9th at 11 AM ET for “Learn More About the New Microsoft Teams Integration for SkySwitch, Created by TeamMate Technology”.

Webinar Rewind: Product Versatility For An Uncertain Workplace Future, Presented by SNOM

in SkySwitch Blog by Emily Vasquez May 20, 2020

On our latest weekly webinar, the SkySwitch team invited SNOM Regional Account Manager, Korey Kather, and SNOM Sales Engineer, Simon Bradbrook, to inform SkySwitch Resellers all about the versatility of latest SNOM products and how they work seamlessly within society’s uncertain workplace future. While many employees have made the transition to working from home, resellers should now be thinking about more than just WFH-compatible communication tools. With the expectation of phased openings, the arrival of new safe workplace protocols and more, this all means your customers need more up to date communication tools that allows them to adapt to the new changes in the workplace.

Moderated by SkySwitch CMO, Andy Abramson, the webinar was a lively discussion about how Snom is working to help businesses communicate effectively in any environment — whether it’s a work from home environment, restaurant, retail space or any other type of workplace.

If you missed it, you can watch the full webinar recording below, download the slide deck and get briefed on the highlights of the webinar below.

What’s In a Name — From VTech to Snom

Snom has a reputation for being an originator and innovator of mass-produced SIP phones, and VTech has a reputation for being a leader in manufacturing business and consumer phones. So when VTech acquired Snom in 2016, Snom was able to combine the strengths of both brands to offer you and your customers with high-quality telephony and communication tools.

Key Benefits of Selling Snom

Snom has a wide range of innovative, diverse and scalable SIP-based products, including business desk phones, DECT mobility solutions, key line, wired and wireless conference phones, broadcast and more — which all come with a 3-year warranty. And with the North American based team, including engineering, R&D, Product, Sales, Marketing, Technical Support and Distribution, resellers now have coverage and assistance in close range.

Additionally, Snom is working on re-launching a ramped-up Partner Program that shifts focus on empowering resellers to drive new business opportunities, increase top-line revenue and increased margins. With the new Partner Program that will be coming soon, resellers can expect to see more resources that makes quoting and sales presentations easier.

Work From Home Solutions for Your Customers: Mobility, Flexibility and Versatility

Mobility is a big factor to take into consideration when working from home, and the KLE line excels in this category. In the webinar, Korey Kather explains how the KLE desk phone has a rechargeable battery that allows you to unplug the phone and take it with you and use it almost anywhere, so you can move from your home office desk to your living room without any hassle.

Another feature of Snom products that makes it easier to work from home, or just about anywhere, is that their product interoperability of DECT solutions. This means that end-users can mix-and-match models to work together. This unique feature makes the line easy to build on and adapt to changing work environments.

Vertical Industry Deployment Examples

Snom’s KLE line, which excels in mobility, flexibility and versatility, is not just great at supporting work from home — it also works exceptionally well in many small-business environments. Snom has seen the KLE system frequently deployed in restaurants, retail, education, warehouse, distribution and manufacturing settings, with comments from their partners about how easy the KLE system is to deploy.

The KLE functions like an old-fashioned key line system, where you have Line 1, Line 2, Line 3 and so on, where calls can be placed on-hold on one device, and picked up on another, and supports up to 10 users. So, in a small business setting, and even in warehouses or distribution centers, the KLE can support just about everybody and also gives workers the ability to walk freely in their workspace with reliable handset range. To learn more about the KLE line and other exciting Snom products, make sure to listen to the full webinar recording above.

Congratulations to the Webinar Winners!

At the end of this product deep-dive, we moved into a great Q+A session from the audience and selected at random two lucky winners! Congratulations to Micahel Slonin of Peace Telecom on your new Snom C620 Conference phone, and to Mark Colik of Converged Technologies, LLC on your new Snom M100 KLE System with 2 phones! We hope you enjoy your new Snom gear and SkySwitch Swag.

If you enjoyed this webinar, make sure to join us again in two weeks on June 2nd for a webinar with NTS Direct – one of SkySwitch’s newest distributors, to learn more about Grandstream and other products that your customers can benefit from.