It’s been over 40 years since the breakup of the Bells in the US, ending one of the strongest historical monopolies in American history.
While the long-term success of this antitrust victory is questionable given moves towards consolidation in some parts of the market, we have witnessed a massive growth of competition as more and more players have joined the industry as resellers of communication services and the professional services that support them.
There are now a wide variety of managed service providers (MSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), and value-added resellers (VARs) that are all working to bring customers services like Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, voice solutions like Direct Routing and Operator Connect.
Along with helping to drive channel sales for the big product vendors, these smaller providers play an important role in the market by adding extra value through customizations and services for customers.
Despite their successes and the growing pie of business as more organizations seek out solutions to modernize their communications and collaboration stacks, these resellers do face challenges that compel them to partner with UCaaS and PSTN vendors.
Overcoming Challenges to Reselling UCaaS
Unsurprisingly, regulations can be a significant barrier to entry for a lot of these smaller resellers. In order to sell voice over IP (VoIP) services or any other kind of service over the PSTN, the seller has to be a regulated provider.
Normally, this means that they are a larger, more established organization like a carrier or larger solutions provider like CallTower. This can be a high wall for many younger or more niche organizations to overcome as it makes it harder for them to sell bundles of services that include voice. So while they may be able to sell Teams licenses, they are missing the critical calling plans that their customers can buy from a larger provider.
The second hurdle to consider here is handling the taxes and fees from an accounting and compliance standpoint. Since these sellers are resellers, buying licenses for UCaaS, voice, contact center, and other services from the vendors and selling them to the end users, staying on top of the tax accounting can be a lot for these smaller organizations on top of serving their customers.
These companies need the flexibility to offer attractive packages and focus their efforts on selling if they want to stay a step ahead of the competition. And this means working with solution providers like CallTower as a partner that can enable them to overcome their obstacles to success.
CallTower Advantages: Rebiller Model and PSTN for Resellers
With the launch of the Rebiller model in 2021, CallTower has worked to simplify the process for resellers seeking to offer PSTN, Teams, Cisco, and other services in one easy to manage bundle where CallTower handles the accounting for taxation and regulatory necessities.
