25 Year Anniversary. Telegration Celebrates. Product Spotlight: Hosted PBX. NEWSLETTER l Summer 2015

Transcription

1 Voice. Internet. Cloud. Data. VoIP. Cable. Mobility. Managed Services. NEWSLETTER l Summer 2015 Telegration Celebrates 25 Year Anniversary Celebrating a 25-year anniversary is impressive for any business, but especially so for one working in the ever-changing and challenging telecommunications marketplace. Telegration was founded on the principle of staying ahead of the inevitable changes in the market and we ve been able to do that successfully by integrating the best telecommunications and technology for our customers, says Telegration President, Denis Raue. Founded in 1990, Telegration has grown to be one of the nation s leading master telecom agencies and also one of the largest Authorized AT&T Solution Providers in the United States. Not surprisingly, Raue has had to navigate a changing landscape of providers, products and technologies over the years. What we are selling today has changed dramatically, he says. While cable and metro fiber connections are booming, voice and long distance services are shrinking. New cloud-based solutions like hosted PBX will grow significantly and demand for data services is as strong as ever. Telegration will be bigger and even better in 2020 According to Raue, the focus and service offerings of providers are also changing. AT&T has moved heavily into building fiber and expanding its network in the mobility market, leaving the coaxial cable providers and regional CLECs to take all the voice customers over the current Public Switched Network that will one day be replaced by Internet Protocol service offerings. There is a lot of growth and demand for data services as prices decline every year and building out fiber networks has become a priority for AT&T, Comcast and others. Perhaps the biggest change is how Telegration operates as a company day-to-day. In the 1990s, Telegration employed its own direct sales force with 88 representatives operating from brick and mortar offices in 13 cities. Today, the company has just 46 employees, but through the adoption of a master agency model, it has over 400 companies with approximately 1,600 agents selling services on Telegration s behalf. Agents have replaced employees, says Raue. We ve gone from a peak of 258 employees down to 46, with most continued on page 5 Product Spotlight: Hosted PBX One of the hottest products in 2015 is hosted private branch exchange (PBX). Currently representing only a small fraction of overall telecommunication revenues, significant growth is expected over the next few years. Research firm Parallels estimates that the majority of the current on-premise PBX systems will migrate to hosted mechanisms over time, representing a $3.9 billion potential market for hosted PBX 1. The market and offerings are mature and businesses understand the benefits of bundling voice service with their phone system, says Brandon Burchard, vice president of Sales. Hosted PBX delivers a feature rich solution that no longer requires in house or third-party expertise to manage and maintain the infrastructure. In simple terms, hosted PBX eliminates the complexity of an on-premise phone system and the associated resources it takes to maintain it. IN THIS ISSUE continued on page Telegration Celebrates 25 years 1 Telegration TelePortal 2 Product Spotlight 1 Telegration s New Ad Campaigns 4 Telegration Expands Referral Program 2 Provider Spotlight 3

2 Telegration TelePortal is a game changer Searching online for information about provider products, services and plans is challenging in the ever-changing telecommunications industry; there s a good chance the information or fine print may be outdated. Telegration has made that search process much more efficient and effective with the launch of the Telegration TelePortal, a single location for all the latest vendor information and promotions. This is a game changer for our customers, agents, and referral partners, says Telegration President, Denis Raue. Now everyone can access the very latest provider information quickly and it s so much easier to compare providers, plans and promotions because it s all in one place. Agents can use the TelePortal to get the most current training in sales strategies, the industry and services so they can increase their sales skills and become the trusted advisor customers deserve. The key difference with the TelePortal is that the responsibility of updating the information for each catalog is on the providers. Through the portal, vendors are able to manage their own content catalog directly and add their current content, training, events and promotions so the information is always accurate. The TelePortal provides an overview description of the provider, the services the industry and services so they can they offer, and what s in their catalog. increase their sales skills and become the Visitors to the site can also find a trusted advisor customers deserve. calendar of upcoming live or webinar events as well as a library of content Telegration encourages everyone to use including white papers, case studies, the TelePortal often. reports, battle cards, videos, product Telegration s TelePortal can be literature and much more. accessed from the Telegration Agents can use the TelePortal to get the website,, or most current training in sales strategies, at Telegration Expands Partner Referral Program It s no secret that the worlds of telecom and information technology (IT) are converging. Just as there are Value Added Resellers (VARs) in the telecom industry, there are VARs that resell software, hardware and/or networking products and provide added value in IT. However, one thing is very different: there are approximately 10 times more IT VARs in the United States than there are for telecom. People like doing business with people they trust... To tap into this powerful channel, Telegration recently expanded its Partner Referral Program to include IT VARs. IT VARs that are moving customers to the cloud or undertaking other projects that require a telecom network and increased bandwidth can now refer business to Telegration in return for a referral fee if the proposal is accepted by the end customer. People like doing business with people they trust. We prove this every day by working successfully with referral partners across all business segments, says Telegration Vice President, Dan Williamson. They know Telegration plays important roles with their referred client. The main one is taking the lead on engaging your referral as your trusted business advisor. If you work for an IT VAR and are interested in learning more about Telegration s Partner Referral Program, please visit /agents or call TEL-GRTN.

3 Voice. Internet. Cloud. Data. VoIP. Cable. Mobility. Managed Services. PROVIDER SPOTLIGHT In every issue of Telegration Talks, we like to highlight a few of our top providers and the services they provide. Founded in 2006 in Sarasota, Florida, Star2Star Communications delivers an award-winning scalable unified communications solution that overcomes the reliability and quality limitations of other technologies. Star2Star unifies customers voice, video, mobile and fax into a single, easy-to-use system so your business can enhance productivity and collaboration, while reducing costs. Since 2011, Star2Star achieved 100% network uptime and the system consistently delivers % reliability. Star2Star: Delivers a complete end-to-end communications solution that combines best-in-class hardware with a suite of highreliability cloud-based voice services Streamlines and improves communications while saving as much as 50% on communications costs with its state-ofthe-art Constellation network Connects calls with higher quality and at lower cost than competitive systems Reduces the need for separate voice and data cabling in most installations by combining voice and data traffic over a single IP network To learn more about Star2Star services available through Telegration, visit star2star.telegrationteleportal.com Masergy owns and operates the largest independent global cloud networking platform and delivers fully-managed hybrid networks to enterprises. Masergy also provides advanced managed security and cloud unified communication solutions. Its patented technology, customizable solutions and unmatched customer experience are why a growing number of global enterprises rely on Masergy to deliver performance beyond expectations. One product that is creating significant interest is Masergy s Unified Enterprise Security (UES). This offering fulfills the promise of a truly integrated advanced threat-management solution, delivering an enterprise security experience unlike any other. Now businesses can stop wondering whether advanced, persistent threats may be lurking and know precisely what actions to take and when. Business can also step off the ever-accelerating treadmill of signature-based threat detection and repeated false alarms. Businesses can also harness the best of both man and machine to create a system that gets smarter every day instead of falling farther behind, enabling a targeted response to any threat. To learn more about Masergy services available through Telegration, visit masergy.telegrationteleportal.com WOW! delivers exceptional customer service regardless of company size. WOW! solutions are designed to scale for customers needs and hardware changes with pricing that is simple, transparent and competitive. As a cable overbuilder and the 9th largest multiple system operator (MSO) in the country, WOW! operates its own local network designed and managed by MEF-certified engineers. This enables the company to quickly support any business from all aspects without reliance on a competitor s network. To learn more about WOW! services available through Telegration, visit wow.telegrationteleportal.com

4 Product Spotlight: Hosted PBX Because hosted PBX is cloud-based, day-to-day management, repairs and upgrades are significantly quicker and easier. And as hosted PBX systems live in the cloud, as opposed to a closet down the hall, they provide superior redundancy and guaranteed uptime as they are protected from loss of service due to cut cables, power outages and other natural disasters. What s more, this solution delivers HD voice call quality and a host of calling and forwarding features that today s 24/7 businesses love. The value that Telegration provides is that we can provide unbiased recommendations based on the needs of the business so the best vendor and service is selected. Businesses realize the benefit of integrating their phone system with ERP/CRM systems to deliver a better customer experience, says Burchard. Hosted voice even provides disaster recovery features to ensure their customers can reach them during any event that would have taken a traditional phone system offline. Telegration has many options for businesses looking to take advantage of hosted PBX products. Leading providers include Star2Star, ShoreTelSky, regional operators and also cable companies like Comcast, with most using the BroadSoft Hosted Voice Platform. Different vendors have different features and advantages, says Denis Raue, CEO and president of Telegration. The value that Telegration provides is that we can provide unbiased recommendations based on the needs of the business so the best vendor and service is selected. Telegration has embraced hosted PBX itself and moved to the cloud-based system. We can deliver a higher level of 24/7 service now, says Raue. If there is a service issue, we can carry the issue into the evening and keep trouble tickets open until it s resolved. Service representatives can now take service calls over their IPhones anytime a customer calls after normal business hours. No longer do we have to get back to it the next day at 9 AM. If we receive a voic , the entire service team and senior executives at Telegration are notified on their cell phone so our employees can be more flexible, connected and responsive. To learn more about hosted PBX providers and products, visit the Telegration TelePortal at Telegration Launches New Advertising Campaign Awareness and familiarity are key drivers of business success in the competitive telecommunications and technology marketplaces. To get the word out about Telegration, the company has been running a series of radio advertisements this spring. If you live in the metro Detroit area, you may have heard a series of Telegration radio commercials running on CBSowned radio station WWJ Newsradio 950. The 15- and 30-second spots have been running up to eight times a day promoting what makes Telegration different and better. The ads highlight the unmatched number of providers we represent, the cost savings we deliver and our industryleading customer service, says Telegration President, Denis Raue. We are also running product-based ads highlighting the benefits of using Telegration for cloud, mobility, hosted PBX and mobility services. The radio ads ended in the spring and will return again in the fall. Awareness and familiarity are key drivers of business success in the competitive telecommunications and technology marketplaces. Telegration has also purchased billboards to highlight the number of leading providers it represents as well as its cloud and mobility services for the Detroit area during the months of June, July and August. The campaign will feature high quality designs to promote Telegration s brand throughout the main business corridors in Metro Detroit. Over one million drivers every day will view the billboard campaign in Telegration s home market where it services over 3,000 business locations. Better Providers More choice. Less cost TEL-GRTN telegration.com

5 Voice. Internet. Cloud. Data. VoIP. Cable. Mobility. Managed Services. Telegration Celebrates 25 Year Anniversary Telegration has grown to be one of the nation s leading master telecom agencies and also one of the largest Authorized AT&T Solution Providers in the United States. of those focused on pre-sales support, customer service, and supporting our external agents. We have just 12 of our own direct sales representatives today. Interestingly, because of the efficiencies enjoyed by telecom companies using master agents, cable companies have also adopted the same sales channel strategy. Telegration customers spend a total of $10 million per year with Comcast and other cable companies. Commissions earned from cable services account for approximately 20 percent of Telegration s annual revenues of $10 million. Telegration adopted the master agent sales model when it joined the Agent Alliance, now Alliance Partners, back in The Alliance Partners are an established organization of premier marketing and sales companies within the telecommunications industry and has more than $500 million in billings under management. The organization includes a number of successful master agencies like Telegration, direct sales teams and individual agencies. Participating in the Alliance enables us to sell products and services from 300 providers nationwide so even though Telegration does not have direct contracts with all of those providers one of the Alliance members will. And if AT&T, Comcast or another major provider is not present in an area we can find out who is, and through the Alliance we can work together to deliver what the customer needs. So what s ahead for the telecom industry and Telegration? Over the next five years I think we ll see on-going consolidation of providers. A lot of the current big players will still be around, but many of the regional carriers might consolidate. In addition, we may see content providers such as Google, HBO and Netflix and cable companies, Verizon or AT&T get into each other s markets either through acquisition or developing new product lines, says Raue, who also sees ongoing technology evolution ahead. Many new cloud providers will emerge and as networks become more secure, businesses will be more comfortable moving their on-premise systems to the cloud, he says. New cloud-based solutions like hosted PBX will grow significantly and demand for data services is as strong as ever. Raue believes Telegration will be bigger and even better in We ll be doing more high-bandwidth network design, providing more network access so businesses can take advantage of new cloud technology and continuing to help our customers become more efficient while reducing the cost of the telecom services and technology they use. Here s to another 25 years! About Telegration reduces costs and improves efficiencies for over 30,000 small, medium and enterprise businesses, including Fortune 500 corporations, cities, government agencies, and other organizations. It s Better Here because in addition to very competitive rates on all services, Telegration offers flexible plans, service guarantees and always exceptional customer service. About Telegration Talks is a newsletter produced by telecom master agent Telegration. In each issue, we bring the latest news and views from Telegration that keep you up-to-date on emerging industry trends and technologies. For more information about Telegration s services, please contact us at TEL-GRTN or visit.