Making the Most out of your Wholesale VoIP Provider

Transcription

1 1 Making the Most out of your Wholesale VoIP Provider

2 It starts with two numbers, 80 and 20 The 80/20 rule: Spend 80 percent of your time on customer-facing, front office work and 20 percent of your time on back office functions. The right wholesale VoIP provider can play a large role in helping your business follow this proven principle. This ebook provides a starting point for you to consider how to leverage your wholesale provider for all they are worth so you can put the 80/20 rule into practice. I

3 1 Not everyone can do business with a wholesaler Protecting your ability to secure wholesale pricing represents dramatic reductions in your back office costs. Plus, you gain operational flexibility by being able to access APIs and web-based tools, and from working directly with the network operator. But your business must have enough volume, or anticipate enough volume, in terms of retail customers, subscribers, and minutes-of-use to get a wholesaler s attention. Different wholesalers have different thresholds but in general, spending over $2,500 on voice services each month should result in you continuing to reap wholesale s rewards. The two questions then are, If you re spending above $2,500 each month, are you getting the benefits you expected? If not, how can you increase your spend to protect your rates at the next renewal? 3

4 2 Make the most of the relationship Like any relationship, the more you put in, the more you get out. How many wholesale providers are you working with? Can you consolidate services with one, or even a smaller number of providers? What other back office work are you doing in-house that a wholesaler could do for you? Identifying and delegating these tasks will allow you to spend more energy on your feature server or application development. Strong wholesalers go way beyond just providing phone numbers, or cheaper origination and termination minutes. Custom development and APIs, provisioning, assistance with regulatory compliance and taxes, and offering SMS-enabled numbers are just a few of the examples. Vendor management comes with soft and hard costs. Make sure you re getting the most from your investment by bundling as much together as possible to get the price breaks and support you deserve. 4

5 3 A good wholesaler gives you good tools What are the administrative tasks such as reserving numbers, managing inventory, porting numbers, and managing records that suck up so much of your team s time? If your provider s answer is to call the help desk, put in a ticket, or send a note to a specific address and then wait for a response, know there is a better alternative. Find a wholesale provider that gives you web-based tools, APIs, or even a dedicated support team to handle these repetitive back office tasks for you. 5

6 4 Find a wholesaler that fits The needs of a cable company offering voice in a few markets are vastly different than an over-the-top voice application provider with users nationwide. Take a close look at your geographic footprint and the type of services you provide. The last thing you want is a provider that 1) you need to grow into, 2) you will likely outgrow, or 3) requires you to hire yet another vendor to handle specific needs like To find a wholesale provider that will fit you for years to come, make sure your provider: Covers the markets you re in Offers all the services you require Has customers like you already 6

7 5 Customer service is king Companies, like people, earn their reputations, good or bad. A wholesaler that gives you competitive rates but then takes months to onboard, bounces you around to multiple people to solve a simple issue, or worse, doesn t get back to you at all is doing the exact opposite of helping you follow the 80/20 rule. There is absolutely no reason for you to put up with it. Take your business elsewhere. 7

8 Summary Wholesale VoIP is all about 80/20. Find a provider that can lessen your back office burden by covering the markets and supporting all the services you need, with the epic tools and levels of customer support you demand. But remember you have to do your part too. To increase your buying power and protect your access to favorable pricing and other benefits of buying wholesale, consolidate with the provider that gives you the most bang for your buck. Contact us or visit our Resource Center for more information. For more information: sales@bandwidth.com 8