The past few years have seen a shift in how and where employees work. Remote and hybrid work arrangements are becoming the standard, with 74% of U.S. businesses using or planning to adopt hybrid work permanently.1 However, many organizations lack the proper technology to operate effectively across distributed environments, with nearly 50% of employees reporting insufficient digital tools as the biggest hurdle to remote work.2
Adopting unified communications (UC) solutions has become a top priority as more businesses undergo digital transformation. A 2023 survey found that 75% of organizations plan to purchase UC platforms in the future.3 But while businesses need solutions that connect and support all employees regardless of work location, many lack the expertise to select and maintain an advanced communications platform tailored to hybrid work.
Managed service providers (MSPs) equipped with white-label UCaaS capabilities can fill this widening gap. As a single umbrella solution, rebranded UCaaS platforms enable MSPs to supply customers with a fully integrated communications solution that fosters cooperation between remote and on-site employees.
In this guide, we explain the essentials of UCaaS and white-label partnerships for MSPs to help you capitalize on this high-growth market.
What Is UCaaS?
UCaaS, short for unified communications as a service, delivers essential communications capabilities – including voice, video conferencing, messaging, and mobility – via the cloud instead of on-premises hardware. Some key features of UCaaS include:
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- Enterprise telephony
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- Audio/video conferencing
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- Instant messaging
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- Presence technology
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- Mobility capabilities
The UCaaS provider delivers this multi-tenant service for a recurring subscription charge, which typically includes web-based portals for managing, provisioning, and monitoring communications.
Why Do MSP Customers Need UCaaS?
In the post-pandemic world, businesses need communication solutions that enable seamless connectivity and collaboration from any location and device. With essential tools like voice, video, and messaging delivered via the cloud, employees get a consistent phone system experience across various devices, including desktop computers, laptops, cell phones, and more, whether working in-office or remotely.
Other reasons why your business customers need UCaaS include:
Seamless Scalability
On-premises phone systems often require significant capital investments upfront. As business needs change, adding phone lines and equipment to support more users can be complex and costly. UCaaS platforms allow businesses to pay only for the features and capacity they require. Customers can easily add or remove connections without scheduling installation time or incurring disconnection fees as needs change.
Reduced Costs
The total cost of ownership for UCaaS solutions is much lower for end customers compared to on-premises systems, which require organizations to invest in their own infrastructure and staff to manage them. Since UCaaS services are typically purchased on a simple per-user subscription basis, your clients don’t have to make large capital expenditures to upgrade their communications.
Improved Agility
Because UCaaS doesn’t rely on installed hardware and software, providers can instantly deploy new features and applications for businesses across the entire workforce. The right UCaaS solution offers easy integration with third-party systems like customer relationship management (CRM) solutions or collaboration tools, which typically isn’t possible with on-premises communications.
Simplified Operations
On-premises phone systems often involve multiple disjointed applications, which can be complex to manage. UCaaS consolidates essential capabilities into a single platform, simplifying operations. Since the IT workload is lighter, in-house teams can focus on projects that help the business grow.
What Is White-Label UCaaS?
White-labeling is when an MSP partners with a UCaaS provider but delivers the solution to their customers under their brand rather than the vendor’s brand.
As a white-label UCaaS reseller, you own the customer relationship and can customize the services to meet your customer’s unique needs. This allows you to continue serving as your customers’ technology provider, offering your in-house services and the advanced communications platforms your customers need to run their companies more effectively.
The ability to fully rebrand a white-label UCaaS solution is what makes it a true part of your overall service portfolio. Here’s how MSPs can rebrand a while-label UCaaS platform as your own:
Product Customization
You can incorporate your own branding, including logos, color schemes, and more, into the UCaaS platform to make it uniquely yours. All marketing, sales, promotional, and support communications to customers come directly from your business. There is no visible third-party UCaaS vendor – as far as your customers are concerned, it’s your product.
Account Management
Your organization would handle all invoicing, subscriptions, provisioning, and payments from your customers without vendor involvement in the ongoing billing relationship.
Customer Lifecycle Management
In addition to marketing and selling the UCaaS service, you have complete control over customer information. As soon as you brand the product as your own, you determine every aspect of the customer lifecycle, from advertising and pricing to billing and support. You are the single point of contact for your customers.
What Are the Benefits of White Labeling?
White-label partnerships give MSPs an efficient path to offering UCaaS quickly and cost-effectively in a way where the MSP owns the entire customer relationship. Here are the biggest benefits of reselling a white-label UCaaS solution:
Fast Time-To-Market
Getting an in-house UCaaS platform to market could take many months. You can rebrand and launch a white-label UCaaS solution in days or weeks, letting you break into the market and capitalize on demand faster.
Cost Savings
Building a proprietary UCaaS platform requires major upfront and ongoing investments, which cuts heavily into profit margins. White-labeling allows you to bypass substantial development costs and sell UCaaS immediately under your brand, increasing profitability.
Increased Competitiveness
Offering white-label UCaaS can help you deliver cutting-edge communications capabilities that every modern business needs. This makes your MSP services more competitive and compelling than others that lack UCaaS.
New Revenue Stream
UCaaS adoption is accelerating, with the market expected to increase at a 13.4% CAGR through 2028.4 The monthly UCaaS subscriptions sold to customers can deliver attractive new recurring revenue in a fast-growing IT segment.
Stronger Customer Relationships
By offering UCaaS under your brand instead of introducing a third-party provider, you can reinforce your position as your customers’ trusted technology advisor. You can also tailor the platform to match each customer’s unique needs, creating a better fit and tighter partnership.
Expanded Value Proposition
By partnering with a white-label UCaaS provider, you can bundle and cross-sell UCaaS with existing offerings to provide greater value to your customers under one bill. More services translate to more revenue per customer.
Expert Support
Rather than needing to develop your own UCaaS expertise, reselling a white-label UCaaS solution from a trusted provider allows you to lean on experts for support when you need it. Your provider should offer:
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- Guidance on deploying, configuring, administering, updating, and optimizing your white-label platform.
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- Ongoing technical assistance, such as troubleshooting complex issues.
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- Training and materials covering service processes, SLAs, end-user support, and more.
Wazo: Your Trusted Partner for White-Label UCaaS
With white-label UCaaS, you can deliver the advanced communication and collaboration capabilities your customers need – while owning the entire customer relationship. Reselling the right white-label solution will enable you to rebrand the platform as your own, shape the solution to each customer’s needs, control billing and support, and strengthen loyalty within your client base.
If you’re ready to step into the UCaaS market with a solution that keeps you in control of your customer relationships, Wazo is here to help. Our customizable UCaaS platform is purpose-built for MSPs, with all the enterprise telephony and collaboration capabilities modern businesses need to support their hybrid and remote workforces. Plus, our simple, flexible APIs and integrations let you tailor the solution to meet your customers’ unique needs.
Book a demo today to see for yourself how our white-label UCaaS platform can help you deliver customized communication experiences that set you apart from the competition.
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