Technology Reseller - v14 2018

technolog y reseller.co.uk 23 COMMUNICATIONS At a Glance: What you get with 3CX Unified Communications Out of the Box 3CX includes a full suite of unified communications features without the need for additional downloads, add-ons or purchases. This includes WebRTC- based video conferencing via an open standards browser or through iOS/ Android clients and useful productivity features such as Presence, corporate chat, whiteboard and screensharing. Advanced security The most advanced and up to date security protocols and technologies are integrated into 3CX, including IP blacklisting, SRTP encryption, automatic detection of SIP attack tools, provisioning of phones through HTTPS, SSL connectivity and an A+ rating from SSL Labs. Seamless app integration 3CX integrates easily with popular CRM applications like Salesforce, Google Contacts and Office 365, enabling time-saving call pop-ups and journals. In addition, the 3CX ClicktoCall Chrome extension allows users to dial numbers from any website or CRM system by clicking on the highlighted phone number. Portability with softphones and apps Softphones for Windows and Mac and smartphone clients for iOS and Android work seamlessly with the Web Client, enabling users to make and receive calls, view the presence of colleagues, schedule conferences, take part in web meetings, transfer calls and more, even when away from the office. after which it is tiered – bronze, silver, gold and platinum – by revenue and certification,” explained Clarke. “To be a bronze partner you need to have completed the basic certification and you need to have accrued a minimum of £625 in a quarter. If you do £1,000, you will have done enough to be a bronze partner but not enough to be a silver partner, in which case we take £625 from the balance and carry £375 over into the following quarter.” He added: “Once you get to be a bronze partner, we will promote you on our website, so you have the possibility of getting sales leads. I know from platinum partners that being listed as a platinum partner is very, very beneficial.” To find out more about how 3CX can help you generate an additional recurring revenue stream, please visit www.3cx.com/partners/ . Disruptive strategy An additional attraction for resellers is 3CX’s free licence key, which can help resellers win new business. “We carry the burden of the licence fee, which means a partner can deploy a free key for their customers, taking away the initial cost of the PBX and potentially helping them to get a customer on board. The reseller can still charge for installation, support, hosting and periphery services, so once the customer is on board, they benefit from a recurring revenue stream,” explained Clarke. 3CX has been offering a free licence key for years, but in March, as part of a strategy to disrupt the market, it added more features to the free key, making it a Standard edition licence. “At any period, the customer can upgrade that key. If they do nothing, then the key will remain free for the foreseeable future. This is all a relatively small customer might need, in which case the partner can still get recurring revenue for supporting it,” Clarke said. Tiered partner programme March also saw a simplification of the 3CX partner programme, with the move from a points-based to a revenue-based system. Instead of earning points from selling different types of licence, the new system is based purely on the RRP value of the 3CX solution sold, even if it is bought at a discounted rate. “The partner programme is incredibly simple; you join as an Academy partner, In March, as part of a strategy to disrupt the market, 3CX added more features to the free key, making it a Standard edition licence $150 mini-appliance, so it’s not expensive. And, having two keys, they can deploy one locally and one in the cloud to see how that works, or one on Windows and one on Linux,” he said. Resellers also benefit from free sales and technical training via the 3CX academy, a series of video tutorials split into three modules – basic, intermediate and advanced. In addition, 3CX holds regular webinars on new features and provides free technical support, which includes help with a partner’s first deployment. Once a quarter, 3CX goes around the UK and delivers intermediate and advanced training in person, at no cost to partners. Clarke added: “All of the sales and marketing collateral we use internally we make available to partners through the partner portal, so they have everything they need when they see a customer and for their website. Because we are 100% channel-focused, partners also get the possibility of leads via their 3CX portal and a dedicated account manager (depends on partner level).”