In a marketplace full of unified comms providers with their own platform, is there room for partners?

Absolutely.

Here’s why…

Whether you’re a small IT team managing disparate locations or an enterprise with thousands of users and hundreds of vendors, sometimes it’s both cost-effective and productive to contract all your ICT services through a single company. The managed service provider or reseller fits the brief here.

And then there are the specialist companies who provide bespoke equipment that can’t fit under the umbrella of a software company. We’re talking about handsets, gateways, and hybrid deployments.

Throw in integrations that make all your communications infrastructure flow together and there’s a wide market for partner involvement in unified comms.

So who are the unified comms partners that should be on your radar?

Unified comms resellers

1 - Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE)

Website: https://www.al-enterprise.com/en/solutions/unified-communications

Alcatel and Lucent merged in 2006 to provide a suite of enterprise communications services. 

As the name suggests, the focus is on enterprises. ALE has a core focus on the following industries:

• Education

• Healthcare

• Hospitality

• Government

• Transport

 

Its Rainbow Office solution is powered by RingCentral’s UCaaS platform under the hood.

ALE also provides contact center, switches, wireless LAN, and networking management services.

 

2 - Atos Unify

 

Website: https://unify.com/en/lp/unifyoffice

Another telecoms brand that had its own platform, Atos Unify is now a reseller of RingCental services for unified comms. 

For worldwide Atos customers of high-performance computing, data analytics, and edge computing infrastructure, Atos’ acquisition of Unify in 2016 opened the door to moving all IT and communications technology under the same brand.

 

 

3 - AT&T

Website: https://www.business.att.com/

AT&T needs no introduction in our personal lives and is also one of the leading unified comms resellers in the US.

IDC MarketScape recently recognized AT&T as a leader for UCaaS thanks to its tier 1-backed solution based on its security, industry compliance, and network redundancy. 

When you have a network as reliable and complex as AT&T, integrating your unified comms solution is a serious consideration for large enterprises looking for one provider to look after everything.

AT&T Business has solutions tailored for small, medium and enterprise, and public sector companies. Each has different platforms and components carefully selected to cater to differing requirements.

 

 

4 - T-Mobile

Website: https://www.t-mobile.com/business/solutions/work-from-anywhere 

In 2021, T-Mobile partnered with Dialpad in what was marketed as “not just another reseller”. 

On launching T-Mobile WFX, this was not only a major win for Dialpad but also a major win for companies going through the process of enabling work from anywhere solutions.

Comprising three components:

• Unlimited 4G and 5G data plans for enterprise mobility

• Secure home internet to ready new home workers

• Mobile-first UCaaS platform

The new all-in-one solution from T-Mobile will cater to the needs of those companies coming out of the coronavirus pandemic having learned how to not be prepared for home and hybrid working.

 

5 - Verizon

Website: https://www.verizon.com/business/

When Verizon bought BlueJeans in 2020, Fierce Telecom wrote it was “to beef up its business group as it rolls out 5G and targets new wireless applications at its business customers.”

Fast-forward to today and Verizon has vertical and regional offerings that include Microsoft Teams, RingCentral, and Webex for collaboration, Webex for contact center, and a wide scope of meeting room solution technology.

Add into the mix its fully redundant data center pairs across three continents, 100% application availability with global geographic redundancy, and 24/7 monitoring and it’s hard not to make a case for including Verizon in your unified comms procurement selection long list.

 

Unified comms hardware manufacturers

1 - Poly

 

Website: https://www.poly.com/

Recently acquired by HP, and formerly an amalgamation of Polycom and Plantronics, Poly is synonymous with unified comms.

With a wide range of wired handsets, audio and video conference devices, and wired and wireless headsets, Poly is interoperable with a large number of unified communications platforms, ready for quick provisioning and deployment.

Its range of Teams-certified devices puts Poly top of the list when it comes to most compatible devices for Microsoft deployments.

 

2 - Yealink

Website: https://www.yealink.com/en

Yealink is a specialist in video-enabled desk phones and meeting room solutions for Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

Inclusive of a device management platform, Yealink offers a competitive package when considering the entire TCO in your unified comms business case.

Featuring room scheduling and wireless presentation devices for large businesses as well as entry-level VoIP handsets for small offices, Yealink’s diverse portfolio is always worth consideration.

 

 

3 - Cisco

Website: https://www.cisco.com/c/en_uk/products/collaboration-endpoints/index.html

As well as being a leader in meeting software and UCaaS for the past decade, Cisco has an extensive history of providing communications hardware.

Be it the Webex Board for large meeting rooms, the Webex Desk Pro for executives based at home, or high-quality handsets and headsets, Cisco’s equipment portfolio is up there with the best.

Taking a step outside Cisco’s own portfolio, Cisco is working its way through the Microsoft Teams device certification process too.

4 - Neat

Website: https://neat.no/devices/

Neat’s range of purpose-built devices for Microsoft Teams and Zoom are some of the slickest designs on the market. And they have the audio and visual technology inside them to back up the design.

Whether it’s your hallway, meeting room, or auditorium, Neat’s range of soundbars, room displays, frames, and boards will ensure your office spaces look and sound amazing.

 

5 - Spectralink

Website: https://www.spectralink.com/

Spectralink is a specialist provider of portable devices for unified comms deployments. Whether you need wireless handsets, ruggedized smartphones, or wide-range DECT solutions, Spectralink is available for platforms like Microsoft Teams, Webex, RingCentral, and Zoom.

Spectralink was first to market with its DECT for Teams solution in July 2022. With a direct integration to the Microsoft SIP gateway, admins can now provision a Spectralink DECT handset direct to their Teams phone system.

 

Unified comms integrators

1 - Mio

Website: https://m.io 

Mio lets you send messages cross-platform on platforms like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Webex, and Zoom.

Using its behind-the-scenes message interoperability technology, admins sync up channels and users who use different platforms. On the front end, users send messages from their preferred platform to their colleagues without the need for constant switching between apps.

 

2 - Mondago

Website: https://www.mondago.com/

Mondago has built over 300 out-of-the-box integrations for CRM and line of business apps to enable functionality like screen pop and database lookups in your unified comms platform.

Mondago’s flagship product, Go Integrator, has been providing easy-to-configure integrations for platforms like BroadSoft (now Cisco), Genband, and Microsoft Teams since 2000. 

If you need extra features from your UCaaS platform but don’t need a full-blown contact center, Mondago likely has an integration for you.

 

 

3 - Microsoft Teams Operator Connect partners

Website: https://cloudpartners.transform.microsoft.com/practices/microsoft-365-for-operators/connect 

Operator Connect is an alternative to Microsoft Teams Direct Routing that allows customers to keep their existing contract for phone services and minutes while using the modern calling interface in their Teams clients.

Operator Connect partners include:

• AT&T

• BICS

• BT

• CallTower

• CBTS

• Colt

• Cox Business

• DSTNY

• Enreach

• equada GmbH

• Fusion Connect

• G12 Communications

• Gamma

• IntelePeer

• Liquid

• LoVo

• MetTel

• NTT

• NuWave

• Optus

• Orange Business Services

• Peerless Networks

• peoplefone 

• PingCo

• Proximus

• Pure IP

• Rogers Business

• Sinch

• Singtel

• 6 Degrees

• TELUS Business

• Verizon

• Vodafone

• VOX

 

4 - Vyopta

Website: https://www.vyopta.com/ 

Vyopta is a monitoring and analytics platform that measures the effectiveness and reliability of unified comms deployments.

With Vyopta, you can measure the efficiency of your meeting spaces, use of apps, downtime and causation of devices, all in a non-intrusive manner.

Vyopta is compatible with:

• Microsoft Teams

• Webex

• Google

• Zoom

• BlueJeans by Verizon

• RingCentral

• Poly

• Pexip

• Dolby Voice

• Lifesize

5 - Zapier

Website: https://zapier.com/

We end the integrators section with a curveball. But it would be remiss to ignore the largest automation app on the market.

Zapier has pre-built and custom integrations to link unified comms apps like Teams, Slack, Nextiva, and many more to other line of business apps like Google Sheets, Trello, and hundreds of other apps supported on its platform.

When two platforms are used frequently but work is often duplicated, Zapier enables “if this then that” triggers that then create an action on the corresponding platform—reducing duplication and effort.

 

Want to meet with partners like this? Join us at UCX USA in September 2023.