Jan-Feb 2020 - ChannelVision Magazine

First Communications entered 2019 on an improvement mission, and spent the better part of last year planning, building and growing to meet the evolv- ing demands of its customers. Along the way the company over- hauled its UCaaS platform, added a white label program and brought new team members on board to spearhead development. What’s impressive is that the company was able to rebuild its strategy without losing any momentum. First Communications executed flaw- lessly and is now firing on all cylinders heading into 2020. “We put a lot of effort into improv- ing our UCaaS product line last year,” explained CEO Mark Sollenberger. “We wanted to make sure that we had the right product in place to support our growing customer base and agent chan- nel. Thanks to everyone’s hard work, we were able to adjust, adapt and meet the aggressive objectives that we had in place. We’re also in the strongest finan- cial shape that we’ve ever been in during my 10 years at the company.” After vetting several vendors, the company chose to move forward with MetaSwitch for its UCaaS offering based on its support system, strong collabora- tion features, geo-redundancy and flex- ible integration. “The new platform was a welcome reception in the agent community,” ex- plained customer channel development manager Michelle Jancasz. “There was initially some hesitation about migrating our customer base, but overall the mi- gration was extremely successful thanks to our experienced support staff working behind the scenes. People are really excited to be out there selling it.” Sales, it should be noted, are now a top priority at First Communications. “Sales will be a major focus for everyone in the company this year,” Sollenberger continued. “We have a great team of employees with a lot of creative ideas and an entrepreneurial mindset. So, we’re going to leverage that and hit the ground running.” To help achieve their objectives, the company hired Kevin Bartnicki, former- ly of Broadsoft/Cisco and most recently with 2600Hz, to serve as its new vice president of business development. Bartnicki – who has experience with all the major communications platforms on the market – voiced strong support for Metaswitch. “First Communications was very smart for partnering with Metaswitch,” Bartnicki explained. “This is a feature- rich platform that makes us very com- petitive in the marketplace. Whether you’re an agent or a white label part- ner we have programs that will fit any sales strategy. Couple this with a white glove deployment strategy and train- ing program, and partners will be off and running with their platform offering from First Communications. It’s defi- nitely going to make us a strong force in the UCaaS space.” First Communications is now ac- tively signing up new partners for its white label UCaaS program. This offering complements a robust portfolio that includes SD-WAN as well as cyberse- curity and managed and data center services, among others. By working with First Communica- tions, partners can provide their cus- tomers with affordable access to some of the leading providers on the market such as SD-WAN from VeloCloud and security services from Fortinet, along with first-class support. “A lot of agents like to do handhold- ing for their customers,” Sollenberger said. “However, a lot of them just want to sell. With First Communications, we take on that relationship for both the agent and the customer. What you get is a full- fledged white glove solution.” First Communications also offers strong sales incentives. “We’re offering aggressive upfront and residual commissions,” Jancasz said. “Plus, we have relationships with all the major master agents out there, and we offer very competitive SPIFFs, especially with our UCaaS line.” While First Communications has always had a strong presence in the Midwest, the company has always had a strong national presence, with customers in every state. Looking for- ward, First Communications will remain focused on agents and partners in the Midwest and coast to coast. First Communications plans to be even more active in the channel com- munity in 2020, too, as the team will be traveling to many small regional confer- ences and larger events such as Chan- nel Partners Las Vegas and Enterprise Connect in Orlando. o By Gerald Baldino Laser-focused on Sales First Communications updates its UCaaS offering and its commitment to the channel AT YOUR SERVICE: XAAS First Communications CEO Mark Sollenberger 57 January - February, 2020 | CHANNEL VISION