The "hosted VoIP" and "unified communications" categories have been around for awhile but they've always lacked a decent public sales CEO that telecom agents and channel partners could easily identify with. No more. TA is happy to introduce what we think is the "easiest-to-sell" hosted VoIP and unified communications vendor SimpleSignal through an "agent's interview" with SimpleSignal's CEO and founder Dave Gilbert.

I've know Dave for several years and have actually sold SimpleSignal SIP trunks and hosted VoIP seats. Not only is Dave an owner of a redundant, carrier grade VoIP soft switch, Dave is an "IP sherpa" of sorts who knows (and is friends with) almost everyone of his peers and competitors. If you want to know who's selling what in IP telephony and why, Dave knows the answer.

Interview Questions:

1. In order of priority, what are the main services that you want channel partners to distribute for SimpleSignal?

2. Which end-user target markets are most attracted to your services?

3. What type of channel partners are having the most success selling your services? 

4. Who are your primary competitors for both end users and channel partners?
 

5.  How are your services better than your main competitors for both end users and channel partners?
 

6. What is the geography of your marketplace?  Is there a real on-net or off-net, or can you truly do anywhere?

7. Does your channel partner program have different commitment levels?

8. Do you have retail and wholesale distribution channels that partners might find themselves competing against? 

9. Do you run retail pricing or agent commission spiff programs that make a significant difference?

10. Any significant program or product changes coming up in the next year or so?

11. Crystal Ball Question. What would you be doing if you were us?

12. Last Question.  Can you tell us what we need to know about SimpleSignal?  Who owns it?  How long has it been around?  And, how big is it?

  Dan Baldwin:  Hello, this is Dan Baldwin, and today we are talking to Dave Gilbert, CEO of SimpleSignal, a unified communications company.  Dave, thanks for talking to TA today.

  Dave Gilbert:  Yes, thank you for allowing me the time. It's great.

  DB:   Question Number 1, in order of priority, what are the main services that you want channel partners to distribute for SimpleSignal?

  DG:   I think as a unified communications company, the key thing is that we look at this as an overall solution, and not just look at it as a transaction. So, therefore, you first of all have to understand your customer, and then we can bring to that one of many, let's call it 350, features that we have available on our Broadsoft switch.

And so because of that, it can get to be kind of confusing, and even that question is a little bit vague in the sense that there are so many things we can apply.  For instance, it might be in some situation voicemail to e-mail. Or another situation maybe it's device unification. They have all these devices to check, their home phone, their office phone, their cell phone, and none of that is unified.

1:07   So, maybe it's pulling together all of those devices and making them work as a single kind if solution for them, and those kind of things can happen through the duty of IP telephony, and most specifically unified communication.

 DB:   When it comes to what are the agents selling that they're going to earn commission off of, it's what the customer gets billed for on a monthly basis, and we're talking hosted seats, right?