NUSO Vice President of Channel Development Patrick Foster has a knack for cutting through jargon to highlight the simple benefits of voice services. What strengthens his case is that NUSO is one of the best VoIP and UCaaS providers for small to medium businesses in the United States. With a deep understanding of the convergence of IT and telephony, Foster and his team are helping MSPs leverage communications solutions to address needs that their clients didn’t even realize they had.
In this interview, Foster delves into how NUSO is going above and beyond to win the deep loyalty of channel businesses nationwide.
ChannelPro: Patrick, when we talk about voice solutions driving profitability for MSPs, bundling comes up a lot. Is that a good approach for MSPs?
Foster: Absolutely. Bundling is crucial for MSPs, especially with voice solutions like UCaaS and VoIP. At events like ChannelPro LIVE, we emphasize offering a full stack. If you refer the phone business elsewhere, even to a friendly competitor, they may leave and take the rest of their business with them. Decision makers prefer one-stop shopping. They hate dealing with a lot of vendors.
The other thing is that if your MSP is responsible for the the network, why give up control of voice, which lives on that same network? Offering voice services yourselves simplifies the network management and gives you more control. It also improves the client’s overall experience.
ChannelPro: Different clients have different needs. How does NUSO handle that?
Foster: NUSO offers a mix-and-match approach for different types of users. That’s pretty rare in our industry. Some users may have basic needs — a desk phone and that’s it. Others might need a softphone with advanced features, collaboration tools, or call center functionalities. We believe in giving MSPs the flexibility to offer exactly what the end users need, and making it affordable.
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ChannelPro: You mentioned collaboration tools. How important are they? What’s NUSO’s approach to integration?
Foster: Integration with collaboration tools is incredibly important, especially with popular platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Webex. It’s about making the customer’s workflow seamless and efficient. Helping them bounce between fewer apps and get more done. For MSPs, voice integration is a project but it opens pathways to recurring revenue. In fact, one study found that voice integration with Microsoft Teams may account for 26% of future revenue for resellers.
ChannelPro: Speaking of revenue streams, is there a cross-sell or upsell opportunity here?
Foster: Definitely. Almost everyone needs communications services. So, whether a managed services contract leads to a voice solution contract or vice versa, the key is asking the right questions at the right time.
It’s important to remember that communications are vital to brand identity. If a call quality is spotty, you may lose that potential customer and never get them back. We address reliability with NUSOflex, which provides inbound redundancy by constantly scanning the network for any issues, ensuring uninterrupted service.
Beyond that, we look for new ways to help MSPs say, “This is a must-have feature that you’ll have a hard time getting anywhere else.” For example, our Brand Watch service ensures that phone numbers don’t appear as spam. If you think about how many “spam likely” calls you ignore in a week, you know how important it is that your clients aren’t tagged that way.
Branded caller ID, coming later this year, will allow companies to display their logo and a customized message during calls. That brand recognition means far fewer calls sent to voicemail and, in turn, more revenue in their pocket. Happier customers means stronger relationships with their IT provider.
ChannelPro: How are you integrating AI into your offerings?
Foster: We’re exploring several AI-driven features, particularly in our call center suite. For example, sentiment analysis can identify customer emotions during a call, allowing for real-time escalation. Customer satisfaction is so important, especially in a call center scenario.
ChannelPro: How does NUSO support its partners?
Foster: We pride ourselves on providing excellent customer support. Our management portal offers MSPs tools to create quotes, view commissions, and monitor support tickets. This transparency helps MSPs manage their customer interactions efficiently. We provide a ton of resources, too. Data sheets, videos, etc. Lots of co-brandable marketing materials. We support each MSP so they feel ready and able to sell our solutions.
ChannelPro: One of my favorite questions to end with is this: What’s your advice for MSPs looking to grow?
Foster: First, use NUSO’s solutions yourselves, internally, to understand the benefits fully. Second, start small. Focus on small to midsized customers to refine your offerings and build confidence. Last, take full advantage of the help we offer. We pair MSPs with a channel account manager to help with everything from training to co-selling, ensuring a smooth process.
