The Global Association for Contact Center Best Practices & Networking

PHILADELPHIA, PA,  July 18, 2011 -- Alteva, a Unified Communications(UC) solution provider headquartered in Philadelphia, today announced enhancements to its Channel Partner Program. The new program is designed to help master agents, agents and referral partners expand their offerings, boost revenues and increase market share with a cloud-based UC solution, consisting of Alteva’s hosted VoIP integrated with Microsoft Communication Services, including Exchange, Office Communications Server (OCS) and SharePoint. Channel partners can take advantage of the many benefits that come with the program, including Alteva’s recently launched UC Sales Certification training program, informational and educational webinars, networking events, training guides, marketing materials and more.

"Alteva believes that a high tide raises all ships. It’s not just about improving our company, but the hosted VoIP and UC industries in general. By working closely with the channel and providing the tools they need to be successful, we can further extol the benefits of hosted UC," said Louis Hayner, chief sales officer, Alteva. "By offering Alteva’s Channel Partner program, including our UC Sales Certification training, we enhance the value of our partners by helping them learn how to position services, expand offerings, boost revenues and increase market share."

As businesses realize the benefits of cloud-based, or hosted, technologies, many have trouble transitioning their businesses. Channel Partners are also being challenged. One of the highlights of Alteva’s Channel Partner Program is its competitive commission plan, with monthly residuals, which includes four partner levels:

-Alteva UC Certified Partners - benefit from the highest commission percentage available from Alteva. This level is for partners who have completed the Alteva UC Sales Certification training program.

-Alteva Premier Partners - receive commission percentage by retaining a specified quarterly quota determined by their Alteva Channel Manager.

-Alteva Preferred Partners - receive commission with no quarterly quotas.

-Alteva Referral Partners - receive commission for referring business that results in a sale.

Each partner is assigned a dedicated UC Sales Certified channel manager no matter under which partner level they join Alteva’s partner community. This allows for a true collaborative partnership, where the manager can be as involved as you want them to be with the end user customer during the entire process, from sales through implementation and training.

UC Certification & Additional Resources

The cornerstone of Alteva’s updated Channel Partner Program is its recently launched UC Sales Certification program. The three tiered program includes a technical overview of UC, education programming on how to sell and position UC, and impact/reinforcement training led by the Sandler Institute.

"We have always highly valued the Channel," says Hayner. "We’ve listened to our partners’ feedback and their needs, which is why we developed this new certification program. Now that it is launched and is meeting with great response, we felt it was important to officially relaunch our Channel Program, with this sales certification at the heart of it."

Additional tools and resources are available through Alteva’s protected partner portal, where partners can access Alteva marketing document templates that include fields intended to input their own contact information before providing the documents to prospects. Partners who have completed Level 1 of the Alteva UC Sales Certification will also receive log in credentials to the associated SharePoint community site, where partners can access program documents, share ideas and access other valuable information. Level 1 Certified Partners also receive the Alteva Marketing Toolbox, which provides marketing email templates, follow up call scripts, useful links and more.

"In the UC industry, it’s important to partner with experienced and reliable service providers because your reputation is directly tied to the companies you partner with," said Robert Molinaro, vice president of Chorus Communications. "As any agent knows, the key to healthy commissions are a healthy recurring revenue stream, and one of the advantages of selling cloud based services, like Alteva’s hosted VoIP and UC solutions, is that it allows us to rebrand ourselves and future proof our business, without making drastic business model changes."

"In our view, the growth in sales of hosted, cloud-based Unified Communications services signals clear demand for these valued communication options by enterprises of all sizes," said Alex Doyle, senior director, global solutions marketing, BroadSoft. "To meet this demand, we believe service providers need both a compelling service offering and a well-armed sales channel. With their innovative hosted UC market offer that leverages both BroadSoft and Microsoft functionality, and their UC Certification training, we believe Alteva has demonstrated excellence in both technology and go-to-market execution."

About Alteva:
Alteva, North America’s largest provider of enterprise hosted VoIP, has become the pioneer for showcasing the high quality and reliability of hosted unified communications solutions. Alteva provides businesses with "Communications as a Service" that requires minimal installation and configuration while eliminating monthly phone and on-premise system maintenance charges and reducing overall communication costs by leveraging the power of cloud-based computing. With a sophisticated open standards infrastructure, Alteva enables businesses to easily integrate existing business applications. Rather than building their processes around the limitations of their phone system, Alteva’s customers build their phone systems around their ideal processes. Based in Philadelphia, Alteva provides internet access, telephone system/service and hosted Microsoft Exchange/SharePoint/OCS services to multi-location growth-oriented businesses in 50 states and 14 countries.