Over the weekend we enjoyed Tex-Mex at a local restaurant. Gay ordered her usual chimichanga and I order four different enchiladas. Now before you think I gorged myself, remember that I will over order when I am interested in trying several new foods. The four enchiladas allowed me to try their beef, chicken, pork and surprisingly good spinach enchiladas. I really enjoyed them and ate about a third of each. Saturday, I grilled lamb chops serving those with a salad consisting of tomatoes, onion, olives and feta cheese. Sunday began with an omelette and ended with grilled chicken breast seasoned with Herbes de Provence accompanied by a very new potato dish. I was considering making potato leek soup but decided that would not work as a side dish to the chicken. Instead, I made mashed potatoes with puréed leeks and they were excellent. The leeks were sautéed and then puréed in a blender with milk. This was added to the mashed potatoes. You should give it a try. Since I was cooking off the cuff, I do not have measurements to turn it into a recipe. Sorry. However, I did create another dish for my co-workers which I will share, Coleslaw with Truffle Oil. Enjoy!

This blog serves all members of the IP Community and ecosystem. With that in mind I decided to share a top 10 list with you this week. I decided to discuss selecting an Internet telephony service provider (ITSP) partner since this week we are attending Channel Partners in Chicago and ITSP selection is a big topic. Let’s begin with the first three:

1. Competitive Compensation – I think we all agree money isn’t everything but when functioning as a channel for another organization, expect to be paid. Look for a company that has a record of paying its channel members. This includes on-time and accurate payments. The amount should be competitive which is to say not necessarily the highest percentage of payout but certainly not the lowest. The amount of payout should reflect the ITSPs decision process and business model. Too high may result in too low a margin to maintain the program. Too low and there is little to no reason to join the program.
2. Customizable Product Solutions – the product mix needs to be able to address a broad range of customers. As the channel grows the mix of end-users expands. Some channel members sell based upon target company size others work along industry verticals. The product mix and pricing need to be able to address all of them from SMBs to Enterprises or retail to education. The needs of these groups are very different and forcing one size to fit all will limit your sales productivity.
3. Interoperability – SIP Trunking is not like installing a PRI or T1. However, it is getting better every year. There are some ITSPs that focus on a few OEMs for product testing. This limits the channel member to representing only one or two IP PBX solutions decreasing the addressable market. While it is impossible to conduct interoperability testing (IOT)with every PBX, IAD and media gateway, look for a service provider that has conducted IOT with the most popular PBXs and, if you segment your sales by SMB or Enterprise, make certain there are platforms that fit varying sizes of businesses.

Broadvox is always interested in growing its partner channel and we do our best to comply with this list. Look for 4-7 on Wednesday.