The Channel Partners Network, a LinkedIn social networking group by Channel Partners and the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, surpassed the 5,000 member mark last week during the Fall Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Chicago, adding more than 500 members in less than three months.

An online extension of the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, the Channel Partners Network group is dedicated to the indirect sales channel for communications products and services. Its charter is to provide an ongoing forum for indirect sales partners to network, share industry news and information, learn about new revenue opportunities, and influence the programming at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, the industry’s only event exclusively for agents, brokers, VARs, dealers, interconnects, systems integrators and consultants.

The active members of the Channel Partners Network strike up popular discussions that can carry on for months with dozens of people voicing their opinions. Some of the more active discussions include topics such as the best channel compensation plans, how to manage underperforming agents and satisfaction levels among agents with their supplier partners.

“Since we launched CPN in January 2009, more than 100 new members have joined every month," said Khali Henderson, editor-in-chief for Channel Partners, hosts of the Channel Partners Conference & Expo and the Channel Partners Network. “CPN members represent both channel partners and channel management from across the communications and computing sectors in the United States and, increasingly, from other countries. This diversity creates a lively forum for debate and discussion.”

Membership in the Channel Partners Network is subject to approval. To request to join, click here or go to the LinkedIn Groups Directory and search for Channel Partners Network.

Motorola Solutions, an elite sponsor of the Fall 2011 Channel Partners Conference & Expo, has unveiled its latest fixed RFID reader, which the company calls perfect for the manufacturing and distribution sectors.

That’s because the industrial FX9500 comes with greater accuracy for scanning hard-to-read items such as pallets, cases and items at dock doors and conveyors. PartnerEmpower VARs can get the new FX9500 through their distributors; Motorola Solutions also provides loaners and discounts on demo gear.

The FX9500 comes in four-port/antenna configurations, as well as eight-port/antenna configurations that can cover more portals or dock doors with fewer readers, Motorola Solutions said. This approach saves on deployment costs and achieves a lower cost per read point. The FX9500 also allows for bistatic operation, where separate cables are used for antenna transmitting and receiving, for even higher RFID performance.

“Businesses look to RFID and industrial fixed RFID reader solutions to achieve near 100 percent shipping, receiving and order accuracy,” said Mike Poldino, general manager of RFID for Motorola Solutions. “Our new high-performance FX9500 reader will enable organizations to leverage the increased asset visibility and operational efficiencies of RFID across their supply chains.”

VoIP provider Momentum (Booth #1515) is adding VARs and managed services providers (MSPs) to its channel partner program.

The company, which operates as a CLEC in 45 states, classifies VARs and MSPs as wholesale partners, who make money from profit margins on contract sales. Those partners get second- and third-tier support including web-portal access; they oversee their own equipment installation, customer billing and are the first resource for tech support.

Momentum’s other partners include resellers and referral entities. The former receive joint marketing and training, a portal for quote generation and order entry, and evergreen commission. Momentum handles bill collection and technical support.

Momentum referral partners simply hand sales leads to the company and receive a one-time cut for each closed deal.

“We have varying levels of partnerships specifically designed to match up with your business, your rules,” said Alan Creighton, president and CEO of Momentum

Momentum sells SIP-based VoIP for residential and business markets; for businesses, the provider offers hosted and integrated telephony. Earlier this year, Momentum bought bankrupt CommPartners. When the deal was announced, Momentum said it would continue supporting CommPartners’ white-label and retail VAR programs and roll out a “more robust” channel program, which it has done.

IP communication solutions provider Broadvox (an executive sponsor of the Channel Partners Conference & Expo) has a new, strategic partnership with master agency World Telecom Group (Booth #1324 and an elite sponsor).

Broadvox will get increased visibility and market coverage while WTG and its agent partners increase recurring residual income streams by offering Broadvox SIP Trunking solutions, Virtual PBX and hosted Web Services to their prospects and customers.

“This agreement is a great compliment to our global portfolio of providers. Integrated Managed VoIP Services are growing considerably within our agent base and Broadvox offers us a national solution that our agents will benefit from significantly,” said WTG CEO Vince Bradley.

“We look forward to a very successful 2011, as we introduce Broadvox products and services to WTG Agent Partners,” said Broadvox’s executive director of Channel Sales, Chad Krantz.

Broadvox says its SIP Trunking offers SMBs and Enterprises numerous opportunities to increase profits with unlimited local calling and discounted long-distance rates while using premise-based or virtual IP PBXs

(such as the Broadvox GO!VBX). Businesses can realize an almost immediate ROI as a result of the reduction in cost per minute for communication provided by SIP Trunking – saving as much as

70 percent when compared with traditional TDM services, the company said.

Digital Planet will market and sell Telesphere’s (Booth #1434) private, hosted voice, data and video services to businesses throughout the U.S. market. Telesphere’s master agent network spans the contiguous 48 U.S. states and has driven 52 percent annual customer growth over the past three years.

Digital Planet customers, agents and partners now have access to Telesphere’s portfolio of business-grade, cloud-based services including videoconferencing, unified communications, VoIP, Internet connectivity, WAN management and call center solutions. Telesphere’s team of network engineers and indirect channel managers will support Digital Planet agents and partners to enable fast provisioning and a consistently high-quality user experience, the company said.

“Digital Planet’s decision to invest in hosted communications solutions highlights that it’s a progressive master agency,” said Jeff Savage, Telesphere vice president of sales. “We’re excited to work with a company that’s so aggressively pursuing the cloud opportunity and, just as important, understands that business-grade hosting is key to attracting and retaining business customers. We look forward to working with them and their family of sub-agents to help bring our products and services to their customers nationwide.”

“Cloud communications is where the industry is headed, and Telesphere is leading the way with innovation,” said Shawn Schmidt, Digital Planet president and founder. “Telesphere is a great addition to our portfolio and enables our agents and partners that currently lack an equipment offering to now offer a complete communication solution to their clients. As communications technologies converge, if your offering is not complete, you are not going to survive.”

By Josh Long

More agents and VARs are aligning these days, but the partnership is not always harmonious. Hashing out ideas for improving those relationships was part of the focus Thursday at an Agent-VAR Partnering Workshop during the Channel Partners Conference & Expo.

“It’s all about understanding one another,” said Carolyn April, director of industry analysis with CompTIA, an IT trade association that co-hosted the workshop with Channel Partners.

One live poll asked attendees about the major pain points in the agent-VAR relationship. Lack of trust and lack of revenue or return on investment/effort were the most common answers cited. Case in point: One agent said he dropped a partner – presumably a VAR – because the partner was competing against his company.

There is ample room for improvement in the agent-VAR relationship. During a similar workshop earlier this year, attendees – mostly agents – cited as current challenges: lack of understanding of the partner business; a divergent approach with customers; inability to speak each other’s language; and no shared business, go-to market plans.

Some recommendations included setting expectations upfront on both sides and committing to work together in order to achieve results earlier in the relationship. The financial arrangements obviously matter, too.

“Revenue drives behavior and if the compensation models internally don’t work you are not going to be able to get that shared commitment to the user,” said Tim Byrnes, director of member communities with CompTIA.

Asked about major pain points in the survey commissioned by Channel Partners and CompTIA, many partners cited a lack of commitment.

“By far the lack of commitment” relates to the “informal nature of these partnerships,” April said.

One partner attendee complained that he’s tried the handshake approach with both parties – agent and VAR – with both parties promising to exchange leads. But he noted the approach never works – and he’s frustrated.

When asked whether partners have entered into written contracts or handshake agreements with each another, several attendees in the room indicated the former. Others are still doing business with one another under informal agreements.

One partner attendee said his company uses written contracts and includes a non-compete clause. The advantage of such agreements, he said, is that they establish expectations up front. One challenge that both agents and VARs face is that the communications industry is changing so rapidly.

Everything is cloud now “and the consumer doesn’t understand it because the industry still doesn’t understand what it is,” one partner attendee said. “What’s going to occur in the next five years, we’re not going to be able to recognize it.”

Agents and VARs have incentive to work together. One partner attendee noted that the carriers themselves are stepping into the turf normally occupied by agents and VARs – encroaching on their clients.

“Clearly some of you are having good results ... so it’s not all negative out there,” April said.

By Kelly Teal

Agents joined in for another installation of the Peer-to-Peer Networking Mixer on Thursday, enjoying the taste and sound of Chicago and expert-led discussion centered around six topics: emerging opportunities; sales and marketing; selling hardware; contracts; growth and transformation; and open/free-form conversation.

Once again, PlanetOne Communications sponsored the 90-minute event, which is open only to independent agents and subagents. The master agency offered a Taste of Chicago spread that included a bar as well as food from Little Italy, Greek Town and Wrigley Field, all mixed with a bit of the blues.

Takeaways from the group discussions:

• "What everybody at the show has been talking about – cloud." — That from Colombo DiSalvatore, owner of C4 Communications, who moderated the emerging opportunities table. Participants also talked about suppliers, money, consulting and how to charge for it, and energy. The buzz on the last topic, DiSalvatore said, "was pretty down."
• Over at the sales and marketing table, attendees wanted to know about best practices for blogging, said moderator Angela Leavitt, chief mojo-making officer at Mojo Marketing, as well as lead-generation and how to make the most of LinkedIn.
• When it comes to contracts, agents wanted to know how the Universal Service Fund, mergers and intercarrier compensation affect their legal stance, said Andy Lipman, senior partner at Bingham McCutchen. Agents also wanted more details on how to get out of bad contracts.
• For attendees at the growth and transformation table, cloud was a dominant piece of the conversation, said Telecom Advisors President Dan Vidal. Agents further talked about how to make the most of resources, such as partnerships and alliances. As one attendee told Vidal, "Processes are great, but people are greater."
• Finally, participants at the open discussion table said they want to do a better job of working with VARs; they also addressed some of the challenges they face with carriers, said Ed Terry, director of strategic alliances for Expert Technology Associates.

On the fun side, attendees were entered into the drawing for five prizes: a Second City package, in honor of the Chicago-based comedy troupe; a Chicago Blues package with music from artists including Buddy Guy; a Chicago pizza package, including a gift certificate to Lou Malnati's Pizzeria; a Chicago Cubs package with a jersey and ball cap; and, courtesy of PlanetOne, an Apple TV.