Digium Rolls Out New Partner Program For Switchvox Cloud Hosted VoIP

Digium introduced a new partner program around its Switchvox Cloud hosted VoIP offering that, for the first time, allows partners to access Switchvox Cloud from Digium master agent partners without making a revenue commitment to Digium.

Out of the gate, Digium is working with two master agents: Tampa, Fla.-based Acuity Technologies and St. Louis-based Clarus Communications.

According to Jim Butler, director of global channel sales at Digium, the new Switchvox Cloud Agent program was designed based on feedback from some Digium agent partners who wanted to be able to sell Switchvox Cloud without making a revenue commitment to Digium, which was required under the former program.

[Related: Cogent Seeking Master Agents For Its First Channel Program]

"A week ago, the only way participate in the Digium agent program, selling Digium cloud services, was as a direct agent with Digium and making a commitment to Digium in revenue," Butler said. "The program had gone well ... but some of the feedback was that it would be nice to sell some of those services without having to make a commitment directly to Digium, and that it would be nice to sell those services under a master agent."

Under the new agent program, Digium partners can now access Switchvox from participating master agents with zero commitment to Digium.

"This way, agents who haven't made selling cloud telephony their core business, [but] find opportunities from time to time, they can still get resources to support those opportunities through master agents and don't have to make a commitment to Digium."

Butler said agents will still have the option of partnering with Digium directly as "premier agents." These agents will still be required to make an annual billing commitment to Digium of $50,000.

Agents at the premier level, however, will earn higher commission rates than the agents selling Switchvox Cloud through master agents, and receive other benefits, such as access to Digium channel account managers, the Digium deal registration portal, and Digium sales leads.

Butler declined to give specifics around the commission rates for premier agents, but said they will likely be "substantially better" than those received by those partners using the master agent model.

What's more, Butler said, the commission rates for Digium premier agents will not change based on the length of a customer's Switchvox Cloud contract, as they have in the past.

Introduced last March, Switchvox Cloud is the hosted version of Digium's flagship Switchvox PBX solution. Like the on-premise Switchvox, Switchvox Cloud delivers a full suite of VoIP and UC services. It's priced between $29 and $35 a month, per user, depending on the length of the contract.

Switchvox Cloud has quickly gained traction in the Digium channel, Butler said, with roughly 350 partners selling the solution today.

PUBLISHED MARCH 3, 2014