What's Inside

1. AireSpring Wins Silver Stevie Award 2019 Employer of the Year
2. AireSpring at Channel Partners Evolution 2019
3. AireSpring Hosts Exclusive Insider Briefing & Luncheon
   at Channel Partners Evolution
4. Channel Partners Tour AireSpring's Data Center at Digital Realty Chicago
5. Product Updates - Exciting New Polycom VVX IP Phones Available; AireSpring Adds POTS Lines Based on Customer Demand  
6. AireSpring 4th Quarter Promo - Wrap Up the Year with Something Extra
7. Partner Training - Leading Your Clients Down the Right Network Diversity Path 
8. Visit AireSpring at These Events
9. Partner  Spotlight - Larry Messer, Senior Agent Manager, Datatel Solutions Spotlight 
10. Meet the AireSpring Team - Tommy Rancel, Regional Channel Manager, Northeast

 AireSpring 4th Quarter Promo
Wrap Up the Year with Something Extra

Reach out to your AireSpring Channel Manager today or call us at 888.389.2899.

The U.S. has seen more than its share of manmade and natural disasters. Are your clients’ networks prepared? Or do they suffer from a single point of failure? Legacy methods for creating a bulletproof network relied upon a "Noah’s Ark" approach, with two of everything including circuits. However, some parts of a network such as public Internet IP addresses are unique, hard to change, and must be protected.

So the question becomes − what’s the right path to network diversity?   

Join Mike Chase, Senior VP of Solutions Engineering on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 1:00 PM PT for an overview on how the right network diversity approach can prepare your clients for the worst and ensure that they can weather any storm Mother Nature or human error may send their way. 

Learn how your clients can protect their legacy investments while leveraging the capabilities of newer technologies like SD-WAN. You'll be able to diversify circuits without changing what’s unique about their network topology, at the same time preserving it against a wide array of potential challenges and outages.

Mike will zero in on the key areas of Diversity, Protection and Mobility, covering these topics in depth so you can guide your clients toward the maximum benefit for their investment, and advise them on areas where they need newer technology to future-proof their organizations against the unexpected.

True network diversity can do a lot to prepare a business for the unexpected and should be included in every business continuity plan.

Complete our brief survey at the end for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card!

Visit AireSpring at these Coming Events:

SANDLER PARTNERS
WEST COAST PARTNER SUMMIT
Hyatt Regency
Huntington Beach, CA
October 7, 2019

TELARUS TECHNICAL
INNOVATION CONFERENCE (TIC)
Grand Ole Opry House
Nashville, TN
October 10, 2019
REGISTER HERE

TBI CLOUD COMMISSION
Philadelphia, PA
October 15, 2019

TELARUS REGIONAL TECHNICAL INNOVATION CONFERENCE (TIC)
Chicago, IL
October 17, 2019

TELARUS TECHNICAL
INNOVATION CONFERENCE (TIC)
Los Angeles, CA
October 22, 2019

TELARUS REGIONAL TECHNICAL INNOVATION CONFERENCE (TIC)
Salt Lake City, UT
October 22, 2019

TCG CHANNEL SOURCE
PGA Palm Beach, FL
November 19, 2019
REGISTER HERE

Welcome to the latest edition in our series of profiles, shining the spotlight on AireSpring’s amazing partners. This month, we’re speaking with Larry Messer, Senior Agent Manager at Datatel Solutions.

Hello Larry, thank you for agreeing to speak with us. To begin, please tell us a little about yourself, your agency and your professional background.

In 1988 I got my start in the telecom industry, working for an old-fashioned interconnect company who sold phone systems, mostly 1A2, fat cable phones, and a few key systems. I’ve done it all in this industry. We did the first fiber installation for the state of California, and had the state’s master purchase agreement for their phone systems for a number of years. We achieved the state supplier of the year a couple of times. In that side of the business you have to employ a lot of technicians and manage a large number of employees, some of whom may not be responsible, which causes problems down the line. I had started working in the Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) arena as it was just getting started, and realized I could make a good living at it. I went out on my own as a master agent for about eight months, then Jeff Ponts, Founder, Executive VP and COO of Datatel Solutions approached me and invited me to roll my business into his. I had worked with Jeff frequently over the years, and we agreed to join forces in 2003.

It's great being a Master Agent, we have the ability to do some creative things. Additionally, we own a software company, Concordus Apps, which develops specialized apps and CRM applications as well as other software development projects, including large-scale government apps. We’ve built an app for a big radiology firm that wanted to integrate their software with their customers’ systems, so that customers can access and interact with it directly. We’re always looking out for that kind of void in the marketplace, where we spot a need that hasn’t yet been filled.

Currently, we’re developing commissioning and billing software with a few CLECs in the industry, using our custom-made CRM. The software is written using blockchain technology , the same record-keeping technology behind Bitcoin. We looked at what everyone else uses for this type of function, then decided to make our own. A lot of these projects are led by our top engineer and designer, a brilliant guy.

We aren’t a typical Master Agency. I have great relationships with other masters like Telarus, TBI, Sandler Partners, Innovative Business Solutions, TCG and Avant. One of our more creative arrangements is doing pass-through agreements in which we use some of their carriers and vice-versa. We aren’t as big as some of these Masters, but I like our economy of scale by comparison with some very fast-growing enterprises.

What do you like about working with AireSpring?

I’ve been working with AireSpring since its very early days, working with Charles Lomond [National Channel Director, AireSpring] from the beginning. He still makes a difference in how we do business to this day. I love that I can call people like him directly, whether it’s Chuck Long [Solutions Engineer] for a question on networking, or John Kitchen [Solutions Engineer] for something on AirePBX [AireSpring's UCaaS solution], I can get an answer. I love your real-time quoting tool, QuoteSpring™ and I do my own quotes using it. It’s probably the best in the industry—again, if I have a problem with it, I can call Ilya Shvartsman [Director of Pricing and Offer Management] and talk with him. I have all the AireSpring speed dial numbers set on my phone. If I get a quote from AireSpring and I have a question about it, I can just give someone a call and get it cleared up quickly.

I like the flexibility and the pricing at AireSpring. I can adjust it depending on the customer. The fact that you listen to us when we give you feedback is so important. For example, you were very responsive when you rolled out the VeloCloud™ Platinum SD-WAN product. Initially, once you got beyond the 100MB box, it was a big cost jump into the next-level 500MB box. You made some changes to the way that was offered and you were able to lower the cost, which has made it a lot easier to sell. I’ve been able to get Daniel [Daniel Lonstein, President and Chief Revenue Officer] on the phone with customers if needed. He’s very good—his expertise shows, and it’s evident that he’s an engineer and knows the product. You can’t beat that kind of support.

What would you say is the secret to being a successful agent?

Perseverance--you have to keep at it, and work at succeeding every single day. It takes a while for the payoff, because if you sell something today, there is a lag time that involves getting the product installed, then it has to be billed, and then you wait for the customer to pay. I feel for anyone just starting out because it is challenging. When we started in the industry, if you sold a 10 MB circuit, it meant a lot of money and everything happened faster.

At Datatel Solutions, we live by this one simple rule—be honest. We don’t sell directly to end-users and we rely on our agents. We know how hard it is for them to acquire  customers, so we don’t want to do anything to get in the way of that. We won’t work with a sketchy service just to get the best price and we’re really careful about who we choose. I have walked away from deals in the past because I knew they would not work. Honesty is always the best policy, anything else will just come around to bite you in the back and agents won’t want to work with you. People who don’t deal honestly are not successful in this industry.

In order to be profitable, you need to sell multiple products. We’re selling hosted voice, SD-WAN and cloud access to multiple providers. The key to success now and to staying viable in the future will be the ability to sell five or six different products to one customer. I think of it as having a golf bag full of clubs—you have a five-iron, a pitching wedge, a driver, a putter, all these different tools. That’s something that gives AireSpring the edge, you have many different tools to help customers.

The secret to success is staying current as much as possible, and understanding the value of the technology. Customers have preconceived notions and stick with them. We have customers who still want MPLS and we try to educate them and move them off of it onto SD-WAN, or at least into a hybrid solution. In the end, you do have to give customers what they want. Several years ago when VoIP came out and people were using OTT systems, I’d warn them that was going to fail. After they have that failure, they often come back and say yes, let’s do it your way.

What is the "next big thing" you think agents should be aware of in the remainder of 2019 and into 2020?

In my opinion, the most powerful game-changing thing AireSpring is offering currently, which is one of the next big things in the industry, is Multi-Cloud Connect. Relying on the public internet to access the cloud comes with risks. Using a product like Multi-Cloud Connect paired with SD-WAN enables companies to take advantage of the  flexibility and efficiency of cloud applications, without sacrificing the performance and security of a private network. The number of companies that have or are moving their enterprise applications to the cloud is phenomenal. The fact that with AireSpring's Multi-Cloud Connect and SD-WAN, customers can access Microsoft Azure,  Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, Salesforce and more is a tremendous advantage and game-changer. There are industries that use management software based entirely on Salesforce, so they are able to have a low-cost connection to their cloud without networking issues when they have SD-WAN. Then they do not have those latency issues and connection issues. This is a great technology that gives partners an opportunity to sell so much more to each client, but you have to understand how it works and why it’s driving the adoption of so many products and services in the marketplace. The client's network is probably not set up correctly to take advantage of this so they’ll need SD-WAN, two different kinds of connections so it’s reliable, managed firewalls, managed switches and routers. It’s driving a tremendous opportunity for the channel.

I am a beta user for a lot of products as one way to keep learning. I now have an AireSpring AirePBX phone, and I use the Accession App [AireSpring's implementation of Zoom's collaboration, meeting, webinar and screen share application] as well.

What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of telecom?

I grew up in California. We moved around a lot, from the Bay Area to Sacramento and other areas. I settled in Sacramento for a long time, then about 13 years ago I decided to move my family to Colorado. Living in Colorado we have access to great outdoor activities and I believe it’s really important to enjoy life while we can. In November, I go big game hunting for elk and deer. This year I’ve gone to Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana for fly fishing. I was in Yellowstone for fishing this summer with a group of friends. We’ve done an annual trip together since the 1990s and now everyone brings their kids as well. We meet in Dillon, MT and fish the Beaverhead River in drift boats, then we do the Big Hole and go into West Yellowstone and fish Soda Buttes and others, mainly for rainbow and brown trout, and cutthroats.

I also enjoy riding dirt bikes and ATVs. When I’m done with work for the day, I just hook up my trailer and go about 12 miles out into the mountains. There are 1500 miles of trails out there. If I had my choice, I’d move to somewhere in Montana that had good internet service for work, but my wife will never leave Colorado as long as our kids are here. She has asked me to quit talking about Montana.

I have three daughters. My youngest, Sarah, is 17 and is a senior in high school. My middle daughter, Claire, is 19 and in her second year at University of Denver, studying to become an architect. My oldest daughter, Gracie, is 22 and is finishing up at University of Colorado, starting to make her way in the real world. My wife, Tiffany, works as the Membership Manager for a golf club here in Denver. She has been a big help in arranging reciprocal golf outings for our visitors at other clubs.

My amazing dog, “Dot,” is a Catahoula Leopard. She’s very smart and she’s almost 10 years old. She goes with me everywhere except fishing, where she would just want to be in the water the whole time. She comes to work with me and she enjoys riding around in my truck.

Larry, thank you for taking time to talk with us today.

At AireSpring, we know that it is our dedication to customer service that sets us apart, and customer service begins with great employees. Here is your chance to get to know another key member of the AireSpring team. This month we are talking with Tommy Rancel, Regional Channel Manager - Northeast.

Hello Tommy. To begin, please tell us about your professional background.

I’ve been in telecom for over 15 years, splitting time between Orlando, Florida and New York, building a network of industry relationships along the way. I started my career in Orlando, working for XO Communications in direct sales, then transitioned into indirect. About ten years ago I moved to New York with XO Communications, as a Senior Indirect Sales Manager.

I went on to become Indirect Channel Manager for SkytelUSA for over four years, then accepted an opportunity to become Senior Channel Manager at Vocal IP Networx for almost four years. That experience gave me a chance to build deep background in ISP, IP telephony and cloud services. By this time I was firmly committed to working in the channel. As a result of my work in the channel, I was recruited to join Telesphere Networks which was acquired by Vonage. I worked as the Regional Indirect Manager with Vonage for four years, where I built up broad experience in hosted communications. I had great success there, winning President’s Club for three years in a row and achieving the largest deal in their history, bringing in 2500 locations. After Vonage I went to MegaPath where I enjoyed working with a range of enterprise level business communications services, until they were acquired by Fusion. Around that time, the offer to join AireSpring came along and I was pleased to accept  the opportunity.

What do you enjoy most about  working at AireSpring?

I’ve been with AireSpring for about a year. There are a lot of similarities to the way Telesphere/Vonage operated when I was there. I enjoy the fact that here I have access to the leadership team, the CEO [Avi Lonstein], the President & CRO [Daniel Lonstein] and department heads. We’re a big enterprise but we operate with the style and energy of a startup company. I especially appreciate the benefits of working for a family-owned company, where there is great flexibility. If I need something done, I can call Ilya [Ilya Shvartsman, Director of Pricing & Offer Management] or Ron [Ron McNab, SVP Channel Sales]. I get great support from my senior management. We can respond and adapt to changes in the marketplace quickly because we are smaller than the large carriers. But at the same time, we’re large enough and nationwide and we have a broad line of products, even recently adding POTS lines, to get things done quickly for our partners while providing the level of service they prefer.

I think of myself as the “feet on the street” for the Northeast. I really enjoy recruiting new partners, and I’m finding that many of the people I’m working with already have a positive relationship with AireSpring.

What are some of your hobbies or interests outside of the office?

I am a sports fanatic. I’ve always been a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys, following them for 10 years—and it’s not easy being a Cowboys fan in New York City! I love more than sports and I live in the great city of New York. I love going to plays with my wife Goddess and we like to dine at all the fantastic restaurants in the city. My wife and I also love to travel. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary recently with an amazing trip to Beijing and Thailand.

Cooking is another favorite hobby. I’m actually the cook for the family, and I cook every day. My specialty is lasagna with my own homemade tomato sauce. People come from all over to enjoy my food. I do a lot of barbecuing and I’m known for putting on a nice dinner. Tonight, we’re having barbecued steak with baked potatoes, served with butter and sour cream, so come on over! My wife, Goddess, has worked for Nike for the past 10 years as a special event planner and she has a hectic schedule, but we come together as a family at night over a home cooked meal.

Tommy, thank you for sharing your story with us!

AireSpring is an award-winning provider of Managed Connectivity and Cloud Communications solutions providing fully managed and connected end-to-end, next-generation solutions for multi-location enterprise customers, including:

• AireContact Cloud Contact Center
• AirePBX Cloud Phone System
• MPLS Mesh
• SD-WAN
• SIP Trunking
• Managed Connectivity
• Managed Failover
• Dedicated Internet Access
• Wholesale Long Distance

AireSpring's services are delivered over its revolutionary nationwide MPLS Mesh Network, providing customers a fully integrated, end-to-end solution from a single vendor.

sales@airespring.com | 888.389.2899 | www.airespring.com