If you are an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) or you are a keen observer of the rapidly booming sector, then this question is for you.
If you have to choose between single tenant IP PBX software and multi-tenant IP PBX software, which one should you choose? Which one is suitable for ITSPs—single tenant IP PBX software or multi-tenant IP PBX software?
Let’s find out the answer to the question using a simple but engaging analogy. Just imagine that you are an astute and successful hotelier. You are looking to acquire a property to expand your rapidly-growing business.
You are provided with two options. The first one is a private villa. The second one is a muti-storied building with ample space to build swimming pools, business centers, fitness centers, bars and restaurants, and more.
Which one would you choose? The private villa? Or the multi-storied building? For an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP), choosing between single tenant and multi-tenant IP PBX software is similar to a hospitality tycoon presented with the two options.
The private villa may offer dedicated service and exclusivity for a single guest or tenant. It, however, comes with limited scalability and higher operational costs.
On the other hand, the multi-storied building enables the hotelier to serve a large number of guests. Even though the guests have dedicated rooms for themselves, some amenities such as the pool, gym, business center, restaurant are common and shared.
That enables the hotelier to optimize efficiency, enhance scale of services, reduce costs, and maximize growth.
Another related example can be that of highly successful property development companies. Just put yourself in the shoes of a real estate behemoth. What are you more likely to build? A handful of single-storey buildings or some iconic megastructure complexes?
The same analogy applies to an ITSP choosing a multi-tenant IP PBX software over a single tenant solution.
If an organization needs an IP PBX software system for its own use, then a single tenant IP PBX software is perfect. Some examples of such organizations are healthcare providers, banks and finance companies, e-commerce companies, just to name a few.
But if an organization needs IP PBX software for commercial purposes (such as ITSPs or Internet Service Providers, Cloud Service Providers, or Hosted Service Providers) then multi-tenant IP PBX software is the right solution.
This blog post details the use cases of multi-tenant IP PBX software and its various functionalities for ITSPs. So, without further ado let’s jump right in and explore the blog. Read on and you will be glad that you did!
The Rationale Behind ITSPs Choosing Multi-Tenant IP PBX Software
ITSPs, also known as Voice Service Providers (VSPs), provide internet telephony or voice call services to multiple end-users directly.
They may also serve as whole-sale suppliers to other ITSPs, which makes the latter resellers.
As ITSPs serve multiple clients, it would be more economical and feasible for them to manage all clients or tenants on a single platform.
It would also enhance their efficiency, provide them massive flexibility, reduce their costs, and efficiently manage multiple clients and resellers using only one platform.
That’s where multi-tenant IP PBX systems come into picture. Multi-tenant IP PBX software solutions are engineered to support multiple clients (or tenants) on one platform.
However, they are able to maintain individual configurations and isolated data for each tenant. Multi-tenant IP PBX software solutions are beneficial for ITSPs with branches in multiple locations.
They also make it easier for ITSPs to customize different features for different tenants.
Different Functionalities of Multi-Tenant IP PBX Software for ITSPs and Their Use Cases
Even though single tenant and multi-tenant IP PBX software have several common functionalities, the latter offer some unique use cases for professional service providers such as ITSPs. Let’s discuss those one by one:
1. Reseller Module
This is one of the most important functionalities of multi-tenant IP PBX software solutions. Many ITSPs sell their telephony services to resellers. This enables them to tap into new markets without having to deal with a large number of end-users. By using the reseller module, ITSPs can create reseller accounts within multi-tenant IP PBX systems. They can easily assign new roles to their tenants.
2. Multi-Option and Multi-Currency Billing
A lot of ITSPs serve clients from all parts of the world and across time zones. They also serve different types of clients. A few of those are enterprise-grade organizations and many of those are small and mid-sized businesses. ITSPs need to make sure that they can deal with different types of currencies and provide different types of billing options (prepaid and postpaid billing options) to their clients.
3. Auto Provisioning
It is not uncommon for ITSPs to deploy a large number of IP phones across multiple locations. In such a scenario, manual provisioning of the IP PBX systems would be extremely time consuming. Automatic provisioning of the IP PBX systems is indispensable! The auto provisioning functionality in the multi-tenant IP PBX software enables ITSPs to configure all IP-based phones remotely.
4. Audio Conference
ITSPs need to constantly stay in touch with their clients (read, tenants). By using this functionality, ITSPs can create 1000 audio conference calls! The tenant admin just has to create a certain number of extensions and start the audio conference call.
5. Platform Features
The platform features in multi-tenant IP PBX software offer a broad range of configuration options for both resellers and tenants. Using multi-tenant IP PBX software’s platform features, resellers and tenants can configure their phone systems in accordance with their varying needs.
6. White Labeling
This module is extremely important for ITSPs as it enables them as well as their resellers to flaunt their brand names, logos, brand colors and font styles across all applications. In multi-tenant IP PBX software, this functionality reinforces an ITSP’s brand identity at a deeper level.
7. Real-time Analytics and Reports
One of the biggest advantages multi-tenant IP PBX software offers to ITSPs is that it can provide distinct and detailed real-time analytics and reports of each tenant and sub-tenant. Some multi-tenant IP PBX software solutions provide more than 80 real-time analytics and reports. This helps ITSPs as well as their clients and resellers to enhance performance, rectify errors, and make data-driven decisions.
Taking Everything Into Consideration,
As ITSPs are professional (and commercial) telephony service providers, their needs are completely different from that of consumers of telephony services. In comparison to several other types of businesses, ITSPs are a different beast altogether!
That’s why owners of ITSPs must dig deeper into the functionalities, use cases, and trends of multi-tenant IP PBX software. They also need to understand how a particular functionality in single tenant IP PBX software could have radically different use cases in multi-tenant IP PBX software.
If you are an ITSP, then you need to invest quality time and efforts to find the right multi-tenant IP PBX software for their business. Contacting a reliable and reputable IP PBX solutions provider and booking a free demo can make all the difference! To boost your online visibility, get high authority backlinks; these backlinks will boost your website ranking.
