Hot New Services: RingCentral, Lumen, Verizon, More

Business customers and their advisers are creating massive demand for contact center solutions.

Our latest recap of new products and services in the channel demonstrates the popularity of CCaaS. Almost half of the companies on our list did something to enhance their contact center lineup.

For example, Cisco rolled out a new offering that upgraded from its premises-based solution. Lifesize bulked up its existing contact center offering by adding new AI features. And a master agent added an upstart contact center provider to its portfolio.

Other technologies featured prominently in our December roundup. RingCentral launched a free offering that it believes will pull more customers into UCaaS. One telco launched a mobility management solution. Also, one of the largest wireless carriers added a new SD-WAN solution.

The image gallery below features the newest and biggest offers that channel partners can sell.

Missed our previous gallery? We recapped the solutions that went to market in November.

RingCentral

The UCaaS provider said its new solution looks like a combination of Zoom and Slack.

RingCentral Glip is a free video video offering that features "integrated team messaging" capabilities. The company's channel chief said the solution eliminates barriers to entry for partners.

"Ultimately, we believe that having free and easy access to the product will expose more people to the technology, which in turn will generate high-quality leads for our partners," said Zane Long, senior vice president of global partner sales.

RingCentral also announced a team-up with Vodafone that will bring UCaaS and CCaaS to customers in the U.K. and countries on the European continent.

Read all about Glip.

MicroCorp

The AppSmart-owned master agent signed an agreement with telecom expense management provider Tellenium.

Tellenium offers a SaaS platform that reports inventory and billing information about IT network assets. The platform helps customers and their IT managers save time and money.

Edward Gately has the scoop.

Windstream

Windstream Enterprise improved its secure access service edge (SASE) features.

The WE Connect customer portal now includes secure remote access user management. That means customers can consolidate their security and SD-WAN network management into one place.

“This integration puts visibility and control for remote user access, cloud and premises security and SD-WAN, the key components of the SASE, all in one location for the end user, which leads to a much streamlined digital experience,” Windstream Enterprise's vice president of product management said. 

Learn about the update.

Cisco

Cisco launched a new contact center offering.

The company said it built Cisco Webex Contact Center from the ground up to make a "cloud-native, microservices-based" solution. It improves upon Cisco's premises-based offering, which centers around voice. Webex Contact Center, on the other hand, promotes an omnichannel experience and supports virtual agents.

Jeffrey Schwartz wrote about it.

TBI

The Chicago-based master agency announced two new supplier partners.

Network engineering services provider Imagit joined TBI's squad. It can give proactive support to channel partners. TBI also signed Everstream, which offers a growing fiber network.

Read about TBI's portfolio expansion.

Verizon

The telco added another SD-WAN solution to its portfolio.

Verizon Business now delivers the Unity EdgeConnect managed service from Silver Peak Systems. Verizon is delivering Silver Peak's solution in addition to offerings from Versa Networks and Cisco. 

Read about how the new SD-WAN offering differs.

TPx

The managed services provider is offering a heavily fortified SD-WAN solution.

TPx Communications combined its MSx managed firewall to the Fortinet Secure SD-WAN solution it uses. As a result, partners and customers can get their hands on a solution that integrates network and security.

"Our partners benefit from this because there is no need to try and sell separate firewall, SD-WAN and VPN services to a customer," TPx's senior product manager of MSx managed services.

Get details on the changes.

Granite

Granite Telecommunications launched a managed mobility offering.

Businesses that handle more than 500 mobile lines can utilize the "end-to-end" solution for expense tracking, life cycle management and other features. They will consume Granite Vision as a monthly subscription.

"Since the outbreak began in March, Granite channel managers and solutions specialists have been working with partners and their customers to rapidly enable flexible work environments, leveraging all of our business services. We look forward to driving real productivity through Granite Vision," Granite’s vice president of channel said.

See the story.

Telarus

The Utah-based master agent added a contact center vendor.

Telarus signed an agreement with Ujet, a provider whose solutions target "modern, smartphone-era consumers." Ujet provides in-app support, as well as a virtual agent that uses AI.

Read about the partnership.

Nextiva

The Arizona-based company updated its communications platform.

The revamped NextOS now includes self sign-up and self-configuration. Nextiva boasts that the solution stands alone in the industry by giving its communications platform the combination of voice, business applications, "insight into the customer journey and workflow automations."

"Nextiva’s packages fundamentally offer more value than those from other providers," Nextiva's chief revenue officer said.

See what else NextOS does differently.

Lumen

CenturyLink's enterprise unit, now known as Lumen, announced a service that provides real-time file access.

The Data Access Accelerator managed service helps businesses get hold of data that resides in different parts of the world. Lumen’s senior vice president of indirect sales said organizations typically copy geographically dispersed data. However, that process is costly and risky.

Edward Gately covered the release.

Lifesize

Lifesize gave its CCaaS platform new features.

The company said it has increased integrations to make its CxEngage more scalable and interconnected. The updates include an "intelligent dialer" that more efficiently puts outbound teams in contact with customers. They also include an AI feature that transcribes calls and evaluates agents.

Read about LIfesize in Edward Gately's UC Roundup column.