By Khali Henderson

BullsEye Telecom announced Tuesday a new agent agreement that notably allows partners to select their commission plan on a deal-by-deal basis.

Partners can choose from four payout options, including residual, one-time, upfront and a combination residual/one-time, by simply checking a box on the order form. “Partners are not pigeon-hold into one compensation methodology,” said Tim Basa, BullsEye’s vice president of sales.

Company executives said the new plan will enable it to better meet the needs of its partner base over time, e.g. accommodating new agents that need immediate cash flow as well as established agents looking for recurring commissions with one agreement. It also enables them to better serve IT and telecom VARs that are used to upfront compensation models.

In addition, the  BullsEye agent contract, which has been reduced from 23 pages to 13, includes simplified language and policies as well as summaries of commission and incentive payout schedules. Another change is that long-term incentives have been baked into the contract so partners are rewarded as sales volumes grow.

Partners “don’t need to be a mathematician to figure out how to get paid,” said Basa. Like many carrier organizations, BullsEye has revised its agent contract many times over the years such that multiple versions and addendums are active, making them difficult to manage for BullsEye and its partners.

Basa said existing partners will be encouraged to sign the new agreement for all business going forward. Signing the new agreement will not impact business that already has been sold. Partners will not be forced to sign the new contract, but the company is expecting most partners will find its terms advantageous. BullsEye expect to convert all agent contracts by the end of the year.

Basa said the plan also aligns with the company’s broad product offering. He admits that BullsEye has pushed its national multilocation POTS play, but it has a more comprehensive service that appeals to small and medium-sized businesses that operate locally and regionally with as few as one location.

In March the company rolled out its hosted VoIP bundle for small businesses that includes digital voice lines, IP phones, hosted IP PBX and auto attendant, analog lines, Internet access, network monitoring, mobility and UC features, 3G wireless failover. Additional options include managed VPN, firewall, data security and PCI assurance. The platform comes in phone configurations of two, four, eight and 12.