BullsEye Telecom agents can add a professional services component to their business models, thanks to the reseller’s new partnership with Mako Networks.

Combined with hosted VoIP, POTS management, or broadband and IP VPN, partners can foster customer loyalty and ensure their own long-term compensation stability, said Tim Basa, vice president of sales for BullsEye Telecom.

That’s because Mako specializes in network management for credit card security. With Mako’s help, BullsEye now offers a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)-enablement product that partners can roll out to customers accepting credit card payments. PCI DSS protocols ensure baseline security and help reduce the risk of credit card fraud, but for many businesses, implementing PCI DSS can prove difficult and expensive. Thus, providing PCI DSS-compliance in a managed services framework saves end users hassle and money.

Makos architecture ensures that information is transferred through the cloud from site to site, rather than through its own network. That means better security and higher reliability for IP connectivity to route payment data, the company said. Basa said agents and their clients will be drawn to features such as network redundancy through wireless failover capabilities, IP network infrastructure security and protection, and security for guest Wi-Fi access.

“Our agents can set themselves apart from their competitors based on this professional services capability available through BullsEye,” Basa said.

BullsEye actually has sold PCI-compliant enablement for several years, Basa said. The Mako relationship, however, bolsters those capabilities, he said.

“The entire network security platform is managed,” Basa explained. “We have complete flexibility on programming the system the way the customer would like to administer it.”

So, he added, “the agent can present a solution thats not just fully configured, but also one where BullsEye can act as an extension of the clients IT/telecom team and take away the headache of managing their network. This is particularly important for multiunit operators that want to manage multiple endpoints.”

In terms of agent training, BullsEye has designed a series of Webinars that explain the technology, help partners identify customer pain points and more. The company also will run sales appointments, Basa said.