By Khali Henderson

Microsoft Certified Gold Partner GeniSys Global is
rolling out hosted unified communications solutions that it plans to offer to
other VARs to speed their entry into the space.

The offer includes Microsoft Inc.s Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007
Release 2 (R2), Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Sharepoint, delivered
on-demand via SIP trunking services from IntelePeer Inc. IntelePeers services add local,
long-distance and international calls, Direct inward dialing (DID) connections,
toll-free phone numbers, number porting, directory listings and caller ID to
the service bundle. IntelePeer’s cloud-based infrastructure is certified
interoperable with any Microsoft OCS 2007 R2 deployment, eliminating the need
for additional equipment.

GeniSys has developed a multitenant hosting platform to
deliver a single-sourced Microsoft UC solution that can be deployed in its facilities,
at the customer premises, or by other hosting providers.

Instead of VARs building the solution with servers and
software, we are offering the entire solution bundled,” said David Spears, CEO
of GeniSys Global, in an interview with PHONE+. Spears noted that GeniSys
itself was a traditional partners until 2006 when it started working on putting
software into the cloud. His company has seen firsthand the investment in
infrastructure, systems, licenses, etc., required to become a hosted services
provider and thinks it can jumpstart that effort for other VARs. While GeniSys
will continue to sell direct, it will be more focused on helping other
resellers.

Spears said VARs have two options for white-labeling the
GeniSys Solution. The first option is hosted and managed by GeniSys in its
facilities; the second is hosted in the VARs data center or the customer
premises and managed by the VAR. In either scenario, GeniSys can bill the
customer and remit the VARs portion or the VAR can bill the customer and pay
GeniSys. The primary difference between the two options is the percentage that
each party takes.  For VARs that take the hosted option, their margin is about
10-20 percent; while VARs who take the managed support offer get around 90
percent, Spears said.