Newsletter | Q1 2020

From the CEO’s Desk

There’s Always More We Can Do

Ok, I am going to say it again:  We believe in earning your business each and every day.

With so much uncertainty in the air, I wanted to make one thing crystal clear… The team at PlanetOne has your back and cares about you, as an individual and your business, and we are investing in our mutual success.

From the back office to the front lines, PlanetOne is making it rain across the nation with more automation, better engagement, and a team of solutions specialists who know the ins and outs of using specific technologies to solve for real business outcomes. We want to cut through the chaos, show you the money and make it easier for you to earn more of it!

One of our foundational goals for 2020 is to help you grow the business without worry. And I am not talking about the worry of whether or when you’ll be paid—you know we’re good for that. I am talking about the worry many agents and MSPs have around scaling success. There’s so much opportunity out there and together we can make it happen.

So here’s my ask: Tell us what you’ve got in play and what’s missing. If you’re coming to Las Vegas for Channel Partners Expo March 9-12, let’s spend some time. If not, join us at our Tech Tours or come by the office – Costa Mesa, CA or Scottsdale, AZ.  If travel isn’t happening, let’s go old school and pick up the phone or better yet, schedule a video chat.

There’s always more we can do. Let’s make it happen.

Ted Schuman, Founder/CEO
PlanetOne

Company Name: Bird Rock Systems

Headquarters: San Diego, CA

Website: https://www.birdrockusa.com

Year Founded: 2003

Focus/Services: Bird Rock Systems recognizes that every organization’s networking, wireless and data environments are unique. Leveraging decades of experience, they build advanced technology infrastructure to serve the individual requirements of organizations, and offer world-class customer service, industry-leading technical solutions, and specialized training.

Specializations: Datacenter, security, collaboration and mobility

Bird Rock Systems Teams with Masergy and PlanetOne to Help Acquisitive Company Streamline Communications and Collaboration

San Diego headquartered Bird Rock Systems was recently approached a customer that was experiencing significant growth through acquisition. “The company was finding that with each acquisition, one of the most challenging aspects of onboarding was the integration of disparate phone systems,” said Mark Donelan, Senior Account Manager, Bird Rock Systems. “They needed a more efficient and cost-effective way to ensure seamless communication and collaboration for their employees, while continuing to expand their global footprint.”

Masergy UCaaS Enables Bird Rock to Expand its Business with the Customer

Bird Rock had been working with the customer for a short time already, and was eager to continue to grow the business. “The customer was looking to use for guidance in selecting the best solutions and was keen to know what we use here at Bird Rock,” said Donelan. “We use Masergy and that first-hand experience enabled us to communicate and demonstrate the exceptional value afforded by their UCaaS solution. We have a great relationship with their team, and all agreed that Masergy would meet the unique requirements of the customer.”

Within two months, the customer had migrated more than 300 seats at its headquarters location to Masergy UCaaS, with plans to expand the solution globally in the coming months. “One of the things we appreciate most about Masergy is their ability to help educate the customer and smooth the transition to their solution. It was a virtually seamless roll-out that his now saving the customer time and resources that were previously spent managing, integrating and troubleshooting their previous phone systems.”

PlanetOne Keeps Bird Rock on Track Post-Sales

Bird Rock has been working with PlanetOne for nearly two years and finds the post-sales support to be outstanding. “PlanetOne made a huge difference for us in this particular deal by making sure that the project stayed on track,” said Donelan. “They were constantly in communication with us about the status of the deployment, and where Masergy was at in terms of the roll-out so that we could ensure our customer expectations were being met. PlanetOne really had our back throughout the entire post-sales process.”

Doing Business with PlanetOne Gives Bird Rock a Competitive Edge

One of the reasons that Bird Rock chose to work with PlanetOne is its team’s ability to provide an un-biased opinion when asked for guidance in helping a customer pick the right cloud or connectivity solution for their business. “We are seeing a lot of interest in managed security solutions and SD-WAN. Because they work with so many providers that I am confident when I reach out to PlanetOne, I will get their input on the best options for my meeting my customers’ unique requirements,” said Donelan. “It’s like have access to a huge Rolodex, and that gives us the competitive edge we need to succeed in growing our business.”

Donelan added, “One of the things we also appreciate most about PlanetOne is their timeliness and sense of urgency. I know that I can fully rely on their team as they always deliver on their word.”

For more information on the PlanetOne Partner Program, visit https://www.planetone.net/partner-program/.

Sprint has a long history of providing high performing and reliable wireline solutions to global corporations.  Sprint’s vision is to design, create, and support the most innovative and effective wireline solutions for business customers. To do this, Sprint offers a wide-ranging portfolio of services to customers around the globe covering 195 countries. Our network solutions leverage the Sprint-exclusive Certainty network design model, an intelligent approach to multi-layer network diversity, created to provide maximum network availability and application performance.

As Sprint is invested in the channel we understand the importance of providing channel resources such as top notch engineering and implementation teams that are easily accessible by both agents and customers. We also foster channel friendly convergence through integrated joint selling with direct & indirect sales on new logo opportunities.

With Sprint your customers can take advantage of:

• Reliable, Tier 1 Global network designed to avoid congestion and maximize performance
• Managed services expertise leveraging a white glove customer support model
• Robust network management portal with the insights required to understand performance and address issues (Compass ranked #1 customer portal four of last five years)
• Named 2019 Market Leader for Managed WAN, SD-WAN Services by ISG
• Best in class for Billing (Large Service Provider category) Atlantic ACM North American customer study
• Flexible, access-agnostic connectivity driving optimal service uptime
• Dedicated engineering and implementation team with proven track record of success

Not only does Sprint have network facilities around the globe but also provides in-country support to deliver a high quality account management and customer care experience. Whether you need a traditional global MPLS private network, high performing Internet access, cloud based cyber security or a flexible SD-WAN solution, Sprint will work with you to design the right solution that meets your customer’s specific needs.

sprint.com/partner

sprint.net/network_maps.php

At PlanetOne, we place tremendous value the contributions our employees make to ensure both our success and that of our providers and partners. In our newsletter each quarter, we shine a light on one of our amazing employees. This quarter, we are featuring Jennifer O’Boyle, Senior Partner Success Manager.

Jennifer was born and raised in Pennsylvania and relocated to Arizona where she began her career in the telecom industry. Since that time, she has held a succession of customer service and project coordinator positions for several wireline and wireless partners and carriers.

In 2015, Jennifer joined PlanetOne as a Partner Success Manager and was promoted to Sr. Partner Success Manager, three years later, in 2018. In this role, Jennifer supported PlanetOne sales partners with day-to-day pre-sales and post-sales support, and also managed escalations.

Recently, Jennifer was elevated into a new role where she will be managing back-office efforts with PlanetOne’s larger LEC providers – Verizon, AT&T and CenturyLink.  As part of this new role, she will be deeply embedded in handling many back-office functions for these carriers, including pricing, contract generation, order scrubbing, order fulfillment, tracking and problem resolution.

Jennifer brings uniquely wonderful qualities to PlanetOne and our Partners. Not only does she possess the drive to ensure our partners get the best results, she is also extremely proficient in carrier systems and uncovering easier ways to work with the carriers and their processes. When asked what she would like partners to know about working with her and PlanetOne, Jennifer says:

“I enjoy the day to day interaction with our partners and ensuring that their end clients are receiving superior service. My forte is jumping into what seems like an unresolvable situation and bringing it to full resolution. I really think there is a bit of detective in me – I don’t give up easily and typically won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, especially when I know there has to be a better way. I get great satisfaction from knowing that I found the answer I was looking for. At PlanetOne, we have an awesome team where everyone is willing to help and works wells together, it’s great to be a part of what they’ve built here.”

This quarter our From the Heart initiative was spearheaded by our Costa Mesa office team.

Child Life Services at Choc Children’s Hospital in Orange, CA provides care to children and their families by decreasing emotional trauma, they help calm fears, facilitate play and minimize the stress and loneliness that can be part of a child’s hospital experience.

Child Life Services depends on the community for donations and support, and the team put together and delivered fifty care packages for teenagers fighting cancer as the hospital has a large population of teenagers receiving treatment (teen activity kits are a BIG priority).

Helping those in need and bringing smiles to the faces of children when they need it the most is the most rewarding experience for the PlanetOne From the Heart volunteers.

To find out more about Child Life Services at Choc Hospital, please visit www.choc.org/programs-services/child-life/

To learn about PlanetOne’s From the Heart initiative, please visit www.planetone.net/company/fromtheheart/

Join us for these educational and networking events focusing on emerging technologies, industry trends and valuable product information. Our mission is to enable agents with the knowledge and tools to succeed in the ever-changing world of telecom & IT services. Each Tech Tour stop features executive speakers from our 2020 Preferred Providers, creating valuable engagement with some of highest regarded executives in the industry.

Win great prizes and receive gift packages just for attending. There is no cost to attend and meals are complimentary. These events are exclusively for PlanetOne agents, prospective channel partners and our Preferred Providers.

The PlanetOne Tech Tour 2020 schedule includes the following stops:

To register, visit https://www.planetone.net/2020-tech-tour/. For photos from our previous Tech Tour events, check out our photo album on Facebook.