Telecom Reseller / Technology Reseller News

By Doug Green

“Many companies don’t even realize they’re out of compliance until someone takes a close look at how customer interactions are actually being handled,” said Todd Chisholm, president of IFT Solutions.

In a recent Technology Reseller News podcast, I spoke with Todd Chisholm, president of IFT Solutions, about the company’s new IFT Fortitude program and why MSPs have an opportunity to bring compliance-focused customer service assessments to business clients in regulated industries.

IFT Solutions operates as a business process outsourcing company, providing services that range from customer service and collections to front-end sales support. The company also brings a consulting practice to the table, helping organizations assess whether their customer-facing operations, whether handled internally or outsourced, are meeting compliance expectations in an increasingly complex regulatory environment.

That consulting expertise is now being packaged into IFT Fortitude, a program designed to let MSPs offer a white-labeled compliance assessment to their end-user customers. The goal is to help businesses determine whether their in-house or outsourced customer service teams are adhering to data privacy and other regulatory requirements.

The timing makes sense. MSPs are increasingly serving customers in verticals where compliance is not optional, yet many of those customers may not realize how exposed they are. A company might have solid intentions and good people in place, but still fall short because processes have evolved unevenly, vendors have changed, or customer interactions are not being reviewed through a compliance lens. In many cases, risk builds quietly in day-to-day operations until an audit, complaint, or incident reveals the gap.

Chisholm explained that this is where the MSP can provide more than technology support. By working with IFT, partners can bring a practical assessment service into customer accounts and help identify weaknesses before they become business problems. That creates a new advisory conversation for the MSP while addressing a real operational need for the customer.

The Fortitude program is especially relevant in markets where customer communications are tightly tied to privacy, documentation, and process controls. Financial services is an obvious fit, but the broader opportunity extends to any organization handling sensitive customer information or operating in a regulated environment. Healthcare, insurance, and other service-intensive verticals are also likely candidates.

For partners, the program offers a way to add value without having to build a compliance practice from scratch. IFT provides the assessment framework and expertise, while the MSP can position the service under its own brand and bring it to existing customers as part of a broader trusted advisor relationship.

The larger message from the conversation is that compliance is becoming a business operations issue as much as a legal or technical one. Customer service processes, scripts, escalation paths, and outsourced workflows all matter. MSPs that help customers see that more clearly may find a strong opening for new services and deeper client engagement.

For channel partners looking to expand beyond traditional IT support, IFT Fortitude points to a useful direction: practical, white-labeled services that help customers reduce risk while strengthening the MSP’s role in the account.

Learn more: https://telecomreseller.com/2026/04/21/integrated-financial-technologies-launches-ift-fortitude-to-assess-customer-service-compliance/

By Doug Green

“We started our business to help these independents, give them the technology not just to compete but to level the playing field.”

In a recent Technology Reseller News podcast, I spoke with Ellie Katz, CEO of National Retail Solutions, about a shift that is opening new opportunities for independent retailers. The conversation focused on how kiosks and delivery platform integrations with services such as DoorDash, Uber, Uber Eats, and Grubhub are helping bodegas, tiendas, corner stores, and other neighborhood retailers reach customers in ways once associated more with larger chains and restaurant brands.

What stood out in the discussion was the scale of the opportunity. Katz noted that many smaller retailers are generating meaningful business through these platforms, showing that digital commerce is no longer reserved for national brands or big-box operators. For local stores, the combination of ordering technology, delivery access, and customer convenience is changing what is possible.

Katz framed this as part of the original mission behind National Retail Solutions. The company, he said, was built to equip independent retailers with tools that help them operate more competitively in a changing market. That now includes much more than traditional point-of-sale functionality. It means giving store owners access to the kinds of commerce, fulfillment, and customer-engagement tools that can help them serve modern buying habits.

The discussion also highlighted an important change in how people should think about small retail. Consumers increasingly expect convenience, digital ordering, and delivery options everywhere. As Katz explained, independent stores are proving they can meet those expectations when the right technology is put in place. That is helping smaller operators strengthen customer relationships and participate more fully in the on-demand economy.

For the channel, the message is clear. There is a real opportunity in helping independent retailers adopt practical, revenue-producing technology. What once may have seemed out of reach for a neighborhood store is now becoming part of a broader digital toolkit.

National Retail Solutions is positioning itself at the center of that change, helping independents use technology not simply to keep up, but to compete on a far more level field.

Learn more: https://nrsplus.com/

AudioCodes’ Gidi Adlersberg on VOCA CIC, Customer Experience, and the Practical Path to Better Service, Podcast, For the channel, that creates a meaningful opportunity. Partners and MSPs are looking for ways to bring AI to market in forms customers can understand, deploy, and measure. AudioCodes is making the case that conversational AI can be monetized when it is tied to practical use cases, clear service improvements, and better day-to-day communications performance.

@Doug Green

“Let’s empower them to be confident in being able to provide good service,” said Gidi Adlersberg, Head of the VOCA CIC business line at AudioCodes.

In a recent Technology Reseller News podcast, I spoke with Adlersberg about how conversational AI is being applied in real enterprise environments and how channel partners and MSPs can monetize AI while improving both customer experience and employee experience.

AudioCodes is well known in the market as a voice company with deep roots in enterprise communications infrastructure. As Adlersberg explained, the company spans everything from connectivity to AI, serving enterprises, service providers, and channel partners with both traditional voice infrastructure and newer voice AI solutions. That broad background gives AudioCodes a practical perspective on where AI fits and where it can deliver measurable value.

A key theme in the discussion was that many customer service journeys today are still frustrating by design. Too often, callers are routed through systems intended to keep them from ever reaching a live person, even when the recorded prompts suggest otherwise. That disconnect between what companies say and what customers actually experience creates friction, dissatisfaction, and missed opportunities.

Adlersberg said AudioCodes is focused on addressing those pain points step by step. Rather than claiming to solve every behavioral issue directly, the company’s approach is to remove the obstacles that keep employees from delivering the service customers actually need. The goal is to make teams more confident, more responsive, and better equipped to handle the calls that matter.

That is where the broader value of VOCA CIC comes into view. The platform is not simply about adding AI for its own sake. It is about helping organizations improve outcomes in both CX and EX, customer experience and employee experience, by using AI in ways that are grounded in the reality of business communications.

For the channel, that creates a meaningful opportunity. Partners and MSPs are looking for ways to bring AI to market in forms customers can understand, deploy, and measure. AudioCodes is making the case that conversational AI can be monetized when it is tied to practical use cases, clear service improvements, and better day-to-day communications performance.

This conversation is part of an ongoing series with AudioCodes on conversational AI and the customer calling experience. What continues to stand out is that AudioCodes is approaching the market not as an AI newcomer, but as a company extending long-established voice expertise into a new generation of intelligent communications.

Learn more: www.audiocodes.com

By Doug Green

“Deterministic is more black and white, and we feel that it’s a much better approach, not only from a scalability and cost perspective, but also it has a lot greater efficacy.”  In this CCA podcast, I spoke with Gerry Christensen, associate founder of ICA AI, about the company’s approach to AI-driven communications and the growing interest it is seeing following the MVNO show in Miami. The conversation offered a useful look at how ICA AI is positioning itself in a crowded AI market by focusing on a more structured and predictable model for communications technology.

Christensen began by explaining that ICA stands for Intelligent Communications Assistant. At its core, ICA AI is a technology and infrastructure company applying AI to communications in a way that is designed to be practical, scalable, and dependable. Rather than leaning on the probabilistic models that dominate much of today’s AI conversation, Christensen said the company is focused on deterministic AI.

That distinction is central to ICA AI’s message. Christensen described deterministic AI as more “black and white,” arguing that it provides clearer and more reliable outcomes than systems based primarily on probabilities. In his view, that creates important advantages not only in cost and scalability, but also in overall effectiveness. For communications environments, where trust and accuracy matter, that difference can be significant.

The point becomes even more relevant in industry verticals where privacy and security are essential. Christensen cited areas such as financial services and healthcare, where organizations need communications technologies that can operate with a higher degree of certainty and control. In those settings, AI is not simply about automation or novelty. It must support real business processes while meeting serious operational and compliance expectations.

The discussion also reflected growing market interest in ICA AI’s approach. Coming out of the MVNO show in Miami, Christensen suggested that the company is seeing momentum as service providers and industry participants look for practical AI solutions that fit within real telecom infrastructure. That is an important signal in a market that is still working to separate useful, deployable AI from broader hype.

What makes ICA AI’s story worth watching is that it points to a different framing for AI in telecom. The opportunity is not just to make systems more automated. It is to make communications systems more trusted, more predictable, and better aligned with the requirements of industries where errors and ambiguity carry real consequences.

This podcast continues an important conversation about where AI is headed in telecom and why the next phase may be defined less by flashy claims and more by dependable outcomes.

Chitra Nawbatt, author of The CodeBreaker Mindset™ and creator and host of The CodeBreaker Mindset™ show, spoke with Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, about how artificial intelligence is reshaping the workforce—and why leaders need to rethink long-held assumptions about jobs, productivity, and human potential.

Nawbatt challenged the common narrative that AI alone is responsible for job displacement, suggesting instead that many workforce changes were already underway and are now being accelerated by technology. “AI isn’t creating the disruption—it’s exposing and accelerating decisions that were already in motion,” she explained.

The conversation focused on the need for a new mindset—what Nawbatt calls the “CodeBreaker Mindset”—which encourages individuals and organizations to adapt, question assumptions, and embrace continuous learning. Rather than viewing AI as a threat, she emphasized the importance of understanding how to work alongside it, leveraging its capabilities while strengthening uniquely human skills such as creativity, judgment, and empathy.

Nawbatt also discussed how businesses must rethink talent strategies, moving beyond traditional roles and job descriptions to more fluid, skills-based approaches. This shift requires leaders to invest in upskilling and to create cultures that support experimentation and innovation.

As AI continues to transform industries, Nawbatt’s perspective offers a clear message: success will depend less on resisting change and more on developing the mindset to navigate it effectively.

Learn more about The CodeBreaker Mindset™: https://www.chitranawbatt.com/

“Think of it as the easy button—if you don’t want to deal with the complexity, we can take care of it for you,” says Jake Jacoby, CEO of TELCLOUD.

In the latest episode of the TELCLOUD POTS and Shots Podcast Series, Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, speaks with Jacoby about a critical but often overlooked element of POTS replacement: billing, compliance, and selling the service—not just the infrastructure.

As legacy copper lines are phased out globally, businesses must replace POTS lines that support life-safety and mission-critical systems such as fire alarms, elevators, security panels, and emergency phones. While much of the conversation has focused on technology and deployment, Jacoby explains that billing and regulatory compliance can be just as important—and just as complex.

Because POTS replacement services fall under telecommunications regulations, partners who wish to bill customers directly must meet strict requirements, including registering as a 499 filer with the FCC and implementing sophisticated tax and billing engines capable of calculating and remitting federal, state, and local telecom taxes correctly.

Jacoby notes that many partners initially underestimate this complexity. “You can’t just mark it up and bill it,” he explains. “You have to be a registered telco, and you have to get the taxes right.” For organizations not prepared to take on this responsibility, TELCLOUD offers a streamlined alternative.

Through its full-service, white-label model, TELCLOUD acts as the registered telecom provider, handling billing, tax compliance, and reporting on behalf of the partner. This allows MSPs and trusted advisors to focus on customer relationships while remaining fully compliant. For partners already operating as telecom providers, TELCLOUD also supports a wholesale model that allows them to manage billing independently.

The approach reinforces TELCLOUD’s core strategy: enabling partners to sell a fully managed service, rather than navigating the complexities of infrastructure, regulation, and billing on their own. At the same time, the partner retains full ownership of the customer relationship, ensuring continuity and long-term account growth.

As copper shutdowns accelerate, Jacoby emphasizes that the opportunity extends across the entire channel—from experienced telecom providers to MSPs entering the space for the first time. With flexible engagement models and built-in compliance support, TELCLOUD is helping partners quickly bring reliable POTS replacement solutions to market.

The episode concludes with the series’ signature Shots segment, where Jacoby highlights Cenote Reposado, a traditionally crafted sipping tequila praised for its quality and accessibility—continuing the series’ blend of telecom insight and tequila appreciation.

For more information, visit telcloud.com or call 844-900-2270.

By Doug Green

“V70 is the kind of release that shows how fast business communications is evolving—and how Vodia is evolving with it.”

In this Technology Reseller News podcast, I spoke with Eric Altman of Vodia about the company’s new PBX V70 release and why it matters for partners, service providers and the broader business communications market. Vodia develops phone system software and sells through the channel, with partners combining the software with SIP trunks, phones and related services to deliver complete solutions to customers. The platform can be deployed in the cloud or on premises, although cloud deployment continues to be the dominant direction for the market.

What stands out about V70 is that this is not just another version update. Vodia is positioning it as a major redesign, led by a completely revamped Admin Portal built for speed, clarity and easier day-to-day management. The company says the new interface is designed to help administrators find settings faster, make changes more confidently and manage one tenant or hundreds with less friction and fewer errors.

The AI story is also central to the release. Vodia says V70 brings built-in AI capabilities into the core platform experience, including AI-assisted PBX administration, AI voice agents and automation designed to reduce repetitive setup work. On the V70 page, the company describes AI as a way to turn routine configuration into a more conversational process, while also improving call handling through digital receptionist capabilities and intelligent workflows.

That is an important point for the channel. The value proposition around business communications is no longer only about voice. It is increasingly about visibility, automation and control. V70 adds real-time dashboards, customizable wallboards, agent activity views, queue analytics and call recording and transcription tools that give partners and customers more insight into system performance and user activity.

There are also practical enhancements aimed squarely at operational efficiency. Vodia says V70 includes smarter alerts, multicore and multithreaded performance improvements, centralized provisioning, system snapshots, cross-tenant presence and WhatsApp integration as an additional messaging channel. Taken together, those additions show a platform that is being shaped not just for core telephony, but for broader communications management in modern customer and business environments.

For MSPs, resellers and service providers, that makes this release especially relevant. A platform that is easier to administer, stronger under load and increasingly infused with AI gives partners more ways to differentiate their offers and support customers at scale. The larger takeaway from my conversation with Altman is that Vodia sees the PBX evolving into something more intelligent and more operationally valuable than the traditional phone systems of the past.

Learn more at: https://web.vodia.com/pbx-v70

“Some of them have been around for over a hundred years and it’s antiquated technology.”

That was how Rob Garry, founder of The POTS Box, described the legacy POTS line problem in a recent Technology Reseller News podcast with Doug Green. It was a concise way of capturing both the age of the infrastructure and the urgency of the opportunity now facing partners and customers alike.

Garry made clear that this is not a narrow or fading issue. Instead, he presented POTS replacement as a broad-based managed services opportunity for resellers and partners serving organizations that still depend on legacy copper lines for critical functions. As he explained, “We’ve put together a managed service for replacing old POTS lines… and we’ve put a program in to enable resellers and partners to do it with their end user customers.”

That combination of need and enablement is what makes the market significant. Many businesses and facilities continue to rely on old analog lines for systems that cannot simply be ignored or switched off. In many cases, the infrastructure behind those services is not just old, but rooted in an earlier era of communications. As Doug Green noted during the interview, some of these systems reflect technologies that date back nearly a century.

The conversation positioned The POTS Box as a practical answer to that reality. Rather than treating POTS replacement as a one-off hardware transaction, the company has built a managed service approach designed to simplify the transition away from copper while helping partners deliver that change to their customers in a structured way.

That matters for the channel. POTS replacement is not just a matter of removing obsolete technology. It is an opportunity to solve a real operational problem for customers while creating ongoing value through service, support, and modernization. For partners, that means a chance to step into a pressing need with a solution that is understandable, necessary, and tied to long-term infrastructure change.

The interview also served as a useful reminder that, while much of the technology industry’s attention is currently focused on AI and cybersecurity, there are still major opportunities in helping customers address older foundational systems that no longer fit current realities. POTS replacement remains one of those opportunities: concrete, urgent, and widely relevant across many customer environments.

For partners looking for a broad-based opportunity with real-world customer impact, Garry’s message was straightforward. The need is still here, the infrastructure is still aging, and the market for replacement remains active.

Learn more: The POTS Box: https://thepotsbox.com/

By Doug Green

“Culture over capital wins.”

That was one of the defining ideas in my recent Technology Reseller News podcast with Tyler Merritt of UneeQ, and it captures a major shift now underway in AI. The conversation took place as UneeQ announced new internal results that point to an estimated 127x return on its AI investment and a broader operating framework for companies looking to turn AI into measurable business value.

In the podcast, the discussion centered on something many companies are still trying to figure out: how to move beyond AI experimentation and actually monetize it. UneeQ’s announcement argues that the winners in this next phase will not necessarily be the largest or best-funded organizations, but the ones that can adapt fastest and build AI into daily operations.

According to UneeQ, the company has achieved these results with fewer than 50 employees, while unlocking an estimated $4.2 million in annual capacity revenue. The point, however, is larger than the numbers alone. UneeQ is making the case that AI changes how work gets done, how teams are structured, and how quickly a company can move when it is no longer limited by traditional workflow boundaries.

The company points to several specific operational gains. These include 30 to 50 percent faster structured document production, up to a 90 percent reduction in manual reporting effort, and engineering output gains that UneeQ estimates at three to ten times through AI-augmented workflows. Just as importantly, UneeQ says non-technical team members are now able to build functional automations, reflecting a broader shift in capability across the organization.

UneeQ has also formalized six internal principles to guide adoption across the company: AI competence, personal growth ownership, critical thinking, output accountability, ethical use, and data protection. That part of the announcement is especially important. It suggests that the company sees AI not as a replacement for judgment, but as a force multiplier that still requires human responsibility and discipline.

For the Technology Reseller News audience, the message is clear. AI is moving from demo to operating strategy. Organizations that can connect AI to workflow, accountability, and revenue may be in a much stronger position than companies that are still treating it as a side project.

As Tyler put it, “The companies that win in the AI era will not be the biggest, they will be the fastest to adapt.” That may be the defining lesson here. The competitive edge may no longer go automatically to the largest enterprise. It may go to the company that can change its culture, move quickly, and make AI part of the way work actually gets done.

Learn more: https://www.digitalhumans.com/blog/uneeq-reveals-staggering-ai-roi-2026

David Turner, Vice President of Global Number Intelligence at TransUnion, spoke with Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, about the company’s new Digital Business Profile solution and its role in helping small businesses improve visibility, accuracy, and trust in an AI-driven search environment.

Turner explained that while large enterprises have long benefited from sophisticated SEO and digital presence tools, small businesses have lacked affordable, easy-to-use solutions. TransUnion’s Digital Business Profile addresses this gap by providing a centralized portal where businesses can input and manage their core information—hours, services, locations, and more—and distribute it across approximately 80 platforms. “It really comes down to simplicity and affordability—giving even the smallest business the ability to be properly represented,” Turner said.

The conversation highlighted how the rise of AI-driven search is reshaping digital discovery. Instead of relying on a handful of major platforms, AI systems now pull data from a wide range of sources, making consistency across all listings critical. TransUnion’s platform ensures that verified, trusted data is distributed broadly, improving both search accuracy and business rankings while reducing the burden on business owners.

Trust and security are central to the solution. Turner noted that inaccurate or fraudulent listings—such as keyword stuffing or fake business identities—can harm both consumers and legitimate businesses. By verifying business identities and maintaining trusted integrations with major platforms, TransUnion helps protect users while preserving business reputations. This approach also aligns with the company’s broader trusted communications initiatives, including branded calling and robocall mitigation.

TransUnion is bringing the solution to market through both direct channels and partnerships, including telecom providers and MSPs that can bundle the service into their offerings. By combining identity management, search visibility, and trusted communications, the Digital Business Profile represents a new step in extending enterprise-grade capabilities to the small business market.

Learn more about TransUnion: http://www.transunion.com/business