Client Overview:
GigTel, a unified communications-as-a-service (UCaaS) provider based in Cloverdale, Indiana, has a history in their state that began well before the advent of modern cloud communications. GigTel’s parent company, Endeavor Communications, is a local exchange carrier with coverage throughout western and southwestern Indiana. Founded in 1950, Endeavor offers residential and business communications service, fiber-based internet service, as well as managed IT solutions across the US. The company has won multiple awards for its fiber speed and is proud to serve over 16,000 customers throughout their region. Over their long history, Endeavor has invested over $110 million in infrastructure upgrades and fiber optic technology.
Opportunities and Challenges:
While Endeavor’s LEC and Managed IT businesses have performed well and are highly rated, the company’s board of directors knew that they had to look at other avenues of profitable revenue growth. With the launch of GigTel in 2019, the company created a new UCaaS, CCaaS, and mobility business unit that helped them grow their revenues.
“Endeavor Communications built GigTel to capitalize on the growing demand for cloud communications, leverage technological advancements in the growing UCaaS field, diversify its portfolio of offerings, and add an additional stream of revenue,” said Thomas Forajter, VP of Operations at GigTel. “With this strategic move, we aimed to propel our growth and provide customers a cutting-edge communications solution that met their evolving needs.”
Despite the high competition levels within UCaaS, GigTel draws on its many years of relationship building and superior customer service to differentiate itself. Specifically, GigTel offers:
- Transparent, competitive pricing
- No seat minimums
- US-based, in-house support
- A fully-featured mobile app
- Contact Center services
While GigTel brought both experience and expertise to the table with their launch of their UCaaS/CCaaS products, they realized that their incumbent billing solution was not well-engineered for this new product line.
Endeavor has used a long-standing billing system that is geared towards the needs of local exchange carriers but does not have the system interoperability or the integrations with tax databases that are critical for service providers that are expanding into new markets and jurisdictions.
GigTel also had the challenge of implementing a channel partner model, with over 60 agents operating in the channel. Their incumbent solution had no way to easily track activity and pay these agents, and the commissions process was a long and arduous one. In anticipation of their channel size growing, GigTel began looking for a different billing solution.
Rev.io stepped in to address this challenge by providing a comprehensive reporting system that automates the tracking of agent activity and streamlines the commission calculation process. This solution eliminates the need for manual spreadsheet updates, saving valuable time and resources for GigTel.
The Solution and Results:
The GigTel team began evaluating new, dedicated platforms for UCaaS/CCaaS in 2019, and had productive dialogue with Rev.io on our billing and back-office solution. While 2020 and the pandemic put a hold on some of these initiatives, GigTel and Rev.io reconnected in late 2021. By automating GigTel’s usage rating, billing, and tax calculations, Rev.io freed up their client to focus on growth initiatives for UCaaS and CCaaS.
After a fast and efficient onboarding process, GigTel activated their Rev.io instance in March 2022, and have seen phenomenal results for both growth and efficiency. Their revenue from UCaaS and CaaS doubled in just over a year on the platform, and the company has been able to seamlessly integrate the billing for new business lines into Rev.io.
Said Forajter, “Rev.io's platform incorporates robust taxation capabilities that can handle the intricacies of out-of-state taxing. The system is designed to automatically calculate taxes based on the specific rules and rates applicable in each jurisdiction. By integrating with Rev.io, we can ensure accurate and compliant tax calculations, regardless of the geographic location of our customers.”
Additionally, GigTel has launched a new UCaaS white label service, taking advantage of the growth in hybrid work by packaging high quality phone, mobility, video, chat, contact center, and other features for deployment by other providers. Using Rev.io’s Bill-on-Behalf product, they are able to easily bill for this growing segment as well.
In reflecting on Rev.io’s overall impact for GigTel, Forajter said, “Rev.io's solution has effectively resolved the challenges faced by GigTel in tracking agent activity and managing commissions as well as billing and tax complications. This improvement streamlines operations, enhances productivity, and positions GigTel for future expansion in their agent channel.”