By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor

A recently-announced program from Phone (News - Alert).com is designed to enlist independent sales agents and value-added resellers to sell or deploy alternatives to premise-based telephone systems.

Phone.com provides Voice over Internet services for small businesses. Company officials say the recently-announced Channel Partner (News - Alert) Program is "designed with today's professional sales agents and value-added resellers in mind," offering fees as well as a recurring percentage from sales.

Ari Rabban, Phone.com (News - Alert) CEO, observed that while independent sales agents provide an important service to business customers throughout the United States, Phone.com "recognizes that there have been few products for IP telephony available for agents to sell to customers with lower-end requirements of two to forty phone lines."

He explained that this program has been created to address that need, and to "contribute to their successes."

Phone.com Virtual Office is a small business virtual PBX (News - Alert) phone system that lets an agent's clients or customers decide where and how calls are routed. They can be provided with a toll free 1 800 number, vanity number, any local area code number, or even transfer ("port") their existing number.

As Phone.com officials explain it, "every caller who dials that number can be greeted by a professional auto attendant that will guide each call to the correct extension or destination."

They're pitching the service by saying these features have been available to larger businesses, "but now can be offered to businesses of all sizes, using existing Internet connectivity wherever possible."

Giving a quick rundown of the benefits CPP offers to sales partners, they mentioned a multi-faceted agent compensation plan, recognized name and market leader in SMB hosted PBX and cloud communications, a "financially successful partner" and comprehensive suite of services, features, and equipment for cloud communications.

They also offer a private web portal for CPP members.