Make no mistake, your customers already are hearing about the impending exhaustion of IPv4 addresses, and while everything that has been deployed on the IPv4 Internet will continue to function as expected, future growth depends on widespread deployment of the next version of the Internet protocol: IPv6. This session was created to provide valueadded distributors with the information they’ll need to protect their customers, as well as their reputations as technology specialists, during the transition to and eventual dominance of IPv6.

Changes in technology and an increasingly competitive environment means agents need more from resellers than a discounted price on minutes and bytes. Increasingly, distributors require resellers to provide multiplatform, multisource customer solutions and improved service levels. Our panel of experienced industry personalities will discuss the benefits resellers must now provide to agents, customers and carriers; whether all resellers are the same; how this sector’s growth can be sustained; as well as many other questions and issues facing this sector of the channel.

Come take part in this interactive session discussing the ins and outs of agent agreements with particular emphasis on permitting session attendees to ask questions in an open forum atmosphere. Our panel of experts, representing all sides typically involved in agreement negotiations, will place particular emphasis on the best practices all agents should consider, commonly made mistakes and things to avoid, and how changes in technology and the business climate have altered the traditional relationships between suppliers and distributors.

Despite any economic downturn, demand for data center services remains strong. Revenue opportunities exist for agents and VARs that are able to gain an understanding of how adding collocation and hosting to service offering can improve a value proposition. This presentation will strike a balance between the technical aspects and the sales opportunities of collocation and managed hosting. Along with covering the various products and services, which range from simply housing, powering and protecting equipment to comprehensive managed hosting packages, the presentation will discuss sales strategies that can be readily implemented into an existing client base, allowing distributors to tap into this market segment.

4G is no longer a future technology; it’s here, and it will be disruptive. This session was created to help valueadded distributors understand who the 4G technology players are, explain what 4G can replace and what it can supplement, offer solutions they can sell to their customers and show how to protect their customers from direct reps. Come and learn how to make 40 Gs with 4G.

Sure, there are some instances when seeing someone facetoface is the only way to achieve your business goals, but sometimes making the commute is not feasible – one simply can’t always control outside factors such as severe weather, illness or budget restraints. In order to maintain continuity and success in the workplace, especially when the unexpected occurs, companies can implement a travel reduction plan that utilizes key collaboration tools to ensure communication continues under any circumstances. As an alternative to travel, meeting virtually can help you better manage expenses, plan for the unexpected and ultimately improve productivity in the workplace. In this session, we will outline the steps to building a successful travel reduction plan, including establishing program objectives, goals and timing; developing the plan and creating travel alternatives; presenting and gathering support for the proposal; promoting, training and adopting the plan; and evaluating program findings to measure results.

In the legacy environment, value added distributors looking to launch branded voice services faced significant hurdles – from taxation and regulatory requirements to billing, network operations, support services and more. But the adoption of VoIP dramatically lowers many of these barriers, creating huge opportunities for the channel. This panel will discuss white label voice opportunities not only for agents, master agencies and other traditional voice distributors but also for PBX and equipment VARs, network integrators, data network resellers, managed hosting/data center companies and just about any organizations with an affiliate client base. Indeed, the logical “telco of the future” is the company that has the closest relationship with the end customer, regardless of its core business.

Looking to beef up your Internet marketing program without breaking the bank? Telecom business owners attending this session with learn to efficiently maximize their Web sites and Web presences on a budget. Tactics to be discussed include organic search engine optimization, payperclick campaigns, email marketing, quality content development and littleknown resources that can boost a brand. Session attendees will take away some impactful and focused doityourself tips that can be applied to any email or Internet marketing strategy at little or no cost.

A SIP trunk can be much more than a PRI replacement. It’s also a path by which a business can be SIPenabled for all types of services, such as video, security and more. A panel of SIP veterans will discuss how a super SIP trunk can add value to a business and help create bundles specifically for a vertical market that increase productivity and distributors MRC.

The Wideband Era BeginsWith the advent of DOCSIS 3.0 technology – the basis for the cable operator’s networks – todays cable Internet users are discovering blazing fast connection speeds launched or being launched in various markets across the U.S. Wideband IP transport products can provide businesses with significantly faster Internet speeds, allowing for more efficiency and increased productivity for highcapacity bandwidth applications. Customers can propel themselves into the nextgeneration of the Internet with speeds up to 50 Mbps. This session will provide distributors with the necessary background on wideband technology and its opportunities in the SMB segment.

A member of the TNCI executive team for 12 years, Twomey has more than 27 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. As TNCI’s president since 2000, he directly oversees all strategic direction, product management, technology development, sales relationships, marketing, finance and business operations. Twomey led TNCI in the development of the groundbreaking Agent Equity Plan and the deployment of the TNCInet private IP network. Twomey held a position on the Phone+ Channel Partners Advisory Board and was named Channel Executive of the Year in 2008 by Phone+. Prior to joining TNCI, Twomey gained executive experience in sales, marketing, financial management, product development and network planning disciplines through positions held at AT&T, NYNEX now Verizon, Sprint, McCaw Cellular now Cingular and FaxNet.

It doesn’t take an MBA to know the risks of having too many eggs in one basket. In other words, valueadded distributors that rely to heavily on a limited number of products or partners could find themselves in a precarious situation, particularly during these times of ongoing consolidation and rapid M&A activity. Our panel of veteran distributors and resellers will discuss strategies for diversifying partners’ revenue streams, in terms of both new and emerging products, as well as nonconventional business models.

Responsibility for driving all sales, marketing and channel efforts within Business Markets, Foster joined MegaPath in 2000, where he led the sales and marketing activities that grew company revenue more than 10fold. Foster also has been instrumental in increasing MegaPaths focus and investment in the channel. He has been named a CRN Channel Chief for two consecutive years and is on the PHONE+ Channel Partners Advisory Board. Prior to joining MegaPath, he was President and CEO of Phoenix Networks. Before that, he served as Vice President of Consumer Markets at Rhythms NetConnections, where he managed the companys successful launch and growth in the consumer market. Prior to Rhythms, Foster was a Partner and Vice President of Marketing for Analysis Group, Inc., a leading international managementconsulting firm, where he consulted for both startup and established companies to create and implement strategies in the telecommunications, Internet, hightech and consumer product industries.

Two things that all businesses need are communications and power. For distributors of communications services, the transition to becoming a “utility agent” does not have to be a difficult shift. Truly a commodity service, energy resale requires no network design and no provisioning, while the bill and technical support is delivered by the incumbent provider. What’s more, it’s increasingly the CIO who is making energy decisions. In this session, representatives of energy services companies will discuss the energy resale opportunities for communications distributors, as well as the ongoing convergence between communications and power via CPE.

With AT&Ts petition to the FCC to shut off the PSTN in five years, channel partners must start migrating from a TDM, “BellHead” plugnplay approach to a “NetHead,” IP communications mentality. A certain amount of knowledge of IP service offerings and how IP can work, whether across a WAN or across the Internet, is required. This session will touch on the vast differences between the current TDM approach and the migration that has to happen in the agent community.

As margins in the telecom industry continue to shrink, the need for automation grows in order to strengthen the channel. The transactional products like T1s are becoming a commodity and cannot be dealt with as they were in the past. And as many partners abandon these products much as they have done with POTS, the opportunity to open the door for larger opportunities often disappears. Automation in the channel allows partners to stay profitable, be more intelligent about opportunities and move upstream by focusing on larger opportunities.