How RingCentral Went Upmarket is similar to how 8×8 went upmarket.

RC announced its year end financials for 2014 this week: Total revenue for RingCentral for the full year of 2014 was $219.9 million with service revenue accounting for $200 million of it.

“RingCentral Office® is now integrated with Google for Work. Users can click-to-call, send and receive SMS text messages, host web meetings, and video and audio conferences with up to 1,000 people – all within the Google for Work environment.” Following the Verizon VCE strategy of integrating with Google to hit the 5 million businesses using G4W.

Integration is going to be the key differentiator. To step up from replacement voice services, the question will be what software do you use in the office? Okay we integrate with that one (Google for Work) and that one (Zendesk) and that one. And here’s why that will be helpful for you…..

RC CEO Shmunis added, “Our strategy to expand up market and acquire larger customers continues to build momentum, and is contributing meaningfully to our financial results.” Sure, a single 100 seat deal beats 50 SOHO deals any day. It has a multiplier effect.

RC once stated – in a SEC filing – that they would not go for HIPAA compliance. Reverse course: “RC Released a fully HIPAA-compliant RingCentral Office® solution to better serve the large and growing healthcare industry.”

While 8×8 went the Channel partner route to get more Enterprise accounts, RC went after the Duopoly. They ended up landing AT&T, BT, Telus and a few others who would co-market and co-brand the service. Still a channel strategy, just a different one.

It helps that both ITSPs started targeting the mid-market with advertising, webpages, collateral, case studies — and the tools that midmarket looks for — like reporting, analytics, portal, integration, compliance.

Many service providers are adding fiber for fiber-to-the-home or to the business. The most common question I get is how to increase the take rate along the fiber route.

On June 3rd at Noon Eastern Time, I will present a webinar on steps to take to market the fiber. This 45 minute webinar will be just $45 – and your marketing folks should make the investment by registering now:

If you are on Voice Ops listserve, you have seen an interesting thread about Rural Call Completion. The FCC has tried to tackle this problem, but there is too much money in rural calls still.

VZ has devoted a couple of bucks to it, according to a telecompetitor article with some good links. VZ has also set up a RCC Hotline number: (800) 285-3776.

The VZ Policy Blog has the details about the RCC workshop and plan.

Speakeasy has a blocked list. NOTE: ‘Regarding the reference to the Speakeasy link – thank you for bringing this page to our attention. Please be advised that Speakeasy was acquired by MegaPath in 2010. MegaPath does not block rural calls. The link you have referenced is outdated and inaccurate. We are removing that page from the legacy site. We apologize for any confusion.”

Personal notes from many on the list suggest that many VoIP Providers block exchanges, especially to traffic pumpers.

Are you going to FISPA Live in Atlanta on June 17-19? It is the How-To expo for service providers.

My two sessions will be as follows:

Marketing is Not Free! Would you use Fiverr for a router config? Of course not! Why would use the equivalent to market and brand your business? There are costs associated with sales and marketing. We are going to go over them – and why a professional can make a big difference in copywriting, collateral and other components of S&M. (This will include some examples of bad marketing!)

What are You Measuring? An executive look at the metrics we use and if they are the correct metric – or should you be looking at something else. In sales, the means are more important than the end. In revenue, what is a more meaningful number? What is your employee’s time worth?

Save some $$ with this DISCOUNT CODE: R2

“Disruption is always opportunity for the guy who’s on mission,” Co-CEO of Salesforce Safra Catz said.

Jim Collins wrote a couple of books (Good to Great, Built to Last) about mission, but Gaping Void sums it up right here.