In a recent interview with UC Today, Soft-ex's Ian Lindsay talks us through multi-platform billing communications and analytics in the age of COVID.

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How many times have you heard the words “new normal” in the past six months?

I bet you can hardly count by now. Most businesses have switched almost entirely to working remotely, and going back to a physical office seems like a far-off reality. But there is one rather significant angle of this new normal that is often overlooked: the one of billing communications. More precisely: how the multi-platform work environment forces a new approach to billing, and how the bill itself is becoming – believe it or not – a revenue generating tool.

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Two Words: Multi-Platform

So what does this new normal have to do with billing communications?

“The new norm is definitely going to be a multi-platform environment, because everybody is using different things,” says Ian Lindsay, SVP Sales at Soft-ex. “I can have video from Zoom, video from Teams, and video from Cisco. It’s essential that I know which part of that has been used the most, and who’s using it the most. Our partner, British Telecom, did a survey of all their enterprise accounts, and saw a result of about 3.5 UC applications and 2.5 video applications on every laptop. And all of that is getting billed”. Lindsay, like most people, believes COVID has simply accelerated existing processes.

“Certainly, all COVID has done is brought those changes forward quicker,” says Lindsay. “Companies had to implement solutions in order to enable remote working, but they’ve had to escalate that procedure. They’ve had to buy new licenses, and they’re not 100% sure how those licenses are being used. So when you get a bill, the last couple of months, it’s been very confusing. Businesses need digital billing tools that will help them deal with this confusion.”

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Billing as a Revenue Generating Tool

How can UC providers and carriers make things less confusing for their customers? That’s where billing communications comes in.

“You need the granularity behind the bill, and partners who are delivering that granularity are becoming almost like a consultant to the customer. They’re being brave enough to actually highlight those changes to their customers, and then sit down with them and make the recommendations that need to be made. These things all lead to customer retention at the end of the day. It’s that granularity that makes the bill a retention tool. It enhances customer engagement and the transparency increases loyalty. When we’re talking about the new UC channels that we see developing, those aren’t only the large carriers,” says Lindsay. “It’s the smaller, mid-sized system integrators that are providing bundles of services to their customers: hosted voice, SIP channels, broadband. They’re delivering an entire service to them. So the question is: how do they present a bill to the customer in such a way that the bill becomes a retention tool, and even a revenue-generating tool.”

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Turning the bill into a revenue-generating tool might sound like a complicated magic trick, but in fact, it’s rather simple:

“The provider can use bill analytics to say: Look, your international calls are increasing every month to America, so let’s get you on a better tariff. Or: These are your unused handsets, so let’s get rid of those, reduce your costs, but then look at something else to replace that. And so on and so forth. So the analytics become essential, both for the provider and for the end user. They create that visibility in order to make the bill a means of providing key observations, KPIs that prompt action.”

But how do you manage to provide customers with all those analytics when dealing with multiple UC platforms?

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The Solution: Cross-Platform Billing Analytics

"The Soft-ex platform is meant to do just that. One of our unique selling points is, whilst most of the providers out there (Teams, Zoom, Cisco, etc.) have their own basic analytics packages, they will never be able to cater for cross-platform analytics integrated to the digital bill,” says Lindsay. “If you’ve got multiple platforms, you have to be able to determine a standard quality of service, and then report against that across all of those platforms, get an overall picture of your network, rather than just your Teams network or your Webex network."

Lindsay continues, "Soft-ex provides the ability to present multi-platform analytics through a single pane of glass. The Soft-ex solution is meant mainly for the UC providers and the carriers – we sell it to them, so that they can use it to present the bill to their customers. This platform actually allows me to see all of my customers in a single window and profile them. I can see how many handsets they’ve got, what they’re using, which account is up this month, which accounts are down this month. Our ability to do this cross-platform means that it doesn’t matter whether a provider is providing their customers with six platforms or one platform – we will take all of that in and provide analytics across all of those platforms. I think the critical thing about the UC environment is that it’s multi-platform, and always will be multi-platform,” says Lindsay. “No one has committed to a single platform so far. And frankly, I don’t think they ever will”.

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WidePoint Corporation (NYSE American: WYY), the leading provider of Trusted Mobility Management (TM2) specializing in Telecommunications Lifecycle Management, Identity Management (IdM) and Digital Billing & Analytics solutions, today reported results for the third quarter September 30, 2020.

Third Quarter 2020 and Recent Operational Highlights:

• Secured more than $11 million in contract wins, exercised option periods, and contract extensions during the third quarter of 2020, approximately $10 million of which is comprised of new business and new extensions
• Successfully onboarded Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (Virginia ABC) after being awarded a new contract for TEM services
• Number of U.S. Department of Defense digital certificates issued increased 14% sequentially from the second quarter of 2020 and 15% year-over-year from the third quarter of 2019, leading to an increase in high margin Identity Management revenue
• Responded to the request for proposal and provided oral presentation to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding the Cellular Wireless Managed Services (CWMS) II contract re-compete
• Effectuated 1-for-10 reverse stock split on November 6, 2020 to better position the Company for long-term success.

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Third Quarter 2020 Financial Highlights (results compared to the same year-ago period):

• Revenues increased 94% to $57.5 million
• Managed Services revenue increased 38% to $12.5 million
• Gross profit increased 30% to $5.6 million
• Net income totaled $1.1 million
• EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, increased 102% to $1.6 million
• Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, increased 82% to $1.7 million.

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Nine Month 2020 Financial Highlights (results compared to the same year-ago period):

• Revenues increased 106% to $152.0 million
• Managed Services revenue increased 37% to $33.8 million
• Gross profit increased 24% to $15.6 million
• Net income totaled $2.0 million
• EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, increased 84% to $3.8 million
• Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, increased 69% to $4.4 million.

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The following statements are forward-looking, and actual results could differ materially depending on market conditions and the factors set forth under the “Safe Harbor Statement” below.

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Financial Outlook

For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020, the Company is reiterating its revenue guidance of $185 million to $195 million, which at the midpoint of the range, would represent 87% growth year-over-year. The Company is also reiterating the EBITDA guidance it updated on October 26, 2020 of $4.7 million to $4.9 million, which at the midpoint, is 50% above the Company’s previously issued EBITDA guidance and represents a 69% year-over-year increase compared to fiscal 2019. For fiscal 2020, the Company also anticipates adjusted EBITDA, which excludes stock-based compensation expense, to range between $5.5 million to $5.7 million, which, at the midpoint, represents a 57% year-over-year increase compared to fiscal 2019. The EBITDA forecast takes into consideration the Company’s planned strategic investments in sales and marketing and product development. The Company’s financial outlook is based on current expectations.

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Management Commentary

“Thanks to the work of our dedicated personnel and the flexibility we built into our organization, we continued to build on the momentum established in the first half of the year and produced record financial results for the third quarter of 2020,” said WidePoint’s CEO, Jin Kang. “For the third quarter, our total revenues increased to $57.5 million, largely driven by our increased work on the U.S. Census 2020 as well as expansions with other federal government customers, and perhaps more importantly, our high margin managed services revenues increased 38% year-over-year. That increase helped drive $1.1 million in net income for the third quarter, which is almost five times greater than our net income in all of fiscal 2019, and our adjusted EBITDA for the quarter increased 82% to $1.7 million. We also strengthened our balance sheet by increasing our cash position by $3.9 million sequentially to $11.4 million.

“The financial success of the quarter is a clear indication of the value WidePoint can generate because of our excellent staff, our flexible organizational structure, and the market’s growing demand for our products that function as a solution for many of the problems faced by large government and commercial enterprises in today’s environment. With 2020 lining up to be a banner year for WidePoint, we believe our company has never been better positioned than it is today, and we look forward to capitalizing on this momentum as we close out the year and move into 2021.”

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Conference Call

WidePoint management will hold a conference call today (November 16, 2020) at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time (1:30 p.m. Pacific time) to discuss these results.

WidePoint’s President and CEO Jin Kang, Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Jason Holloway, and Executive Vice President and CFO Kellie Kim will host the conference call, followed by a question and answer period.

U.S. dial-in number: 844-407-9500
International number: 862-298-0850

Please call the conference telephone number 5-10 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact Gateway Investor Relations at 949-574-3860.

The conference call will be broadcast live and available for replay here and via the investor relations section of the Company’s website.

A replay of the conference call will be available after 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on the same day through November 30, 2020.

Toll-free replay number: 877-481-4010
International replay number: 919-882-2331
Replay ID: 38150

About WidePoint

WidePoint Corporation (NYSE American: WYY) is a leading provider of trusted mobility management (TM2) solutions, including telecom management, mobile management, identity management, and digital billing and analytics. For more information, visit widepoint.com.

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For more details please visit www.widepoint.com

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During the COVID-19 lockdown working from home was essential for business continuity but this is one part of the pandemic that workers have actually enjoyed, and they’re in no hurry to give up their kitchen tables and rush back to their desks.

This change is also having significant effects on communications service providers (CSPs) and the services they deliver to customers. Research from industry analysts Omnisperience found, for example, that the pandemic has accelerated digital investment for 75% of them.

But Omnisperience’s research has also shown that it’s not sufficient simply to deliver the products customers now need. It’s just as important to improve the effectiveness of how CSPs communicate with customers, as this is one of the most basic elements of successful digital business. The core of effective communication is helping customers understand their spending as they change or add to their services. Making this easier and clearer is the next challenge CSPs face.

The bill is a vital channel for customer engagement

For business customers, bill communications are set to become a vital control point as they seek a better understanding of their ICT spend in the New Normal of distributed and dynamic workforces. For consumers, bill communications is becoming the key engagement point as CSPs shift from a customer acquisition mindset to one of retention and upsell.

As simple as it might sound, using the bill as an effective communications tool is a big challenge for many CSPs. Omnisperience’s research found that three-quarters admit their customers are still calling contact centres because they don’t understand their charges. This is frequently the case with the first bill after a change. Which is why, with more change on the horizon that ever before, it’s never been more important to ensure clear customer communication of charges.

But bills can do so much more than inform customers of their spending. They can boost engagement, improve marketing effectiveness and simultaneously repay investment through lower operational costs, fewer calls to contact centres and increased average revenue per user (ARPU).

In the post-COVID world the old way of segmenting customers – with a hard divide between business and consumer services – doesn’t work. Not only are more people working from home, but many are now running so-called nanobusinesses. These encompass small-scale home-based ventures such as monetised hobbies, microretailing, and paid work in the Influencer Economy and Gig Economy.  In the future, households will be more like mini businesses, requiring:

• improved, digital bills that clearly quantify and explain the value their CSP is delivering  

• consolidation with the ability to interrogate and navigate the data provided

• reassurance that they have the right package - cementing the relationship and guiding customers to products and packages that deliver even greater value.

For larger business customers, more in-depth engagement is possible through the bill. An effective bill enables the customer’s financial team to interrogate and analyse usage data to control and understand spending, ensuring it’s aligned with business goals. Customisation is a powerful means of engagement, making cost assignment easier, analysis more effective and suggested changes readily adoptable.

Delivering the perfect bill cost-efficiently

There’s no template for the perfect bill because the format and data presented will vary according to each customer’s needs. But there are certain common features such as increased personalisation, greater analytical capabilities, information being available on-demand, and a look-and-feel that makes the bill easier to understand.

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For more information, contact sales@soft-ex.net

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WidePoint Corporation (NYSE American: WYY), the leading provider of Trusted Mobility Management (TM2) specializing in Telecommunications Lifecycle Management, Identity Management and Digital Billing & Analytics solutions, today reported that the company recorded more than $11.6 million in contract awards during the third quarter of 2020.

During the quarter, WidePoint recorded 40 contractual actions, including new awards, renewals, contract extensions and exercised option periods.

“The shift to mobile and remote work practices by government agencies and commercial enterprises continues to expand WidePoint’s growth opportunities,” said Jin Kang, WidePoint’s CEO. “Across our growing client base, WidePoint’s Mobility Managed Services (MMS) are trusted as the solution of choice for managing the mobile landscape. We are leveraging that reputation to expand our footprint and secure higher margin business, which we’ve already accomplished this quarter by adding a new Identity Management credentialing client.”

Jason Holloway, WidePoint’s CSMO, added, “We are focusing on adding ancillary services to our core solutions that will increase our higher margin revenues. WidePoint is now expanding our cross-selling of mobile devices, accessories and VAR software licensing and equipment. WidePoint is the preferred MMS provider for organizations seeking to consolidate their telecom and mobile resources and services in a secure framework. We look forward to delivering on these contracts and helping prospective clients adjust to this shifting landscape.”

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About WidePoint

WidePoint Corporation (NYSE American: WYY) is a leading provider of trusted mobility management (TM2) solutions, including telecom management, managed mobility services, identity management, and digital billing and analytics. For more information, visit widepoint.com.

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Investor Relations:

Gateway Investor Relations

Matt Glover or Charlie Schumacher

949-574-3860, WYY@gatewayir.com

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WidePoint Corporation (NYSE American: WYY), the leading provider of Trusted Mobility Management (TM2) specializing in Telecommunications Lifecycle Management, Identity Management and Digital Billing & Analytics solutions, has updated its financial outlook for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020.

On June 18, 2020, WidePoint issued revenue guidance of $185 million to $195 million and EBITDA guidance of $3.0 million to $3.4 million for fiscal 2020. Today, the Company has increased its EBITDA guidance and reiterated its revenue expectations for fiscal 2020. The Company now expects EBITDA to range between $4.7 million and $4.9 million, which, at the midpoint of the guidance range, is 50% above the Company’s previously issued guidance and represents a 69% year-over-year increase compared to fiscal 2019. The company is also providing fiscal 2020 adjusted EBITDA guidance, which excludes stock-based compensation expense, of $5.5 million to $5.7 million, which, at the midpoint of the guidance range, represents a 57% year-over-year increase compared to fiscal 2019.

“Throughout the year, we’ve added higher margin business and improved our operational efficiency, both of which are driving a more profitable year than we originally anticipated,” said WidePoint’s CEO, Jin Kang. “By nearly every metric, fiscal 2020 will be a record year for WidePoint. We look forward to leveraging the momentum of this year to build a stronger organization that will continue to prosper for many years to come.”

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About WidePoint

WidePoint Corporation (NYSE American: WYY) is a leading provider of trusted mobility management (TM2) solutions, including telecom management, mobile management, identity management, and digital billing and analytics. For more information, visit widepoint.com.

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Investor Relations:

Gateway Investor Relations

Matt Glover or Charlie Schumacher

949-574-3860

WYY@gatewayir.com

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RingMaster Version 6.1 launched with new innovative dashboard delivering advanced telecom performance, infrastructure and cost reporting on Unified Comms

WidePoint Corporation (NYSE American: WYY), the leading provider of Trusted Mobility Management (TM2) specialising in Telecommunications Lifecycle Management, Identity Management and Digital Billing & Analytics solutions, announced today that its subsidiary Soft-ex Communications, has launched its next generation RingMaster Version 6.1 providing Analytics on UC & Collaboration to cater for the new norm in work practices post Covid.

How we now work and communicate in the new norm has put significant focus on infrastructure and performance optimisation for enterprises. For example, the requirement to manage gateway utilisation for higher remote traffic and providing capacity warnings has become critical. Equally unused licences and handsets in offices need to be either reallocated or switched off. Given the new landscape in which we find ourselves, there is also increased focus on dashboard design and navigation for ease of transparency. Enhanced visualisation of inventory and infrastructure is also in high demand in the current work environment e.g. how jabber clients/devices are being used, by whom and where etc.

The latest release of RingMaster Version 6.1 offers a completely new and innovative user interface with a widget driven dashboard delivering enhanced analytics, navigation and user experience. The configurable solution delivers granular visibility on performance, infrastructure and costs to enterprise and public sector customers. RingMaster Version 6.1 integrates with all major UC platforms such as Cisco, Microsoft, Avaya, Broadsoft, Unify and Mitel. This next generation of RingMaster will enable end users to drill down and report on user adoption levels of UC and measure and analyse key performance indicators such as voice,video, messaging, desktop sharing and gateway utilisation. RingMaster Version 6.1 also provides a solution for optimising targets for call handling, operator staffing levels, failed calls, hunt group response times and incoming call response times in customer-facing departments.

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Ian Sparling, CEO of Soft-ex, commented, “Infrastructure and performance optimisation has become increasingly important post Covid with a huge focus for Communication Service Providers (CSPs) on customer retention and compliance.  Our solutions proactively push the information out to the enterprise end-user, so they can make decisions intuitively and quickly, when needed to operate optimally from an infrastructure and performance perspective”. Sparling added, “We deliver our applications to fit any business model (on-site, managed service or SaaS) for mobile,fixed, VoIP and data.  Our new release of RingMaster delivers a completely new and improved user experience delivering enhanced graphics, widgets and self-serve analytics”.

About Soft-ex

Soft-ex, part of the WidePoint Group, is a leading global supplier of Digital Billing Communications solutions. They assist Digital Service Providers to deliver interactive digital bill presentment and analytics, which leads to enhanced customer experience and reduced billing and customer care costs. They not only deliver intelligence to the end user regarding costs and usage analysis, but also deliver Subscriber Data Intelligence to the DSP. Soft-ex is headquartered in Ireland with offices in the UK and the Netherlands, and customers and partners in over 90 countries globally. For more information, visit www.soft-ex.net

About WidePoint

WidePoint Corporation (NYSE American: WYY) is a leading provider of trusted mobility management (TM2) solutions, including telecom management,mobile management, identity management, and digital billing and analytics. For more information, visit www.widepoint.com

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