When most MSPs lose deals, it isn’t because of poor service delivery or weak technical capability. They lose them because the conversation stops at cloud and security, and another provider attaches voice.

When that happens, influence over the account is lost, while both margin and recurring revenue start to fall.

Microsoft Teams now exceeds 320 million monthly active users globally. Customers now expect calling to sit natively in their collaboration stack.

If MSPs aren’t offering it, competitors will be ready to fill that gap.

What do customers want? It’s access to simplified suppliers, with integrated services that offer fewer points of failure. Voice can act as a modern growth lever.

Voice and MSP expectations have now changed

Microsoft-first is now the norm, with Teams transitioning into the default collaboration hub. Operator Connect, for example, gives MSPs the ability to deliver PSTN calling seamlessly within that environment, with lower operational effort than traditional SIP or Direct Routing builds.

Integration has also now non-negotiable. Modern MSPs run on standardisation, and anything outside their PSA, RMM or identity tooling increases friction. MSPs are aiming to work with fewer suppliers, helping to align workflows and introduce clean operational handoffs.

With support, it needs to feel more like IT than telecoms. Slow, multi-team telecom escalations don’t fit modern MSP service models.

What’s really needed is IT-style responsiveness, clear SLAs and engineer-led troubleshooting. There must be no risk of issues being bounced between vendors.

Voice must be manageable between existing cloud and network teams. MSPs don’t want voice specialists anymore. Instead, they want access to UCaaS platforms that behave like software – template-driven, automated, clean to deploy, and easy to support.

Winning more with voice

When MSPs integrate voice, they can expect to win bigger deals, increase wallet share and reduce customer churn.

Attaching voice instantly increases deal value. The end-to-end proposition for MSPs is strengthened as they position themselves as a provider with a more complete, well-rounded proposition.

When MSPs own calling capabilities, they have the capacity to upsell more effectively. Think about analytics, call recording, compliance tools, collaboration upgrades, connectivity bundles, and even international expansion. All this leads to higher ARPU and stickier customer relationships.

With SMEs wanting simplified support and a more streamlined vendor network, integrated voice acts as a strategic retention lever. Providing that calling support allows MSPs to be place themselves at the heart of operations. All this helps to reduce customer churn.

Making voice scalable for today’s MSPs

With predictable, SaaS-like commercial clarity, MSPs can avoid offering any unpredictable usage models for voice. Modern cloud telephony should act as a source of consistent monthly recurring revenue. Inclusive bundles and steady margin growth will also help strengthen the voice solution.

Voice shouldn’t sit outside an MSP’s operating model either. Standardisation is crucial, and any services that sit outside their tooling suite will disrupt efficiency.

It’s why IT-centric MSPs should work alongside a partner who understands RMM and PSA integrations. Both ticket automation and monitoring stacks are vital in maintaining that operational efficiency.

Vendors have a responsibility to prioritise reliability and limit any administrative burdens. Voice must feel like a natural extension of the IT stack. Factors such as cloud-native workflows, API-driven provisioning and consistent UX eliminate any unnecessary complexity around voice solutions.

When MSPs can work alongside a vendor who removes friction, voice becomes scalable. It needs to be presented as software, and more than simply just telecoms.

Choosing the right vendor

MSPs should aim to work alongside providers with a track record of evolving MSP portfolios and creating a more future-ready telephony experience. They need to be able to rely on voice expertise and a commitment in providing scalable services.

From there, customers will gain the necessary support to move away from fragmented voice services and adopt modern communications technology. These MSPSs need to consider how Teams-aligned calling, plus a simplified onboarding process, are vital in reducing operational complexity and helping clients stay ahead in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

Some MSPs will prioritise voice as a growth engine rather than a legacy service. For that reason, MSPs will look to partner with a provider that offers both products and the commercial clarity, incentives, and practical tools to scale.

Providers are already working towards building frameworks that supply the insights needed to spot and win new opportunities. Such a model supports long-term, sustainable growth, with potential reinvestment opportunities across marketing, campaigns and exhibitions.

Voice without disruption

What MSPs need right now is a modern voice service that doesn’t add any unnecessary complications. Telecom-style support can start to eat into margins, and tool stack integration matters far more than features.

What really matters is that voice must behave like an IT solution.

There’s no need for MSPs to overhaul their entire product portfolio, and specialist skills aren’t a necessity. Modern voice can be adopted simply, predictably and with minimal change, while avoiding an increase to operational load.

The right kind of UCaaS portfolio allows MSPs to build early wins without overhauling the service model. A vendor like Gamma Communications, for example, helps increase wallet share, grow recurring revenue, and reduce customer churn with a clear roadmap to success.

Voice is one of the most effective levers at the disposal of MSPs. Win more, grow faster. It’s as simple as that.

For any MSP ready to leverage the power of voice, speak to Gamma Communications today and find out just how much of a modern growth lever voice can be.

Ecommpay has urged the government to broaden its response on children and social media to include online fraud that begins on social platforms. The payments company argues that scams targeting young people often start long before any transaction reaches a financial provider.

The intervention followed the Prime Minister’s announcement on child safety online. Ecommpay said the public debate has focused too narrowly on harmful content and has not fully addressed how fraudsters reach young users through social media services.

Willem Wellinghoff, chief compliance officer at Ecommpay, said the financial sector regularly deals with the end result of scams that originate elsewhere. By the time a payment is attempted, he said, fraud and deception are often already under way.

“Ecommpay welcomes the Prime Minister’s commitment to deliver a ‘game-changer’ policy on children’s safety online. This is an important and overdue moment, and we strongly support any initiative that compels the major tech and social media platforms to take greater responsibility for the welfare of young people on their services.

“From our position in the financial ecosystem, however, we see something that the current debate does not yet fully capture: fraud and scams that eventually land on the financial services sector very often begin not at the point of payment, but far earlier, on social media. Young people are deliberately and systematically targeted by fraudsters and scammers through the very platforms now under scrutiny. By the time a victim reaches a financial transaction, the manipulation and deception have already taken place. The financial services sector is dealing with the consequences of harms that originate elsewhere in the chain.

“This is why we strongly urge government to ensure that the approach to online fraud does not sit solely within financial services regulation. The government’s own Fraud Strategy 2026-2029 rightly recognises the need for a system-wide, cross-sector response built on the pillars of disruption, safeguarding and effective enforcement, and we believe that spirit must now be applied directly to the social media environment in which so many fraud journeys begin.

“Protecting children from harmful content and protecting them from financial predators are not separate agendas. We call on government, regulators, the technology sector, society and the financial industry to collaborate far more actively on this issue, because no single sector can solve it alone. The tech giants must be part of that conversation and must be held to the same standards of duty of care that we in financial services are already expected to meet.”

Fraud pathway

Ecommpay’s position reflects a wider view within financial services that online fraud should be treated as a cross-sector issue rather than one confined to banks, payments groups and other regulated providers. That argument has gained ground as scams increasingly begin through messaging apps, social networks and digital platforms rather than traditional banking channels.

Young people are particularly exposed, Ecommpay said, because social media gives fraudsters direct access to large audiences and allows deceptive approaches to be disguised as ordinary online interaction. The company is calling for social media groups to face a level of accountability similar to that applied to financial firms when harms arise on their services.

The government’s fraud strategy, cited by Wellinghoff, sets out disruption, safeguarding and enforcement as central pillars of its approach. Ecommpay said those principles should now be applied more directly to platforms where many scam journeys begin, with greater emphasis on prevention at the point where victims are first targeted.

Sector pressure

The comments also highlight a longstanding tension between the technology and financial sectors over responsibility for fraud losses. Banks and payments companies have often argued that they bear the operational and reputational cost of scams that begin on online platforms, while those platforms face less direct scrutiny for their role in the chain.

For payments companies, that debate matters because fraud often appears only at the end of a longer process of grooming, impersonation or deception. By the time a suspicious payment is identified, the victim may already have been persuaded that the transfer is legitimate, limiting the effectiveness of checks applied only at the payment stage.

Ecommpay, founded in London in 2012, operates in payment processing and acquiring. Its intervention brings a payments provider into a policy discussion that has largely centred on child protection, platform governance and content moderation, while adding financial crime prevention to the agenda.

The company said the two issues should not be treated separately. “The tech giants must be part of that conversation and must be held to the same standards of duty of care that we in financial services are already expected to meet,” Wellinghoff said.

The new coffee shop welcomed its first customers on Thursday, May 28 in the West Way Square development in west Oxford.

Found near the Tesco store, below shiny new apartments, the store is hoping to become ‘locally loved’ and provide coffee in a relaxed environment.

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Sean Kennedy-Lockwood, area manager for Coffee#1, said: “We’re thrilled to be opening our next location in Botley in a lively new neighbourhood. We’re confident Coffee#1 will fit right in.

Coffee#1 opened in the new Botley West Way development on Thursday (Image: Coffee#1)

“We take pride in providing a cosy space where customers can relax, enjoy delicious food, tempting cakes, and, of course, great coffee.

“The new store’s interior is designed with warmth and vibrancy in mind featuring a living-room feel, shelves filled with books and unique illustrations showcasing local history, folklore, and figures from the area.

Coffee#1 opened in the new Botley West Way development on Thursday (Image: Coffee#1)

“The inviting atmosphere is perfect for socialising with friends and family, or for some quiet time with a book or laptop.”

Coffee#1 was founded in 2001 and has become a major cafe brand across South Wales, the South West, the South Coast and the Midlands.

It now operates 133 stores across the country, after joining the Caffe Nero group in 2019.

Coffee#1 opened in the new Botley West Way development on Thursday (Image: Coffee#1)

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Nick Price, store manager at the new Coffee#1 in Botley, said: “My team and I are excited to become part of the Botley community and to serve our new neighbours.

“Local community groups are encouraged to host regular catch-ups in the store, and dogs are welcome too.

“To celebrate the opening, we’re offering a free drink when you download the Coffee#1 app. Simply enter the promo code C1BOTLEY in the app to claim your free drink voucher.”