The logo on the app isn't always the company that made it.
Platforms like NetSapiens, Cisco BroadWorks (formerly BroadSoft), Metaswitch and SkySwitch are licensed to many smaller providers who rebrand them. It's a legitimate business model. It just means the company you pay doesn't control the product you use.
A typical reseller
Four layers between you and the phone network.
Cannon VoIP
One company owns everything between you and the carriers.
What owning the software changes for you
| A reseller | Cannon VoIP | |
|---|---|---|
| Who fixes a real problem | Opens a ticket with the platform vendor and waits for them. | The engineers who wrote the system find it and fix it. |
| A feature you need | Only if the vendor builds it for every customer of theirs, someday. | Most requests ship in under four weeks; simple ones often in under a week. |
| Your price | Sits on top of the vendor's license fees, which can rise and get passed on. | No platform license underneath. $34 per extension, month to month. |
| Your data | Handled by the reseller, the platform vendor, and often more companies. | Stays on systems we run. Stored only in the US. Never shared or sold. |
| If the vendor changes course | The vendor can raise prices, drop features, be sold or shut a product down. | No outside platform vendor can pull the rug out from under you. |
| How the pieces fit | Add-ons from different companies, held together with connectors. | Phones, apps, texting, fax, meetings, CRM and AI built as one system. |
| Outside companies involved | Several, many of which you will never hear about. | Three for voice and texting: two carrier partners and the STIR/SHAKEN authority. |
How to tell if your phone company is a reseller
Six quick checks you can do in a few minutes.
Read the fine print on the login page
Scroll to the bottom of your provider's portal login page or view the page source. A copyright notice for another company means the portal is someone else's software.
Check who made the app
In the app store, look at the developer name under the app. If it is not your phone company, they did not write it.
Listen to how support talks
"We'll open a ticket with our vendor" or "that's on the platform side" means the people you pay can't fix it themselves.
Ask for a feature
Ask for something small and specific. A reseller will say it's not on the roadmap. A company that owns its software can tell you when it will ship.
Compare the feature list
If your provider's features, screens and app names match several other small providers, they are likely renting the same white-label platform.
Just ask
"Did you write the software, and do you run your own servers?" It's a fair question, and the answer should be a clear yes or no.
To be fair: the big names build their own too.
RingCentral, 8x8, Dialpad, Zoom, GoTo, Vonage and Ooma also write their own platforms. Cannon VoIP is in that same group, at $34 per extension, month to month, with the built-in CRM, contact center tools, call screening and much more included instead of sold as higher tiers and add-ons.
See the side-by-side comparisonsWe write our own software. We don't charge like it.
Owning the whole system usually comes with an enterprise price tag. Ours doesn't. Every extension is $34 a month, flat, month to month, with the built-in CRM, call screening, texting, transcription, contact center tools and much more included, things the big platforms sell as higher tiers and add-ons.
Why we price it the way we do
Transparent
The price on this site is the price on your bill. No regulatory recovery fee, no E911 fee, no surprise surcharges added after you sign.
Straightforward
One plan at one price per extension. No tier ladder where the feature you need is always one level up. Optional add-ons each have a single, published price.
Done right
No long-term contract and no early termination fee. We would rather earn your business every month than lock you in.
Owning the software is part of how we keep it there: there is no platform license fee underneath our price, and no reseller markup stacked on top of someone else's. That is what we mean by your business phone system, done right. See the full pricing.
What "our own" means at Cannon VoIP
Our own system
Apps, servers, call switching, portal, built-in CRM and AI applications, written and run in house.
Three outside companies
For voice and texting: two carrier partners and the national STIR/SHAKEN authority. That's the whole list.
Fort Worth, Texas
Run from our own facility in Fort Worth, with two backup regions and automatic failover.
Your data stays here
Customer data is stored only in the US and is never shared or sold. We openly take part in outside security testing and audits.
Built on request
Most feature requests ship in under four weeks, and simple ones often in under a week.
1,000+ features
Everything on our feature list was built by us, and nearly all of it is included at $34 per extension.
Our AI features are our own applications. Today they use two outside AI providers, and we're building in-house AI servers to bring that in house too. See how we're built and every feature.
Questions people ask
Is Cannon VoIP a reseller?
No. Cannon VoIP wrote and runs its own phone system: the mobile, desktop and browser apps, the servers and call switching, the customer portal, the built-in CRM and the AI applications. For voice and texting we work with only three outside companies: two carrier partners that connect our network to the public phone network, and the national STIR/SHAKEN authority that issues caller ID certificates.
What is a VoIP reseller?
A VoIP reseller is a phone company that rents a white-label calling platform from a software vendor, puts its own logo on the apps and portal, and sells the service as its own. The reseller handles sales and first-line support, while the platform vendor owns the software, decides which features exist, and fixes the deeper problems. Common white-label platforms include NetSapiens, Cisco BroadWorks (formerly BroadSoft), Metaswitch and SkySwitch.
How can I tell if my phone provider is a reseller?
Look at the fine print on the portal login page and in the apps (a copyright notice for another company is a giveaway), check who is listed as the developer of the mobile app in the app store, notice whether support says they need to open a ticket with their vendor, and ask directly: did you write the software, and can you add a feature if we ask for it?
Why does it matter whether my phone company built its own software?
Because the company that owns the software controls everything that matters after you sign: how fast problems get fixed, whether a feature you need can be built, what happens to prices, who can see your data, and whether the platform could be discontinued or sold. A reseller can only pass your request along. Cannon VoIP ships most feature requests in under four weeks, and simple ones often in under a week.
Do RingCentral, 8x8, Dialpad and Zoom resell?
No. Large providers such as RingCentral, 8x8, Dialpad, Zoom, GoTo, Vonage and Ooma also build their own platforms. Cannon VoIP is in that same group of companies that write their own software, but at $34 per extension with the built-in CRM, contact center tools, call screening and more included.
If you write your own software, why is Cannon VoIP so much cheaper?
Because we believe in transparent, straightforward pricing. Every extension is $34 a month, flat and month to month, with no regulatory fees, no tier ladder and no contract. Owning the software helps: there is no platform license fee underneath our price and no reseller markup on top of it. Optional add-ons each have one published price.
Where is my data, and do you share it?
Customer data stays on systems we run from our Fort Worth, Texas facility, with two backup regions. It is stored only in the United States, our own systems never move it outside the US, and we never share or sell it. One of the outside providers behind our AI voice features may process audio outside the US for support and safety review, and HIPAA mode lets you turn AI processing off entirely. We openly take part in outside security testing and audits.
Talk to the company that wrote it.
No contracts, no pressure, $34 per extension.