Attention MSPs. Before people called me “PhoneBill,” I was just Bill, an MSP owner trying to keep the lights on and the customers happy.

In many ways, I still am that same MSP. Networking Solutions, Inc.is almost 30 years old now, and recurring revenue still pays most of the bills.

The early years were a rollercoaster. I chased projects, emergencies, Y2K scares, anything that rang the phone. My sleep was terrible. My cash flow was worse. When I shifted my focus back to true recurring revenue, everything changed. The business got steadier. My nights got calmer.

In 2009 I watched a phone tech struggle to make a PBX talk to the network. I went to lunch with my lead engineer and said, “How hard could phones be if we bring our network mindset to it?” That moment started StratusDial and the path into cloud voice and, later, AI voice.

I also made one more key choice: cloud-first, carrier-grade, no half steps. Today I still run MSP services, but I also run UCaaS, CCaaS, and now AI voice agents at scale through UponAI. All built on the same lessons from those MSP years: protect the call, protect the brand, protect the sleep.

If you are an MSP thinking about adding voice or AI voice to your stack, I am happy to be a sounding board. I can share what worked, what hurt, and what I would skip if I had to do it all over again. DM me and let’s talk and I’ll drop some truth bombs on you 💣

What helps you feel ready when you try something new in your MSP? I would love to hear your story.