Competitive Telecom Services: Is it worth the switch?
by Joe Scotti
Last month I discussed what a CLEC is and how they may be impacting the industry. This month I will focus on why and how to switch carriers and, most importantly, if it will be worth your time and effort to do so.
One of the most difficult aspects of telecommunications today is managing the various vendor relationships. Most businesses that I talk to wish that the “good old days” were still here: one vendor, one phone call and one bill. In today’s crazy and confusing telecom world, you have a local service provider (in some cases two), a long distance provider, a telephone hardware vendor, a cellular provider and an Internet service provider, to name just a few. Managing those vendor relationships has become extremely time-consuming as well as monitoring and paying all those bills. This begs the question can a CLEC provide viable one vendor, one call, one bill solution?
Before you even attempt to look at competitive offerings, wireless or wireline, you must understand your current telecom network environment and the costs associated with all the services utilized in your building and by your tenants. First and foremost you will need to audit and identify what you currently are being billed. Then you must compare that data to what is actually installed and working. This is extremely important because it accomplishes two things for you; it educates you on what you are paying for in recurring telecom services and also helps you identify and document those services. You will now be able to review and evaluate an “apples-to-apples” comparison of the proposals you receive.
The next phase of this process is to determine why you may want to switch to a competitive offering and the benefit associated with doing this. Ask yourself some key questions. Do you want to reduce your ongoing telecom costs, consolidate your billing, obtain a better level of service or utilize some new and/or enhance services that your existing vendor(s) cannot provide?
In most cases, customers are motivated to switch by the proposed cost savings provided by the sales executive. Please, don’t base you decision on this factor alone.
Here is our suggested step-by-step approach that we recommend you should follow:
· Once you have completed your internal audit, determine what and how many lines or circuits should be transferred (or moved) to the new service provider.
· Now solicited quotes for pricing. Expect to see savings between 5% to 15% less than your existing local or long distance service provider.
· Request sample bills from the service providers and have them review media options, such as paper, CD and Web-based billing.
· Request both the sale and customer service 800 numbers. You need to make a couple of “phantom test calls” and determine the competency level of the person you are calling. Also, you want to make sure that sales and services representatives are readily available and that you don’t get lost in “voice mail jail”. Also inquire if they provide support via email or real-time Internet chat.
· Obtain copies of the service provider’s term plan commitment agreements. Review them thoroughly. Don’t commit to anything beyond one year. Make sure that the agreement includes a 60 or 90 day satisfaction guarantee and “a switch-back” provision to your previous service provider, if the service doesn’t work out.
· Get references! Ask your account executive to provide you with a list of references in your geographical area that are in a similar business to yours. Take the time to call these references and determine their level of satisfaction with both the service and billing.
· Now that you have completed your due diligence, you are now ready to select your new service provider. But before you do this, select a small number of lines and circuits, ones that will not be at significant risk. NEVER switch all your services over to the new service provider without going through this test drive first. You want to complete the conversion process and a couple of bill cycles before you should feel comfortable moving forward to converting the balance of your lines and other services.
Always remember the power of aggregation. As an MDU or MTU owner, aggregation becomes a very valuable negotiating tool for you. Telecom is becoming a commodity, whether it is local lines, long distance usage or DSL, volume speaks discount.