利用者:Annastolik

six Questions to Ask Your Telecom ConsultantEvery company in the past or another utilizes outside consultants to support reduce costs and/or sooth managing specific projects. Telecommunications is an area where consultants cannot only help your provider reduce expenses, but also provide ongoing support as your organization grows and your telecom demands change. Deciding on which consulting firm to bring on board can be challenging. The choices are great. Most firms are reliable, but the industry is chocked brimming with "fly by night" firms seeking to make a quick sale by conducting inadequate telecom audits and/or hawking telecom services under the guise of being "telecom consulting" firm. Before you decide what is the right company to go using, arm yourself with the following questions that can help sort the good in the bad. #1 How Long Below in Business? This seems like the obvious and logical first question. Many companies fail that will ask it, and if they carry out, fail to put a higher degree of importance in order to it. Deregulation of the marketplace in 1984 saw a symptom of massive changes industry-wide. It is safe to speak about that the changes within the telecommunications industry over the last 20 years have been more than those of the previous 100 years. Hundreds of new telecom carriers were spawned obtained in this time - each utilizing their own systems and functions. Selecting a consulting firm that is certainly established enough to possess experienced these industry improvements first hand will bring you a tremendous amount of knowledge and expertise in dealing with carriers. Choose a consulting firm that is in business for a minimum of 10 years, preferably 20 years and up. An organization that continues to be in the telecom consulting game for your long will have an excellent great success for their purchasers. #2 What Area of Telecom Consulting Is your Expertise? When interviewing prospective telecom consulting firms, be sure to require them what areas they feel are their strong points. A prospective telecom consultant will assume which you have narrowed down your own specific telecom needs and/or problems you want and need addressed. Even though you might not be able to identify one particular specific problem, write down your general telecom concerns. For example: Are you looking to reduce costs through telecom taxation? Does your department need to be more efficient with expenses paying, moves, adds, or changes? Are you looking to upgrade or replace tools? Are you looking for telecom training for your staff? Are you considering migrating with a VoIP environment? These questions deal with different facets of telecom. Once you have focused alone specific telecom needs, it becomes much easier to check those concerns with the prospective consultant's strong elements of expertise. The closer the match, the better. #3 What Is the dimensions of Your Consulting Organization? The telecom "meltdown" and widespread layoffs from the mid-to late 1990s spawned many telecom executives to be able to enter the telecom consulting field. Even customer service or maybe carrier sales reps tried using their hand at telecom consulting. These "one-man shops" may perhaps offer flexibility and person attention, but be careful as soon as choosing to trust all of your telecom department with them. These consultants will frequently farm out work to be able to larger firms, in essence acting for a middleman without your know-how. On the other hands, big is not necessarily always better. Large firms often will only work with companies doing over $100, 000 or more per month in telecom spending. Before contracting with virtually any telecom consulting, be sure that you comprehend exactly who will be doing the project and identify the contact person the reason for progress reports, updates and to receive your questions answered during the duration of the project. #4 Can You Present Specific Case Studies and Results of one's Current of Past Clients? A successful and reputable consulting firm can have experience in a wide variety of industries. When asking for sources, don't just get a couple of names and numbers in order to call. Ask to see specific projects which were completed for clients within your industry or one that is certainly similar. If it is telecom auditing services you're seeking, request to see unique results of recent audits which were completed. Ideally, this information should range from the specific recommendations that were made along with the percentage of cost-reduction attained following on from the audit was complete. Look for a firm that has consistent success in various industries. #5 What Are Your Fees and How Is he or she Structured? Today's telecom consulting industry contains a number of fee structures and fee arrangements. Ultimately the valuation of services as well as the procedures by which expenses are structured are matters of personal preference and needs to be based on total agreement between the consultant and client. Generally, fees will fall into one of three categories - hourly or maybe per diem, project or fee based, and contingency. Time-based projects can always be billed hourly or per diem and could include the consultants charges. Fee based projects are for people who are clearly defined but may require probably the most work by both purchaser and consultant. Contingency arrangements may be a common, especially for telecom auditing. Contingency arrangements are dependant on results attained for the client-usually a percentage of cost-savings rendered for your 12-24 month period. Be wary of businesses that require large upfront retainers or advance bills. A reputable consulting agency will suggest the charge arrangement that suits not only the project but also the needs you have and budget as nicely. Very low quotes may suggest "boiler plate" solutions that will cost your company more eventually. No company can make it without being paid reasonable compensation for services renderered. As in most company situations, you "get what you pay for". #6 Are You Rewarded by Vendors or Totes? If you are quoted a very inexpensive fee arrangement for telecom consulting services, you may be coping with a company whose ultimate recommendations will be for services and products for which they acquire commissions. Telecom consulting services should be unbiased and be determined by recommendations that are in the best interest of you. Very small firms (1-3 person operations) are well known for leading you inside front door with really low cost auditing services, then going for your "backend" by recommending their own carriers and/or vendors. Always be sure they firm you overcome has no affiliations (personal ones) with telecommucations companies and vendors. There is no doubt that engaging a telecom consulting firm can help your company cut bills and increase efficiency. Asking the right questions will help you save time and money in the search for the telecom talking to firm that will best suit your needs.