Most people, and most businesses, for that matter, don’t tend to pay much attention to their telecom carriers until something goes terribly wrong with their voice calling or internet service. However, these services can make or break the customer experience you can provide, and the productivity and morale of your staff.
In this blog, we’ll explore the sneaky ways that a bad telecom carrier can impact your business. If any of the following is a key pain point for your business, it could have a simple solution.
5 Problems That Could Be Telecom Issues in Disguise
Experienced any of these? The fix might be easier than you think.
1. Poor Tool Performance
One of the most important factors in the performance of your telecommunications system is the amount of bandwidth you have at your disposal. Even with an impressive level of bandwidth to support your daily operations, it is possible that your bandwidth is not optimized to run smoothly with the other components of your IT infrastructure. And if you’re taking advantage of a number of cloud computing solutions, unless your internet solutions are designed for that level of traffic, your employees could see quite a bit of lag and poor performance from their tools.
This can cause a problem when it comes to staying in touch with your customer base. When your bandwidth becomes clogged by a number of different operations, performance slows down. As your performance slows down, errors can impact your telephone systems, such as calls not going through or calls dropping in the midst of a conversation.
A good telecom carrier should be able to help you analyze your bandwidth's performance and availability to determine what steps need to be taken to address errors and enjoy clear, reliable connectivity.
2. High-Priced (and Confusing) Bills
Your telecommunications system should operate smoothly — both from a functional standpoint and from a financial standpoint. The best systems are those which provide your company with the features and accessibility needed, without providing costly extras that are rarely used or altogether unnecessary. By sitting down with a telecom carrier consultant, your business can identify the services required for daily operation, compare the services you're already paying for, and determine which features can be canceled to save money.
A telecom carrier consultant can also help identify billing errors on monthly invoices and overage charges that are unwarranted, saving you additional money on your monthly telecom bills.
3. Slow or Nonexistent Growth
There are always technology pains that come with business growth. A telecom carrier consultant can help you:
- Align your growth goals with the features needed to achieve them
- Identify the services you’ll need to work with consumers in a new market
- Suggest capabilities that can help you differentiate your business and serve different types of customers
4. An Overworked IT Team
If your IT team is stuck managing an on-premises voice calling system, they don’t have time to help you strategize for growth. It’s also possible that they don’t have the time or the resources to keep up with evolving cybersecurity threats.
Over the past few years, a number of cloud communication tools have been able to reduce IT burdens while dramatically boosting productivity. But that all depends on your organization and how you communicate!
If your internal IT staff aren't sure the best path to follow, telecom carrier consultants can advise your business on security protocols and the bandwidth needed to support reliable connections for your diverse customer base.
5. Changing Needs
Business plans require occasional revision as your industry and consumer desires change. Adopting more cloud solutions can make it easier for you to adapt.
The question most face is, which services should move to the cloud and when? That can get in the weeds very quickly, so it’s often helpful to get an outsider’s perspective on determining which cloud services offer your business the best balance between performance, security, and affordability.
What Telecom Consulting Companies Ask Carriers Before Recommending Them
It can be very difficult to sift through the volume of carriers and identify the best carrier for the best price!
Here are 10 questions that telecom consultants will ask before making a recommendation:
- What’s their uptime guarantee?
- How are they rated by their customers?
- What speed can you expect?
- What plans and pricing tiers do they offer?
- What support options are available?
- How quickly are problems resolved?
- What does installation entail?
- What does their service level agreement (SLA) spell out?
- How easy is it to make a change to your plan?
- If you aren’t happy with their service, how easy is it to terminate your contract?
Getting Free Telecommunication Consulting Services
There are a few perks to being a national technology provider!
In addition to providing IT and copier/print services, we represent over 50 different telecom carriers throughout the US. If you suspect you’re not getting the ROI you should be, we’re happy to compare your current plan with our list of carriers and make a custom recommendation.
Click the link below to request a complimentary assessment!
