Australian businesses are faced with a decision around their telecommunication services. NBN, copper disconnect and the emergence of business grade mobile data services are forcing technology change on businesses.
The days of ringing your telco dealer and getting a landline connected are a thing of the past.
Below are six important considerations when evaluating your managed internet and voice provider.
There is now a plethora of options as well as providers for businesses to choose from. Choosing the right provider is essential in ensuring the next stage of your business growth is supported and managed properly , making sure the grass will be…..much greener for the future.
1. A Provider that can manage both internet and voice services
A provider that understands both internet and voice (both traditional & IP telephony services) is paramount in the post copper connected world. Telephony and Unified Communications services have moved from the physical PSTN/ISDN world to the IP world – leveraging your data connection to deliver mission critical phone calls.
In particular, look for a provider that has experience delivering and managing both voice and internet coupled together – ensuring a holistic solution that integrates effectively. Furthermore, look for a provider that manages the service from end to end and provides assistance with change management, training and your team’s empowerment. Don’t underestimate the technology change effect and the impact on your people.
2. A carrier agnostic offering
The major telco providers have done a decent job of expanding their network footprint to cover most businesses in Australia. However, choice & availability of these networks truly depends on your business’ location/s. Investing your entire network in one single carrier may lead to a compromised service at some or all of your locations. Look for a provider that is carrier agnostic and will truly identify and manage the best solution designed to fit your requirements exactly. Don’t try to force a square peg in a round hole.
Deploying your network with a multi-carrier provider has the added benefits of carrier diversity, redundancy (not being subject to a major carrier outage taking down your entire comms service.
3. More than NBN
NBN has been touted as the great saviour for small to medium businesses or branch locations, however it is only one of many options available today. Look to a provider that considers all factors before simply putting an NBN price in front of you. The factors worth noting are current internet usage profiles, future business plans for data and telephony, line of business applications, cloud adoption, and your budget.
Apart from NBN, there ae numerous access methods your provider should consider as below:
- Fibre (up to 10Gbps)
- 4G/LTE (up to 1Gbps)
- Fixed Wireless (up to 1 Gbps)
- Satellite (up to 12Mbps)
There have been huge advancements in data communications over the past decade. SD-WAN, for instance, is a new networking technology that allows you to leverage low cost internet circuits to deliver a powerful feature rich network with cloud management, zero touch provisioning, application visibility, WAN optimization, resiliency and that all important feature – security.
4. Beware the Service Provider with offshore operations
Many service providers, and not just the big guys, have looked to reduce their costs by outsourcing a number of critical business functions such as provisioning & support to overseas NOCs and call centres. Even though these providers get the benefit of increased head count for lower cost, often critical customer service functions such as understandability, local cultural awareness, common sense thinking and high-level decision making & problem solving are compromised.
Often the cost savings of outsourcing are not passed on to you and are generally used as a lever to boost corporate profits. Think about the customer experience you wish to receive before considering these providers.
5. Actual Customer Service & Account Management
Unfortunately, good old fashioned customer service is a thing of the past, especially when it comes to dealing with your service provider. Many telco providers have been sitting back for years delivering the same average service with minimal amount of customer service output.
Many service providers confuse a score between 0 and 10 in a survey after a phone call (known as “Net Promoter Score”) as Customer Service.
Customer Service now known as CX has become a key game changer and differentiator for many nascent service providers looking to make their mark on the business landscape. Look for partners who meet regularly with you (face to face) to discuss operations & service performance, are responsive to your service requests and genuinely value your feedback in person (as opposed to a number between 0 and 10).
6. Flexible commercial terms
Finally, look for a service provider who is not set in their commercial mindset from a legal, delivery or pricing point of view. There are many valid reasons why you may need department level invoicing, flexible payment terms, lump sum payments and modified legal and commercial terms. Your business is complex and you often compromise your own position to ensure your customers are satisfied, why should your telecommunications service provider not afford you the same flexibility.
In conclusion, with some careful consideration following the pointers identified in this article and an open mind, a great provider partner can be found for your internet and voice needs . Once you select the perfect provider for your business, the grass can, and will be greener…
