We live in an "on-demand" world where everything needed is ordered and expected to be delivered accurately and immediately -- very convenient for some things like in movies or food, but definitely not for an organization's telecom. Quite frankly, ordering telecom services (voice, data, and mobile) and the technologies to support these services isn't something you can order the same way as a Big Mac.
Telecom purchases are not as simple as calling an 800-number and saying "I'd like a 10-gig pipe and 25 phones, please." Telecom requires vigorous planning, negotiation, management, procurement, and design. That is why savvy companies turn to telecom consultants.
While McDonald's won't ask you qualifiers like whether your breakfast left you still hungry or if you are having burgers for dinner, your telecom consultant understands that the past and the future do play a part in what you need now. That is why consultants -- unlike McDonald's -- take the time to evaluate what you are ordering to see if it makes sense based on your past, current, and future state and desired outcomes.
Designing your telecom system and its services is not simple, and IT knows that. The experience and expertise that telecom consultants bring -- doing it every day and scaling for the best outcomes -- is second to none. In fact, when it comes to designing and ordering new technology, consultants truly understand vendor landscapes and the impact on an organization's systems and operations, ensuring the strongest landscape with the least amount of cost and disruption.
Telecom consultants take the time to understand where your company is going: if your company will grow or shrink, how many employees the system will be covering, and if your current providers and services will support changes. After all, one small, unplanned expense has far-reaching implications on costs, functionality, flexibility, and integration with other systems.
Furthermore, unlike the upsells at the fast food drive-thru, consultants know how to mitigate the "buy every service I offer" mindset of telecom providers and carriers. In fact, telecom experts more often look to integrate the organization's legacy infrastructure with new technologies to work the best for you to drive costs down. And when all is said and done, these consultants manage the project through implementation to make sure that your business has the technology you need today, and into the future -- no upsell, no frustration.
Telecom is not easy. It does not have one single solution, and it certainly is nothing like ordering a meal at a McDonalds drive-thru. The adds, removes, and changes cost real dollars and can't be just "scraped off a bun." Leave the value meals to your drive-thru lunch, and trust the telecom ordering to the consultants who are best suited to save the organization time, money and confusion.
"SCTC Perspectives" is written by members of the Society of Communications Technology Consultants, an international organization of independent information and communications technology professionals serving clients in all business sectors and government worldwide.
