In my last post here, I reviewed the process of "discovery" and pointed out that Interconnects or anyone that touches the phone system of a business must have solid foundations in infrastructure. Any vendor, local or virtual, must also put proverbial skin in the game--and that requires due diligence. But the debatable ingredient is actually being on site--and that may not be compatible with the thinking of hosted providers.
The end of relationships often occurs once the implementation is completed. But when vendors or providers fail to execute or to set expectations, customers then begin to doubt their initial decisions.
In revisiting the last post and the customer's initial comments, here's what we did and implemented:
We installed three apps on all desktops: Belarc, CCLEANER and Site Advisor. The Belarc reports provided us with inventory and snapshots of every desktop. The CCLEANER app is essentially a good way to easily and quickly clean out garbage from the clogged arteries of a PC. Site Advisor provides visual feedback to users, searching the web and alerting them against malicious sites with visual color-coded icons.
Next we re-terminated all network and voice drops using patch panels. We removed several generations of unused wiring. The customer also gave us access to their cleaning gear so we could vacuum the dust and debris from the ceiling work.
All network, paging and telephony gear is power protected and on a UPS capable of supporting runtimes during blackouts for an extended period.
Unused and abandoned equipment was removed (yes, from the plywood).
Documentation provided to the customer--manuals and relevant software--was placed on the file server for future reference/use.
We ran Wire Shark to capture network LAN traffic with all computers and network devices turned on.
We reused the same SSID and password for the new managed WLAN and retained former employee extension numbers. On Monday morning, everyone's iPhone, Droid or other device connected and remained connected since we had achieved 100% penetration in the warehouse space outside the offices.
One of the managers commented on seeing the equipment room, "This is beautiful!" Yes, appearance makes a difference, especially when the owner's wife stated more than once that the existing installation is "an eyesore."
We reviewed the operations with every user and addressed questions, concerns and configuration changes. We improved their former "call handling" that simplified answering calls (call coverage) assuring that their customers get fast attention. This company knows what I've said previously: "Answering the phone is an opportunity." Too bad too many people don't understand this.
We found that Verizon configured the ADTRAN router sold to the customer, so that setup used "IP Unnumbered," and ADTRAN promptly provided a workaround here. We secured the router and made changes to lock down the network.
Two key employees were trained in how to make common software changes from their workstation that the company previously and grudgingly paid their former Interconnect to do.
In a few days we will return to "our site" and follow up with other recommendations, make any configuration changes and address any questions with our customer.
We will review their security vulnerabilities and inventory/assets and what to replace and do differently. There is no Internet backup, and their file server (on premise) needs an offsite backup. We are already reviewing how we can reconfigure their Verizon services without penalty to reduce costs and then move beyond the limitations of their T1. The next project is to implement SIP trunks and hosted PBX features integrated with their new PBX.
The new managed switch has statistics that we started using when troubleshooting workstation NIC issues. We enabled logging on the router to gain some event reporting and statistics on the span.
What did we do? We did everything we promised including things we didn't know about. We have an invitation to return for additional projects. We still have a lot to learn about this customer, how they use technology and what we can do to improve their processes.
Selling pizza boxes isn't sustainable and that's old news thanks to the disruptive technology. But selling something you can't see isn't necessarily sustainable without skin in the game and presence on the customer site. Are customers willing to abandon this idea or will they migrate to hosted services? Emulating what we did can be accomplished by having the customer do some of the tasks. Getting the intimate details and discovering the site nuances may not be as easy.
Execution of implementations can arguably be either onsite or virtually by remote access. The difference is the customers see what they are getting and what we are doing and that may be the differentiator that customers will regard differently over what they can't see. When hosted services significantly narrow or even remove this gap, maybe then someone should declare the days of the PBX are over.
Follow Matt Brunk on Twitter and Google+!
@telecomworx
Matt Brunk on Google+
