User:Annastolik

6th Questions to Ask The Telecom ConsultantEvery company at once or another utilizes outside consultants to aid reduce costs and/or assistance with managing specific projects. Telecommunications is an area where consultants cannot only help your business reduce expenses, but also provide ongoing support as your organization grows and your telecom requirements change. Deciding on which consulting firm to bring on board can be confusing. The choices are wide. Most firms are dependable, but the industry is chocked full of "fly by night" firms planning to make a quick dollar by conducting inadequate telecom audits and/or hawking telecom services under the guise of being "telecom consulting" firm. Before you decide which company to go by using, arm yourself with the following questions that will assist sort the good from your bad. #1 How Long Have you been in Business? This seems like a good obvious and logical very first question. Many companies fail to ask it, and if they carry out, fail to put a higher degree of importance for you to it. Deregulation of the business in 1984 saw the beginning of massive changes industry-wide. It is safe to speak about that the changes in the telecommunications industry over the last 20 years have been higher than those of the earlier 100 years. Hundreds of new telecom carriers were spawned obtained in this time - each using own systems and functions. Selecting a consulting firm that is established enough to have experienced these industry alterations first hand will enable you to get a tremendous amount of knowledge and expertise in working with carriers. Choose a consulting firm that is in business for at least 10 years, preferably 20 years or higher. An organization that continues to be in the telecom consulting game with the long will have an excellent track record of success for their people. #2 What Area of Telecom Consulting Is the Expertise? When interviewing prospective telecom contacting firms, be sure to request them what areas many people feel are their good points. A prospective telecom consultant will assume that you have narrowed down your personal specific telecom needs and/or problems that you like and need addressed. Even though you probably are not able to identify one particular specific problem, write down your general telecom concerns. For example: Are you looking to scale back costs through telecom book keeping? Does your department need to be more efficient with bill paying, moves, adds, or changes? Are you looking to be able to upgrade or replace products? Are you looking for telecom practicing your staff? Are you considering migrating into a VoIP environment? These questions deal with different tasks of telecom. Once you have focused on your specific telecom needs, it becomes much easier to match those concerns with the prospective consultant's strong areas of expertise. The closer the match, the better. #3 What Is the size of Your Consulting Provider? The telecom "meltdown" and widespread layoffs on the mid-to late 1990s spawned many telecom executives to enter the telecom specialized field. Even customer service or perhaps carrier sales reps tried using their hand at telecom talking to. These "one-man shops" may perhaps offer flexibility and specific attention, but be careful if choosing to trust your entire telecom department with them. These consultants will often farm out work that will larger firms, in essence acting like a middleman without your know-how. On the other fretting hand, big is not specifically always better. Large firms often will only work with companies doing in excess of $100, 000 or more a month in telecom spending. Before contracting with just about any telecom consulting, be sure that you realize exactly who will be doing the project and identify the contact person in charge of progress reports, updates and to acquire your questions answered over the course of the project. #4 Can You Provide Specific Case Studies and Results within your Current of Past People? A successful and reputable consulting firm could have experience in a multitude of industries. When asking for references, don't just get a couple of names and numbers for you to call. Ask to see specific projects that have been completed for clients inside your industry or one that is definitely similar. If it is telecom auditing services you happen to be seeking, request to see precise results of recent audits which have been completed. Ideally, this information should are the specific recommendations that were made as well as the percentage of cost-reduction attained following a audit was complete. Look for a firm which includes consistent success in several different industries. #5 What Are Your own Fees and How Is he or she Structured? Today's telecom consulting industry contains a variety of fee structures and rate arrangements. Ultimately the valuation of services and the procedures by which charges are structured are concerns of personal preference and really should be based on total contract between the consultant and client. Generally, fees will fall into among three categories - hourly or perhaps per diem, project or fee structured, and contingency. Time-based projects can be billed hourly or per diem and will include the consultants bills. Fee based projects are if you are clearly defined but may require one of the most work by both purchaser and consultant. Contingency arrangements may be the most used, especially for telecom auditing. Contingency arrangements are according to results attained for this client-usually a percentage of cost-savings rendered for a 12-24 month period. Be wary of businesses that require large straight up retainers or advance expenses. A reputable consulting agency will suggest the charge arrangement that suits besides the project but also your preferences and budget as well. Very low quotes may suggest "boiler plate" solutions that could cost your company more in the long run. No company can pull through without being paid realistic compensation for services renderered. As in most business situations, you "get what people pay for". #6 Are You Paid out by Vendors or Companies? If you are quoted a really inexpensive fee arrangement with regard to telecom consulting services, you may be dealing with a company whose later recommendations will be for product or service for which they collect commissions. Telecom consulting services ought to be unbiased and be influenced by recommendations that are in the best interest of the client. Very small firms (1-3 person operations) are infamous for leading you while in the front door with small cost auditing services, then going for this "backend" by recommending their particular carriers and/or vendors. Always be sure they firm you cope with has no affiliations (personal ones) with telecommucations companies and vendors. There is no doubt that engaging a telecom consulting firm helps your company cut bills and increase efficiency. Asking the right questions will help you save time and money as part of your search for the telecom asking firm that will best satisfy your desires.