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The Value of Consulting a Trusted Advisor in Making Telecom Decisions

Communication technologies have changed dramatically in recent years in response to business demands and the rise of the mobile workforce. Today, few companies would be happy with a traditional phone system that offers only basic call-handling. Users want to dial a number with a single click, chat with colleagues via instant messaging and access full phone system features from their mobile devices.

The challenge lies in choosing the right solution to meet your business requirements and objectives. There’s a dizzying array of services to choose from, each offering different features and packages. What functionality do you really need? How will it enhance your business processes? Will end-users take full advantage of the system?

The cloud has upped the ante. Although the cloud can simplify procurement and deployment, the growing number of cloud services makes it even more difficult to sort through all of the options. Many organizations are unsure where to even begin.

That was the dilemma facing the Mt. Juliet Chamber of Commerce. The chamber needed to upgrade its communication platform, but its management team didn’t know what solutions were available, or even what questions to ask.

The chamber turned to TDS Telecom for help. TDS had been the chamber’s telecom partner for many years, providing sound advice, high-quality service and responsive, local support. TDS sat down with the chamber’s management team to design a customized solution based upon managedIP. The fully hosted solution provides a suite of features that increase productivity, support mobility and enable the chamber to better serve its customers.

The chamber recognized the value of consulting with a trusted advisor when making telecom decisions. Your telecom advisor should be more than a sales person who provides you with a few quotes. He or she should help you develop a strategy that meets your needs today while preparing you for the future. This will require a thorough review of your operations, discussions with management and end-users, and the development of a solid business case for the proposed solution.

Your telecom advisor should be able to:

  • Explain any limitations with your existing solutions and the impact that might have on your organization.
  • Bring multiple options to the table and help you compare and evaluate them.
  • Clarify any concepts or terminology you don’t understand.
  • Provide a cost / benefit analysis of the shortlisted solutions.
  • Demonstrate how the proposed solution will meet your financial, operational, technical and other requirements.
  • Provide a detailed plan for migrating to the new services with minimal impact to your day-to-day operations

Your trusted advisor should also help you stay on top of technology advances that are relevant to your goals. That doesn’t mean simply passing along information — it involves sifting through the noise that’s created by so many service providers promoting so many different solutions.

If you have contracts coming up for renewal, or if your communication and collaboration services are no longer meeting your needs, you’ll find there’s a vast array of choices available to you. TDS would be delighted to serve as your telecom advisor and help you select the right solutions to meet your needs and budget.

Don’t just take our word for it though, see what the Mt. Juliet Chamber of Commerce has to say about their experience:

About Guest Blogger

Guest bloggers for the TDS Business Blog.

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