New System Hang-Ups

Finding out how telecom providers track their service quality is another way to screen vendors. Integra, for example, measures more than 30 facets of its customer service performance and sends report cards to customers twice a year. Measured factors include how fast Integra responds to customer calls, how often customers are able to reach a person rather than a recording, and the percentage of calls answered in local markets.

“We believe we have to consistently ‘inspect what we expect,’” Dennistoun says.

Telecom consultants say the growth of multipurpose communication devices and the convergence of voice, data, and video onto single delivery networks also makes it essential that businesses make it clear whom employees should contact in case of service issues, whether that support comes from in house or an outside source.

“You have a device that looks like a phone but is being used primarily for sending data like e-mail or text messages,” says Gerry Hansen, vice president of N’compass, a Minneapolis-based telecom consulting company. “So which direction does that support call go now if there’s a problem?”

The more due diligence you do up front to ensure the right technology fit for your company, the lower the odds of system reliability or compatibility issues plaguing you after implementation. When it comes to complex telecom rollouts, Hansen suggests asking vendors to test system features or functions in lab settings. Such “prove-it” testing is especially important if you wish to integrate new hardware or software into existing telecom systems.

“In call-center environments, you may have to integrate new technology with legacy back-end or analog systems, and the latter can be problematic because each manufacturer supports analog gateways in a different way,” Hansen says. “There are plenty of ‘gotchas’ there that companies can overlook if there isn’t enough rigor in their evaluations.”

Making Local Calls

If you’ve purchased equipment or services through local agents or distributors of national providers, you’ll also want to determine what level of service they’ll provide after the sale. While few locals can match the in-house technical expertise of the big boys, middlemen often can tap into the resources of a Cisco, Avaya, or Verizon.