New System Hang-Ups

At a minimum, you should expect local affiliates to serve as your advocate in the event of product or service problems, says Mark Jenkins, director of technical solutions for Select Communications, a distributor of wireless services in Plymouth. “If I call the Black-Berry manufacturer directly, I might be able to take care of an issue in 5 or 10 minutes,” Jenkins notes. “Whereas a customer who hasn’t been through the maze before may not know the right questions to ask, or which level of technical support is equipped to handle what issues.” It’s not realistic to think a distributor will function as your 24/7 help desk, but Jenkins believes that it should stand ready to aid your cause.

John Beesley, director of network solutions for CA Communications, a telecom service and support company in Minnetonka, says national equipment manufacturers and carriers have worked harder in recent years to draw a “tighter connection” between themselves and end users. Beesley adds that the Twin Cities has benefited by the growth of smaller interconnect and agent companies. These firms tend to provide more hands-on service support than the larger companies that dominated the market 10 years ago, Beesley says: “It’s not unusual to call one of these companies and get connected with the CEO, who also may be the company’s lead technician and sales guy.”

Technology: The Easy Part

While the technical challenges of installing and integrating new telecom systems with old ones can be daunting, they often pale in comparison to the cultural and process issues that arise when staff must change old ways of working. New methods for retrieving voice or e-mail messages, transferring or forwarding phone calls, accessing the Internet, or conducting video conferences can cause employees to struggle with or resist change.

A new phone system, for example, may significantly alter a receptionist’s job by enabling more calls to be routed directly to extensions or queued for the first available person in specific departments. The new features free up more of the receptionist’s time, but how will he or she react to being assigned other work? Ditto for call-center service representatives who may resist the shift to “point and click” call handling via computer as VOIP systems displace old-school PBX networks. (VOIP sends voice traffic through data networks instead of traditional phone lines.)

Others may feel new technology represents a direct threat to their livelihoods. VOIP systems, for example, may make members of separate voice and data technical-support teams nervous for fear their groups will be merged—and jobs lost—as networks converge or they are expected to develop new expertise. Explaining the rationale behind technology changes, and seeking input about user requirements before implementation, can help reduce resistance and build goodwill in the ranks.