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By Rudain Arafeh
February 18, 2004
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If you're a third-party telecom services provider, you likely have experienced the travails of maneuvering through the various levels of red tape within the megalith telephone
companies to obtain transport and/or voice telephony services. Unless your company is a Fortune 500 enterprise, convincing companies such as AT&T, SBC or Verizon to cater to
your needs can become an exercise in futility characterized by long waiting periods and no guarantee that your services will be provisioned.
While it's impossible to eliminate all of the pitfalls associated with these highly bureaucratic carrier organizations, you can mitigate some common provisioning delays
through proper planning and some perseverance. Even though you may be at a disadvantage because you're not a massive operation, you can still garner respect and follow-through
if you are able to utilize the competencies of the person taking your order on the other side of the phone.
For decades, our specialists have encountered the pitfalls of navigating through the corporate maze at major telecommunications firms, making us experts in understanding the
service negotiation and provisioning process. Below are some basic methods we have found effective to help you navigate your way through the red tape.
Know what you're talking about before calling
Simply dialing the number of your preferred service provider and expecting the sales representative to solve all of your needs is unrealistic. These organizations will take
you seriously when you are specific about the services you want to purchase and can articulate just how much money you plan to bring to their company. Be able to convey the
details such as how many T1 lines you will need, how much bandwidth is required and exactly how much you think the contract might be worth today and in the future as you expand
your services. However, be open to other approaches the sales representative might present because there might be a better solution. It's also best to draw up a spreadsheet
that contains exact addresses and physical descriptions of installation points, along with contacts at each location, so the order can be quickly processed.
Use the art of flattery
Once you dial the 800 number, make it clear that your company has the option of working with a variety of service providers but has chosen their company because of attributes
such as a reputable network and competitive pricing.
Expect to continually follow up with your order
Your order will be processed through several departments in an often slow and methodical way. Any time you can talk to the service provider about possible installation snags,
you can help speed up some of the internal processes. For instance, if you know one of your locations lacks the proper fiber or copper wire or will require complex installation
services, telling the service provider beforehand and requesting an inspection will help eliminate some of the delays and may route you around the bureaucracy.
Mitigate possible installation problems on your end
We have seen much wasted time and effort because of an incorrect contact person or phone number that prevented the service provider from installing services. If someone at an
installation site isn't aware that a carrier is coming to perform an install, the carrier goes away.
Be patient
Understand that services do take time to provision. Don't bank on having your extra bandwidth next week when the normal installation time for DS3 service is eight weeks.
Don't be afraid to escalate
If there are just too many installation snags, request to speak with your representative's supervisor. The representative is required to pass the call along if you ask him or
her to do so. The key, however, is to do this in a respectful manner. Many account managers have burned bridges because they treated the initial point of contact in a
discourteous way. It's important to convey the fact that you appreciate the efforts your contact has made, but your provisioning problems now require the help of a manager.
A supervisor's involvement can intensify the effort across all departments.
Keep a black book of helpful contacts
Once you find a helpful technician or contact person who can maneuver his or her way through the company maze, you definitely want to utilize that person's talents again.
And don't forget to get the name and e-mail address of your contacts' supervisors to discuss a job well done. Such commendations can do a lot to move these people up the career ladder.
Consider involvement from a consultant or third party
Most of the time a complex project involving multiple sites and carriers requires the assistance of someone who can leverage relationships, industry clout and unique
project-management techniques to negotiate price and service deployment scheduling with major carriers.
Internet service providers are in the business of providing portals to the Web, but they aren't experts in transport. However, offering reliable transport can prove to be
a significant advantage. Case in point, CBX Technologies, a third-party telecom consulting and service-hosting organization, desired a solution that guaranteed timely delivery
of its remote management, e-mail/site hosting, VoIP and IP VPN hosted services to its client base. But persuading the large service providers to offer their best guarantees and
prices for transport services proved to be too difficult since CBX didn't have the industry clout. Using a consultancy to negotiate its contracts, CBX has cut its service
deployment time to its clientele by 75 percent, significantly increasing its revenue streams for IP service offerings.
In the end, it may take many battle scars and lessons learned before you can efficiently finesse your own way through the carrier maze, but courtesy, patience and dedication
can go a long way in getting what you want from your service provider.
Rudain Arafeh is CEO of Configure Inc., a Silicon Valley-based communication consultancy specializing in network design and deployment, transport service implementation,
project management and outsourcing solutions. For questions and comments, please contact us.
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