Cincy Business Magazine June/July 2006

Entrepreneur Toolkit
Office Tech / Communications

When making telecommunications and network choices, small-business owners should compare alternative routes, says Trent McCracken, co-owner of Spectrum, Inc. As he puts it, do you want to spend several hours per meeting with potentially four or five carriers, explain to each your current setup, and future needs, discuss new technologies, then have each carrier come back  to use up more hours of your time, presenting solutions using only their products? "Or you can meet with one company, explain your telecom or network needs once, and have a solution presented once -  a solution that could encompass products or services from a variety of carriers that best aligns with your needs and budget," McCracken says.

He also notes that an individual carrier most likely will not reveal that his product, customer service, or billing accuracy isn't as good as a competitor's. "The company presenting several options can provide you the pros and cons of each carrier." Be cautious about bundled communications and data services, McCracken adds. "Certain carriers may have a great data product, but their voice product is far inferior to their competitors," he explains. "The carrier bundles the services, and presents a less-expensive solution, however, customers may believe they are getting a comparable voice product and later learn after the contract is executed that some of their essential features, like electronic billing, are no longer available to them."

"Rarely would we recommend that a customer implement a VOIP solution only to reduce long-distance calling costs," says McCracken. "There is more involved. You have network costs, local line costs, and equipment upgrades or replacement costs. The capital funds spent on the solution can easily outweigh the savings, depending on your volume of long distance calls."

Ditching land-line phones and going wireless-only is growing in popularity, especially among younger professionals and entrepreneurs. McCracken and others say that choice may make sense for residential and personal phone communications, but quality and dependability issues (dropped calls, line static, poor sound, 911 service) can still pose problems for critical business communications, especially for a new company attempting to project a solid professional image.