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Opting to use a telecom consulting company to help your business achieve their goals can be extremely beneficial. Not only will this save you hours of your valuable time but also using a true specialist means that you’re up to speed with the latest industry developments from the start. However, it is not always clear to determine whether your choice of consultants is the right one. Here are a few ways to ensure that your consultancy company is right for you. Ensure the consultant is truly unbiased Some telecom consulting companies have a partnership or existing business relationship with a particular supplier or manufacturer. Your consultant should be able to prove their independence from experience and previous projects. Ensure past recommendations are unbiased towards services or products and have them guarantee they have no preferred partners. This will ensure you are getting advice which is right for you, not based on their partnerships. Choosing a consultancy that is truly independent from any supplier guarantees that any suggestions for your business will be completely unbiased, allowing you to have complete trust in their guidance. Ensure your consultancy matches your budget and operates at a fixed cost No business has unlimited funds to spend on their technology, so there will no doubt be a specific budget allocation that must be adhered to when choosing a telecom consulting company. After all, the whole point of using their services is to save you money in the long run. It is therefore only natural that the cost of consultancy services will have an impact on your decision as to which company to use. Finding the right fit for your business means finding a consulting company that will provide advice and guidance at a fixed budget-friendly price. Ensure company cultures are complementary A company culture exists in every business and gives a good insight into the way they work. Being able to identify the values and goals of the consultancy will enable you to see whether their company ideals match your own, and gives a good indication as to whether a successful business relationship can develop. Entering into a business partnership with a consulting firm with a culture and personalities that will clash with your business is a guarantee that you will be left disappointed with their services. To find the right fit for your business, look for a telecom consulting company that will not only assist you in the technical aspects, but also be able look after your needs as a customer. Contact us To find out whether our consultants at Soniza are the right choice for your company, contact our team who will be happy to discuss your requirements.

The telecommunications industry has grown rapidly over the last few decades, which has inevitably led to numerous changes that have shaped the industry’s development. The biggest industry news in recent months includes the purchase of Broadsoft by telecoms giant, Cisco, and a similar acquisition by Mitel of ShoreTel. The merging of these companies promises customers a new focus on services that are currently in high demand - cloud services. Although a seamless transition is expected by all parties involved, this news does highlight the fact that telephone consulting is more important now than ever before. Stay up to date with changes in the industry Unless your business is involved with telecommunications, staying up to date with the latest industry news is not going to be a priority. You will undoubtedly have more important things to focus on that relate to ‘the day job’. However, big news like company acquisitions could have an impact on the services you use. A telephone consulting company can keep up to date with these changes and how they will impact your business, enabling you to manage your services to keep your business running at maximum efficiency. Discover new products and services Cisco and Mitel’s recent purchases have expanded their offerings to their customers by introducing more cloud services to their repertoire. New telecommunication products are being developed and introduced to the market with increasing regularity, and it is important to know whether they could be beneficial to your business. Telephone consulting companies are experts are staying ahead of the game when it comes to telecommunication products and services. In order to keep up with customer demand and changes in the industry, consultancies are always expanding their expertise by familiarising themselves with new introductions to the market. This makes their knowledge invaluable when deciding whether to update your business’s technology. Independent advice and guidance The most important thing to remember about telephone consultancies is that they are completely independent of suppliers and manufacturers. This means they can assess the changes in the industry with an objective view and give you unbiased advice about the right solutions for your business. Contact us If you would like more information about how the consultants here at Soniza could be beneficial to your business, contact our team who will be happy to discuss your requirements.

Mobile phones have undoubtedly made our day to day lives easier and therefore have also become a vital part of any business. Most companies want to maximise the efficiency of their staff and want the ability to keep up with customer demands. When looking for a mobile service for your business, it may be tempting to go direct to the suppliers to purchase your devices. However, using mobile consultants could be more beneficial. Finding the right mobile for your business needs Before going ahead with a mobile supplier, it’s important to identify whether they can meet your business needs, both now and over the lifetime of the contract. Suppliers will always try to sell you a product or service that is most beneficial to them, and won’t necessarily consider your best interests. It is also difficult to compare different mobile proposals from different suppliers. Mobile providers intentionally do this, so while one will offer you 3Gb per month per user another will only offer 4Gb and that’s before they start throwing in ‘tech funds’, ‘airtime credits’ and ‘rebates’, which all increase the complexity to compare apples for apples. The role of mobile consultants is to identify your business needs and then ask the market to meet those needs. The only financial consideration will be whether the service or product can meet your needs within your budget. Independent comparison service Finding the right mobile service for your business could potentially mean looking at a number of different suppliers. Going direct to a supplier means you are limiting your business to their products or services without any independent comparison. This could cost your business thousands in the long run. Independent mobile consultants can save you valuable time and a great deal of effort by looking at a broad range of suppliers and comparing their products for you. Any guidance they offer is completely unbiased, so you can have complete confidence that their advice is right for your business. Save your company money It is surprising how many businesses pay for services or devices they don’t use without even realising it. Suppliers don’t offer a service that identifies how many devices you are already paying for compared to how many you are actually using. Mobile consultants can offer a mobile audit service which will identify the areas where money is being spent unnecessarily and also where savings can be made on services that are needed. Contact us To find out more about whether our mobile consultants can help with your business requirements, contact our team at Soniza for more information.

The contact centre sector is booming – but challenges facing the industry mean C-Suites should consider hiring a Contact Centre Consultant to secure their plans for growth. The future is looking bright for the contact centre sector; the industry boasts over 6,200 centres in the UK and employs over 4% of the country’s working population with these figures expected to grow even further in the months ahead. While offering genuine opportunities for sizeable growth, there are several emerging challenges that could hamper progress including average call durations rising to the highest figure ever recorded and the need for true omnichannel experiences for customers; the latter in particular requires urgent action as 74% of contact centres will offer unified experiences by 2018. Reaping the Rewards To address such issues, savvy contact centre managers are increasingly turning to Contact Centre Consultants (CCC) and their specialist skillsets, market knowledge and unbiased position to guarantee their contact centre operations remain ahead of the curve – and the competition: 1. Protecting budgets CCCs understand that developing and executing a successful growth strategy takes not only time, money and resources but most importantly, expertise. Many companies are tempted to undertake the process in-house, hoping to make substantial savings but in reality, this approach typically incurs higher costs, extends development times and over-stretches staff. Because of their experience however, CCCs are able to sidestep common pitfalls and instead, draw up a roadmap to rollout success that will save money and increase ROI. Ultimately, it also means the client can allow any in-house talent to stay more focused on what they do best – their day-to-day roles. 2. Removing agendas CCCs are able to utilise the whole market of suppliers to source and procure the services and products required for the rollout of any new contact centre process. Because of this database, CCCs can negotiate on the client’s behalf, ensuring the best prices are secured on what is actually required for the task, not what a salesman (with their own vested interests) is selling that month to hit sales targets. 3. Overcoming obstacles CCCs recognise that customers are increasingly interacting with business via digital touchpoints; according to the 2016 Global Contact Centre report, contact centres will be running nine different channels by the end of 2017. To effectively deal with this trend, CCCs can identify the most appropriate technologies and touchpoints to drive up customer engagement and retention rates. Critically, the consultant can also strip away the hyperbole that often swamps the digital space and offer real-world pragmatic guidance on the channels that will best suit the individual needs of the client’s operations. 4. Promoting transparency CCCs ensure that clients always have a 360-degree view of their projects via scheduled reporting and access to Key Performance Indicators, guaranteeing a fully audited process that ensures all governance requirements are met. This approach also enables clients to track every area of the rollout through out the process via one reliable and quantifiable source, instead of dealing with updates on an ad-hoc and potentially incoherent basis that can cripple project implementation. When combined, these four ‘pillars’ of service offered by Contact Centre Consultants mean that a client’s strategy will be fully optimised to ensure a successful rollout. Importantly, the consultant can aid the client secure their contact centre operations in the present – while guaranteeing they’re fit to face the future of an increasingly diverse and competitive sector.

In today’s fast paced world, mobile phones are a vital part of any company. Businesses need to be able to communicate quickly and efficiently around the clock, so telecommunications, and mobile phones often consume a large part of any budget. As each new development promises to make our businesses more streamlined than ever before, we end up spending huge amounts to keep up with the latest technology. However, with all these changes and upgrades, many people don’t realise that they are spending their budget on services that they are no longer using. This is where a mobile audit can benefit your business. How does a mobile audit work? A mobile audit is an analysis of a mobile estate to identify areas where services that are being paid for are no longer used, or where savings can be made on the services that are utilised. Data is collected on all mobile information within the company, including services, tariffs and handsets that are costing your business money. Once this information has been analysed, actions are taken to make the mobile estate more efficient. This can include creating an accurate inventory of devices, removing the devices and services that are no longer in use, and switching to more cost-effective services and tariffs where existing services are no longer providing value for money. What are the advantages of mobile audits? It is accepted that spending money on necessary expenses, like mobile phones for your staff, is an inevitable part of business. However, paying money for services that aren’t being used can be a costly mistake. It means that a larger proportion of your budget is used up unnecessarily, when it could be better utilised elsewhere. A mobile audit identifies these areas of overspending, and provides more cost-effective solutions so that your business can save money. The cost of a mobile contract can include the cost of paying for the device. In some cases, the cost of these devices is worthwhile because of the wide variety of functions they provide that make conducting business easier. However, it is easy to lose track of just how many devices your company is spending its budget on. A mobile audit will examine your contracts, remove the devices you are paying for but are no longer using, and give you an accurate inventory of the all devices that are being utilised by the company.

Businesses often need to assess their budgets to find ways to reduce spending. However, it is generally accepted that a significant part of the budget will be spent on telecommunications, so it can be difficult to see how to cut costs in this area. Here’s how a telecommunications consulting company can help by identifying where you are overspending and finding the right solution to save you money. Audit of Services The first port of call for a telecommunications consulting company is to carry out an audit of services. This process involves collecting data regarding the utilisation of all telecommunications within the company, including WAN and LAN, mobile phones and landlines, then analysing this information to evaluate whether you are spending money on services unnecessarily. You can then save money by removing the services that you are paying for but are no longer using. Benchmarking Once a telecommunications consulting company has established exactly how you are spending your money, they can then compare your costs to the current market rate tariffs. By carrying out a benchmarking exercise, consultants can show you if you are receiving a service that provides good value for money, or if you are spending far more than you need to on the services that you are using. Once you know how your spending compares to the current market rates, this puts you in a better position to identify the changes that can be made to save you money. Procurement of new services Introducing new services to a business means finding a service that can provide you with the right features at the best possible price. However, many business managers find that they don’t always have the time to hunt down the most cost-effective deal. A telecommunications consultancy company can take the hassle out of this process by finding the best deals on new services for you. Telephony contract negotiation It may be tempting to sign up for a contract at the price that is quoted by the service provider to save time and get the service up and running as soon as possible. However, the best way to save money is to negotiate on the price before signing the deal. A telecommunications consultancy company can negotiate with new providers on your behalf to ensure you pay the best price, or even renegotiate contracts that are already in place with existing suppliers.

How we define an Independent Telecoms Consultant plays a vital role in underlining their importance. Today’s telecommunications marketplace has grown into a colossal industry and one that is hugely complex. A major challenge for most businesses is understanding the continuous innovation requirements of emerging technologies within that marketplace and how to align telecoms accordingly. The true definition of an Independent Telecommunications Consultant, is someone that is hired by a customer to find them the best possible solution available for their business, working within the businesses constraints, such as: budget, company culture, business strategy... A telecoms consultant has a truly independent outlook, and their clients' vested interests at heart, comprehending the true nature of their business needs. According to the Society of Communications Technology Consultants International, "No member shall accept fees, commissions, or any other valuable consideration in connection with those services from anyone other than the client." Independent Telecommunications Consultants tailor solutions for maximum efficiency without taking a ‘cut’ for the services that they recommend. The latest survey carried out by [1]MCA (The Management Consultancies Association) shows a 3.2% hike in the number of Telecommunications Consultants operating in the UK. However, buyer beware! Arguably not all consultants can be considered truly independent, particularly those tied to operators who profit from touting their services irrespective of the right business solution. So in answer to our question, Why Use Independent Telecommunications Consultants? The answer is simple: Pragmatic Market Knowledge and Unbiased Expertise – Independent Telecoms Consultants tap into a wealth of long-standing industry knowledge and experience gained over many years across multiple technologies, suppliers, manufacturers and client industries. Paramount to their success, consultants are strategists, keeping a beady eye on the ever evolving, rapidly improving technology. Utilising this experience, they know what's important to a business and how the technology works in the ‘real world’ as opposed to the ‘slick marketing spin’ churned out by many operators. Speed and Efficiency – The whole process of deployment cannot be run without using strategic sourcing and procurement. As specialists in the field with years of experience, Consultants have the resources to analyse the market, the framework to efficiently advise and run audits, strategies, and procurements and the knowledge that saves time and cost during analysis and evaluation. Market Data Insights – Independent Telecommunications Consultants are industry experts using time tested best practices and processes. Market data accumulated over the years and valuable insights gained from prior projects inform cost models and product based knowledge. Cost Savings and ROI - Organisations that try to do all their telecoms projects in-house themselves have much higher research, development, and implementation time, all of which leads to increased costs and can severely impact the business. Quality Consultants will have the resources and tools to start new projects straight away for most clients - saving invaluable time and money. In summary, an Independent Telecommunications Consultants can provide peace of mind for a client, a broader knowledge of the market and industry, and practical, informed expertise to get clients to the solution which best matched to their needs. [1] MCA UK Consulting Industry Statistics 2016 - https://www.mca.org.uk/reports/reports-data/uk-consulting-industry-statistic-2016

There is a fight going on that you may not be aware of. The fight of the messenger! Short Messaging Service (SMS) or text messaging was first introduced to the mass market in the 90’s. Although this was a ‘nice little feature’, mobile operators generally saw little point in text messaging and didn’t see why consumers would use it when they could call instead. But boy were they wrong! Now over 20 years later it is estimated that we send 23 billion messages per day globally! With figures like that you can see why everyone from Vodafone to Facebook is trying to capture every bit of the market. But what’s the attraction with a simple technology that is 20 years old? Historically SMS were commercially attractive because consumers used to pay for text messages but now days that is rarely the case as other free of charge platforms have been introduced and SMS are often bundled in with a contract. Most messaging companies simply want to grab market share and although they will get some revenue from it, they are actually looking at other ways to make it commercially viable. So the race is on to become the global messenger leader and either selling lots of ‘Big Data’ or selling advertising space or both seems to be the accepted way to make the service commercial viable at the moment. As there is currently no globally accepted authority on the matter, consumers probably use ten different messaging platforms which creates silos of users for example; WhatsApp messaging can’t speak to Skype for Business nor iMessenger to Twitter. This means that the consumer has multiple accounts and credits for each application, none of which can ‘talk’ to each other and each needs managing. What’s needed is an open source application that works to converge different platforms into one seamless experience. Unfortunately, this appears to be a while off, with so many global businesses fighting for dominance a utopia for messaging is still yet to be seen.

First of all, lets define what an elastic infrastructure is. The idea is that infrastructure is able to scale up and down seamlessly and without human intervention. Amazon are the biggest advocate of this due to their huge amount of storage and processing power. Their global storage capacity is bigger than the next five biggest companies combined. The best way to understand how it works is to look at a case study, Netflix! Netflix utilises huge amounts of data globally. When it launches a television new series, it often does it globally. However, although they can predict popularity and in turn processing requirements, they can’t know it’s popularity until it is available. Netflix therefore entrust this to Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS can scale up and down to an almost infinite amount almost without a single dependence. Telecoms is starting (slowly) to take advantage of this type of architecture, with one or two manufacturers now on an elastic infrastructure platform. It means that manufacturers simply upload their software onto the AWS platform, pick their geographic area of availability and then can in theory sell solutions anywhere in the world. This brings benefit to customers, some of which may have peaks and troughs in workload or want an infrastructure with on/off buttons for certain features. For example, you may want to sell a new product which requires a contact centre, you can therefore buy 10 licences for a contact centre system without any of the usual set-up costs. Simply use the contact centre application from a browser, point your sales number to the AWS platform and it’s live. Sales not going very well, reduce the number of licences to 4 in a single month and only pay for what you use. This type of solution obviously has advantages to the manufacturers as well. No longer do they need big factories to build servers and a distribution network spanning the globe. So the upshot is that there are benefits for everyone and this in turn should reduce costs to the end customer. So far however this is not the case, as with all new innovations it takes time for the market to get on board and costs to be driven down but watch this space because change is coming!

The talk of Cloud telephony is often branded about like it’s the answer to all your problems. There are, however, a number of reasons that it’s both difficult to achieve and perhaps not as straight forward as the marketers would have you believe. First and foremost is that somewhere there needs to be a connection to Openreach's core network. One day we may all be speaking over the Internet but that's some time away at the moment. Businesses are uncertain about quality of calls over the Internet and they should be. First impressions for potential customers are very important and jitter on the line is unacceptable for a landline call. I wouldn't accept it and I work in the industry, so why would potential customers. This means there needs to be some physical appliance in the network and its very 'un-cloud' to have physical dependencies! Then there's confusion over the different types of Cloud telephony, hosted cloud, private cloud, public cloud, re-sellers cloud, manufacturers cloud etc. These all have advantages and limitations but confuse a lot of customers and suppliers aren’t helping. They call their own 'Cloud' different marketing phrases, elevating the issue of confusion. The next issue is commercial. Suppliers assume that clients want to pay for services on a revenue based model. This is simply not the case for many businesses. Often companies have capital to spend and want to keep their revenue costs low. This is a fundamental misconception that the industry has made and can frustrate many customers. The last issue is that often suppliers aren’t ready to sell cloud telephony either. They may brand services 'The Cloud' but their business model is not geared to the revenue model required and they therefore take out loans to pay for the capital expenditure. Coupled with this, often the architecture they are buying isn't built for Cloud either. Suppliers simply treat their 'Cloud' offering as a commercial arrangement rather than getting the real benefits of a true Cloud service. So, in summary, if you’re thinking of moving telephony to the Cloud, make sure: You know why you’re moving and get your business case water tight You know what type of Cloud you want and why And, that both you and your supplier are geared to the commercial model that is right for your business not theirs https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/issues-cloud-telephony-sam-mathie?trk=mp-author-card