When looking for a new cloud-based telephony solution, it's understandable that you'd think the best option would be to go directly to the source, a.k.a. the vendor.
Unified communications vendors are great at many things like functionality innovations, partner relationships, and even sales. That said, they may not be your best bet in finding a communications strategy that empowers your team today while also planning for the future needs of your company.
Maybe that sounds contradictory, but stay with us and consider the following:
Vendors are huge companies fragmented by department. Their sales reps can't help you if something goes wrong during implementation, which is typically handled overseas, and the support team doesn't know you or your specific situation.
1: Tailored Features and Functionality
Top unified communications providers are innovative, which is a good thing regarding their platform's features and functionality. You want to work with a vendor that keeps up with the times. That said, your business is unique and likely needs specific solutions designed around your current technologies and workforce.
Vendor sales reps love their product and their singular-minded in selling it because that's all they have to offer. They tend to lean toward selling clients everything available, which may not be necessary in every business use case.
A unified communications partner like Converged Technology Professionals works with the top vendors in the industry, and we'll present options from multiple providers, not just one. But before we even get to that stage, we’ll conduct an independent discovery of your current PBX technologies and learn where your company is headed in the future. Our team leaves no rock unturned when it comes to understanding your specific needs by department across your organization.
How do we do that? Let's talk about that next.
2: Multiple Vendor Demos
To ensure your business adopts the communications system that best suits your needs, we recommend hands-on demos where you can see multiple platforms in action for comparison.
Thorough discovery is the first step in making that happen. Our sales consultants gather information on how you work now across departments. Our engineers analyze your current communications tools to see what is working for you and what isn't so that they can make suggestions for your next system.
Once we understand your parameters, we'll coordinate personalized, hands-on demos with the vendors that best suit your needs based on the specific requirements found in discovery. The conversation starts there, not at the beginning, which saves everyone valuable time.
3: Personalized Implementation
Choosing the right platform is only half the battle. You'll need your new communication tools to be set up and deployed with the least disruption to your day-to-day operations.
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Long Wait Times: You'll be put in a queue and could wait several months after purchase for your turn to migrate.
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Inconvenient Schedule: Many vendors use overseas implementation teams, and your deployment could be scheduled when most convenient for them and not your time zone.
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Impersonal Service: The provider's team doesn't know you or your business. You are a ticket, next in line, and they have no context regarding your needs or situation.
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No Help Troubleshooting: If something goes astray—and let's face it, how many of these go off without a hitch—the vendor implementation team can't pivot on your behalf. They'll only be able to stick to the order in front of them, and if that needs modification, your migration is likely not happening. You'll be back in line for a later date.
A communications partner will work with the vendor on your behalf, ensuring the process goes smoothly. If there is a snag, we've got the relationships necessary to intervene and get snafus taken care of more expediently.
In fact, Converged is the only global partner certified to perform RingCentral UCaaS and CCaaS implementations in-house, and many UCaaS providers ask us to execute migration for their customer base. Vendors trust our technical account management team (TAMs) because they’ve done the hard work to train on their systems; we’ve performed smoothly run migrations for customers like the Milwaukee Brewers, Axia Healthcare, Impact Confections, and more.
4: Customized Training
Proper training is paramount to your new system's overall success and adoption rate. Staff can hit the ground running. The more comfortable they feel, the easier the transition will be for them and ultimately, your customers.
As mentioned above, unified communications providers are large companies with fragmented departments. Their training may take months to schedule and consist of self-service videos or training by staff that doesn't know your company well.
Just like choosing a system isn't one size fits all, neither should your training be. Strategic, customized training is the most effective, efficient way to optimize your new investment. Our technical account management team (TAMs) expertly trains our customers on their new platforms daily, working closely with every department, including our sales consultants and engineers. That way, they get to know you, enabling them to present the best training for your team.
5: Ongoing Support
Last but definitely not least, we should talk about ongoing support. Where vendor support is general and may not be easily accessible (those pesky wait times again!), you have the option to choose to utilize our Converged TAM resources for additional support, training, and administration of your unified communications solution post-implementation.
You'll have peace of mind knowing we have great relationships with vendors, and if anything goes south, we can intervene if needed on your behalf.
Are you interested in learning more? Feel free to reach out. We'd love to meet you.
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