When it comes to IP phone systems, Managed Service Providers are missing opportunities
to increase value to their clients in a variety of ways.
The Issue
IP phone systems are replacing traditional systems for a variety of reasons. The primary of which is feature sets. IP systems provide a much richer set of features than a traditional business phone system, including IVR, enhanced voicemail, and advanced call routing options. Like their older cousins, premise-based IP phone systems are largely being ignored by managed service providers. Why? Typically, it’s because the phone system is still managed and supported by the manufacturer or manufacturers rep who provided it. The MSP may simply see it as a device on the network. Understanding a bit more about how premise-based phone systems are architected may offer the MSP additional opportunities to add value to the relationship with their client and add profit to their bottom line.
played their role. The phone system manufacturer made premise-based hardware business phone systems. Carriers ran lines into those systems and billed the customer directly. ISP’s handled internet access, and Managed Service Providers handled the LAN. Even the copier folks only fixed copiers. Everyone was happy and everyone got paid for managing their little piece of the communications pie.
or not MPLS networks are still relavent has naturally arisen. While it’s going to continue to be a topic of increasing debate over the next few years, here are our thoughts on the matter.
are long gone. The cloud has changed the way businesses are using the Internet. VoIP is a mainstream technology. Printers, scanners, and copiers are now smart devices on the LAN. As more and more devices become “connected,” the demand on the MSP to be able to manage these devices has increased exponentially.
deploying VoIP, whether it be on a dedicated circuit, MPLS network, or broadband connection. Now with the splash SD-WAN is making, we’ve been getting a lot of questions about how VoIP is (or will be) provisioned over SD-WAN.
In the old days, the phone company handled voice and the ISP handled data. Nowadays with the proliferation of Voice over IP, traditional PBX systems are becoming obsolete. The internet is also being used for a lot more than just surfing the web. With so many different technologies now utilizing data networks, are there really any differences between voice and data providers? The answer is yes, absolutely. While there are many small differences among different providers, the two major differentiators are:
How much time have you spent on support with this client?
Non-billable support can make or break an MSP. Support hours are great when the client is paying, but support for monthly services like voice and data aren’t typically billable. It means troublesome connections or poor call quality can end up costing a lot in non-billable support time. Here are three easy ways to reduce time spent on internet and voice related services.
Part of your job as an MSP is to provide high-tech support to your clients. But when your data service goes down, does your carrier provide the same kind of support to you? More often than not, the answer to that question is “no,” and that’s what we want to talk about today.