Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Long Distance - chump change (click here)

I hesitate to have the appearance of endorsing a particular vendor, but as a consultant I have to answer the question - "Is it any good?".

Now, I have not seen the billing, nor do I know if they keep track of the minutes accurately, but I do know that my calls went through and I could not detect anything inferior about the calls. Tried calling to Burlington, ON from Brantford and also to Florida from Brantford. All calls to Florida - at least this particular destination - seem to be low volume, so nothing to blame on the line it would seem - unless theirs is buried underwater or something!

So it works & while you do have to dial up the CIC code first before you make the call - it's cheap, shows up on your Bell bill, has no contract and no minimum.

Makes you wonder how the average major carrier customer does when they try to negotiate contracted rates for direct dial service?

As it turns out, usually not too well. Therefore, since telecom is not most companies core business, we think having a telecom expert scouring the market for you is a compelling offering.

Of course - that is what we do @ www.schooleymitchell.com/gha . Our aim is always to get our clients the best rates for the best and most convenient services based on their individual needs.

And, if you spend "chicken feed" and only make occassional calls, you can always try one of these dial-around services. If you don't like it, don't use it again. Simple enough!


Thursday, January 20, 2005

Healthcare Money Woes ?

Every day I read on the news about "Cash strapped hospitals". The truth is, they are not doing a very good job of saving money. Now I don't mean cutting corners - which is a no-no when a person's life is at risk - I mean eliminating waste, organizing and optimizing!

My business offers a risk-free service to help clients reduce their telecom expenditures by 10-50%. RISK-FREE. Usually you don't even have to change your suppliers to get most of the savings. So the question is, why won't everybody want to do this? Help me here. What I have come up with so far (with answers) is:

Q1) They worry how much time is this going to take from me?

A1) Minimal. In fact we are there to offer OUR time. All we need is access to the bills.

Q2) To save money I have to change to an unknown or less reliable supplier.

A2) The FUD principle at work! If your current supplier is your cup of team, we can usually work with this too.

Q3) Trust. Why should I trust you?

A4) 20+ years of Telecom experience. Customer testimonials. Our invoices are based on ACTUALS.

So what does this have to do with Healthcare? Well, bottom line, the Hospitals seem to hire paid- by-the-hour consultants - which we can do too by the way - and they seem to hire the most expensive ones from the most expensive companies. (I could probably make a living finding the best value consultants for these organizations).

They've outsourced the outsourced IT/Telecom support to the point that some large US company now controls it and they fear we could actually make them look bad by doing what we do.

ARGHHH! NEXT PLEASE.

Bell is at it Again!

Just when you think you've actually got a real live person as your account rep - they stop the music and everyone scrambles to find a seat. A different seat. This of course leaves any current negotiations in the lurch with expired "offers" and the renegotiation process starts all over again. Must be a tactic to avoid offering competitive market pricing I ponder - but with a quick jolt I realize it's none of that, just too much "The sky is falling, the sky is falling" going on.

As a rule, never accept ANYTHING verbally. Get it in writing to at least have a paper trail of dates, times, people. Even with this, things can take ENORMOUS amounts of time. We're still waiting on a rebate for services not received on a maintenance contract at one client's - probably 9 months now. Government account too - Bell has a whole fleet of bodies for this, yet the Director (!) can't get $1200 approved. Sheesh!

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Hello? Are we reaching?

Welcome to my Blog! The intent here to talk about Telecom and chastise the nasty carriers who do dum stuff.

I'll start by saying THEY ARE ALL CRAP! That is why clients need services from companies like www.schooleymitchell.com/gha Can't figure out your bill? That is the main idea with them. Do you think they could bill you correct? Nope. How about install what you ordered? Maybe. How about giving you a good rate? Wrong Again! Even after you get the rate - is it accurately applied. What were you thinking man?

It's been a long time since overseas calls were hit and miss and cost a fortune. Heck I remember a time in the 70's when the Operator came on and ASKED ME for my number so they could bill us. Oh yeah and 411 was FREE too. Gone are the days...