It Got Complicated

PRI’s were easy. They are based on a standard. There were only two configurations that the gear could have. It worked 99% of the time. Now we have SIP Trunks to replace PRI and POTS. No standards. Interoperability concerns with the equipment. Voice quality issues. Faxing issues. OTT or on a dedicated circuit. Very different.

Hosted PBX, UCaaS, and the like involve a lot more than the hardware version, because now it is a software application service delivery project. There is extension mapping to DIDs, SMS, and email addresses.

This isn’t a simple implementation. This is a software deployment.

Copper was in just about every building. Occasionally there would be an issue with no available pairs, but today quote has a site survey. Many have construction costs or minimum spends for the build. Then there is the actual construction to manage. Customer site preparation, conduit, power and connectivity from the telco closet to the office suite.

It used to be easy: be like a realtor and sell some colocation. Now, VPS, IAAS, PAAS, and other virtualization means a conversion from hardware that was shipped, stacked, turned on, plugged in to a data migration and software project management.

So many moving pieces today. Much more project management involved than ever before, all while price compression also means commission decline.

If you are selling network, it got harder. Site surveys and construction projects to manage and communicate to your customer. More unpaid work for less compensation. It’s understandable that you don’t have the time or desire to learn the latest technology like UCaaS, Workflow, Contact Center, SAAS, AWS, SD-WAN, dynamic network, managed services and all the security products – UTM, cloud firewall, DDOS mitigation, etc.

It’s only going to get more complicated. Gary Vanderchuk’s keynote at a credit union industry event is titled, “You Better Figure It the Hell Out“. Some really good advice even though it isn’t our industry and it is an hour. He even talks about missed opportunities and what it is like being an entrepreneur and CEO.

Tags: collocation, copper, fiber, hosted pbx, iaas, managed services, sip trunking
Related tags: project management, construction, project, software