Telecom In NH | spauldinghillnetworks.com Blog

September 5, 2010

Break fix or Managed Services?

Filed under: Managing Systems, network security — Tags: Break fix, IT Management, Managed Service Provider, Managed Services, Managed Services in NH, Small Business Tips, Spaulding Hill Networks, Telecom in NH — Administrator @ 12:37 am

Your network infrastructure is a critical part of your company’s success. When it comes to handling IT you have a choice-wait till something cripples your system and then call in a professional to try fixing the problem-or take a preventative IT solution by daily monitoring via Managed Services and stop most problems before they start.

Break-fix monitoring is pretty much what its name implies-waiting for your technology to break and then fixing it. This option seems a cheaper route to go, especially if your business requires minimal network support. The only problem is when something breaks you end up suffering from network downtown while waiting for someone to come to fix it. A response time for a break fix customer tends to be slower than a managed service customer. Factor in any employee who relies on the network for phone or computer support and the money loss ads up quickly.

Managed Services is a proactive approach of handling your network. How Managed Services works is you have a monthly fee that would include any proactive monitoring, service calls, software upgrades and help desk support. A nice feature about managed services providers is the predictability of a fixed fee every month and reduced risk of network downtime, which equals more productivity for your business. An added bonus is Managed Services customers are always a priority-a necessity in the event of an emergency IT situation.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both models. IT problems are bound to happen-it is up to you to decide which option will maximize your profitability.

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May 8, 2010

Small Business Solutions: Ten Tips to Help your Small Business make Big Business

Filed under: Cisco — Tags: 0% Financing Cisco, Cisco, Cisco Authorized Dealer, Cisco Authorized Dealer NH, Cisco Dealer NH, Small Business Tips, Telecom in NH — Administrator @ 9:35 pm

Businessman before a choice When it comes to small business ownership-it’s the little things that make a big difference. Here are 10 tips for using network technology to help your business work more efficiently, cut costs, improve customer satisfaction, and stay ahead of the competition.

1. Give employees secure, consistent access to information. You have an advantage over larger competitors because you can react quickly to business changes. But you can quickly lose this edge if your company network is frequently down, sluggish, or unsecured. A secure, reliable network based on intelligent routers and switches lets your employees access the information and tools they need to keep ahead of competitors.
2. Deliver anytime, anywhere access to employees on the go. To stay productive on the move, your employees need to be able to reach the people and information they need—anywhere, anytime. With tools like virtual private networks (VPNs), your employees can work outside the office and still enjoy safe access to the business network.
3. Create effective business processes with partners. Some large companies make efficient, secure business processes a prerequisite for doing business with them. To meet the business needs of your partners, you need a secure, reliable network.
4. Make it easy to work together. Smooth collaboration between employees, partners, suppliers, and customers is a sure-fire way to boost efficiency while also reducing costs. An intelligent network lets your business take advantage of interactive calendaring, videoconferencing, unified communications, and other technologies for easy collaboration.
5. Enable employees to take their phone systems wherever they go. Missed calls create project delays, wasted opportunities, and lost revenues. With a networked voice and data solution, your employees can have one phone number that rings simultaneously on multiple devices, so customers reach the right person the first time. Your staff can access all their communications from anywhere, checking for e-mail, voicemail, and faxes from just one inbox.
6. Streamline customer communications. Delivering fast, knowledgeable service is the best way to keep customers satisfied. Linking your network phone system to a customer relationship management (CRM) solution is a great way to enhance customer communications. When a customer calls, a pop-up window with their records appears on an employee’s IP phone screen, computer screen, or both.
7. Reduce unproductive travel time. All too often, time spent on the road is time lost. A networked phone solution that offers video calls and Web conferencing can help reduce the time and expense of traveling to offsite meetings and training sessions. Instead of spending time traveling, you can use the time to get work done with technology.
8. Employ a managed service provider. Is managing a network the best use of your employees’ time? In some situations, it is advantageous to hire a managed service provider for network administration. Working with a managed service provider can free your IT staff to focus on other IT tasks and use their time more effectively.
9. Improve employee satisfaction. Aging phone systems and slow networks can frustrate your employees and annoy your customers. In some cases, an employee might become burned out and decide to move on. To help ensure that employees are productive and satisfied, your business needs a secure, reliable, and fast network.
10. Develop a long-term technology plan. The process of replacing obsolete hardware can interrupt your employees and bring the office to a standstill. You can minimize such disruptions by carefully determining short- and long-term business objectives and working with your network vendor to deploy technology that matches them.

Cisco can help you with these tips with the powerful 500 series power driven for small businesses. The ESW 500 Series are cost-effective, easy-to-use switches that provide the foundation of your small business network. It provides voice and data communications, voicemail, automated attendant, video, security, and wireless capabilities while integrating with existing desktop applications such as calendar, email, and customer relationship management (CRM) programs. This easy-to-use solution supports up to 32 users and provides flexible deployment options based on your needs, supporting a wide array of IP phones, public switched telephone network (PSTN) interfaces, and Internet connectivity.

As well as having a state of the art product line, Cisco also provides 0% on financing for 36 months enabling you to make a sound investment. If you would like to know more about how Cisco can help you give us a call at (866) 441-7469.

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April 7, 2010

Telecom Review: What you don’t know can cost you!

Filed under: phone systems — Tags: Free Telecom Assessment, Spaulding Hill Networks, Telecom in NH, Telecom Review in NH — Administrator @ 1:09 pm

Dollar_sign An important and almost always overlooked strategy for a company to save money is for a telecom review. A telecom review is an audit of your telecommunications network billing and contracts, done by professionals who can find money saving errors. Telecom services account for one of the five largest expenses a business will face and with the many changes in the business and communications world what was good then may not be in your best interest now, so it is always imperative to stay on top of your telecom contract and here is why:

Telecom Bill contracts usually run 3 years and will typically go into automatic renewal. With confusing and complex billing-overcharges and outdated telecom fees can be easily overlooked. All too many times businesses are getting charged for services they no longer use or have cancelled. According to a study by Gartner Group, a leading information technology research and advisory company, “When it comes to telephone and data bills, an estimated $13 billion in overcharges will be generated in the next 12 months, and less than 2% of these telephone billing errors will ever be identified.”

All too often, businesses pay their telecom bill without a review of the actual charges or costs, which can lead to fraudulent and inaccurate billing. On average 85% of companies do not audit their bills which causes them to over spend by about 45%. Toll fraud hacking into corporate telecom networks is averaged to cost more that $1 billion dollars a year annually, how much of this 1 billion could be in your company?

Don’t let your company suffer from inaccurate billing and erroneous charges-by addressing cost issues and management issues you can cut costs and benefit instantly! Here at Spaulding Hill we offer a free telecom assessment. If you would like a FREE assessment please click here or call 866-441-7469.