How Consultants Help SMBs Choose VoIP Systems

Buying phone systems is getting more complicated for SMBs. In part that's because the systems are becoming more complex, and in part it's due to the fact that smaller companies have started expecting more from the systems they choose. For these reasons, such companies are depending more on consultants to help them make the right choices. Consultants are in the same fashion depending on SMBs for a greater percentage of their income.

The main impetus behind the trend has been smaller companies' growing interest in IP PBX (Private -Automatic- Branch Exchange)es and hosted-IP telephony, according to Brookside founding partner Michael Sawka. Other key drivers are interest in unified communications and the growth of broadband networks that can support such technologies.Nevertheless making wise choices about complex new IP-based communication systems requires considerable expertise, which boosts demand for consultants. Their know-how is considerable, with 72 percent of those surveyed having been in business for more than 10 years. The consultants themselves are doing what they can to boost demand even furthermore by broadening the range of services they offer.

Clients have a number of reasons for using consultants to help them with their telephony needs, according to the report. The first is that consultants will help them save money on phone systems and services, a motive of 69 percent. Second, at 52 percent, is a specific interest in a new innovation, product or service. Others include the desires to do more with existing phone systems and networks, to increase network efficiency and to improve business processes. Improving business communication and collaboration is a motive of 33 percent, during improving competitive advantage is important for 29 percent.According to Sawka, the most fundamental service consultants offer is needs assessment, or helping companies determine which equipment or services will work best for them. Beyond that, consultants make themselves useful in a variety of ways, depending on a client's needs and resources. They can help evaluate and choose vendors, for instance, even going so far as to write RFPs and assist in contract negotiations.And in the last 12 to 18 months, Sawka added, consultants have become involved in network design and configuration because of IP telephony's dependence on complex data networks as opposed to simpler traditional telephone wiring. Consultants are even increasingly moving into deploying and managing phone systems and networks on an outsourced basis, according to Sawka. "There's a growing gray area between consultants and integrators," he explained. "The big difference is that consultants aren't financially compensated by the vendor."The report noted that a number of vertical industry segments find consultants particularly useful. The top source of customers is health care, followed by banking and finance, local and state government and education. Professionals just as lawyers and accountants as well rely significantly on consultants.