Ways to Protect Your Important Business Documents

Savannah Coulsen

May 26, 2014

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Companies, especially moderate- to larger-sized companies, tend to forget that operating expenses are important, too. A company's choice of telecom provider is especially important, and just choosing the "cheapest" option available at the time is not always the best course of action. Here is a brief guide to deciding what telecom carrier is best for your company.

Ask the tough questions

The telecom company you're considering might look like a good deal at first, but are they really? Don't be afraid to look deeper. Ask former customers about the provider you're considering. Ask the potential provider about their response times to technical issues, as well as their coverage area and consistency. Most importantly, ask about the pricing strategy and when exactly the rates are adjusted each year.

Don't sacrifice quality for cost

So, you've finally found a telecom company that is reasonably priced and covers the area you're in-- but how is the quality of their service? Paying a low price for telecom service means nothing if the headache of outages, low speeds, and poor connections keeps you from running your business normally and getting things back online after an outage. Speed is also a lot more important than business owners think. Customers value business done quickly and correctly. If your telecom is poorly handled and cuts off or takes too long, it negatively affects customers' perceptions of the business as a whole. Negative word of mouth is a powerful thing.

Consider ethics, too

Let's say you've found a telecom company that has all of the above: affordable, speedy, and responsive. This is great, except for one thing-- the company doesn't have the most ethical legal or employment practices. Some large companies have pretty questionable practices, such as underpaid workers, participation in monopolies, or intentionally compromising consumer privacy of their customers. What would the fallout be if activist groups, or worse, loyal customers found out that the telecom company you do business with is unethical? Again, negative word of mouth can be highly damaging-- but doing this amount of research and coordination can be very time-consuming.

Be mindful of the research time

With this in mind, it might be a good idea to have someone put in the time to do the research for you. It is possible to hire a company for telecom consulting, like CarrierSales.com. It is definitely something to consider if you want to make the best possible choice in telecom providers but cannot spare the time or resources to look yourself.

Overall, choosing a telecom provider is more difficult than it seems, but the process can be made easier by knowing what to ask your potential provider and what to look for in a provider. If you make sure that you are thorough, you're bound to find a provider that you can stay with for years.