An interesting artcile in the USA Today a few weeks ago, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-04-16/company-employee-broadband/54325232/1. With the craze of the iPhone and iPad, more and more people are jumping on Company Wi-Fi networks to hog their bandwidth, for their own personal use. Large corporations, such as Cadbury, are chewing up more than 50% of their bandwidth, for personal use. More often than not, the IT department, is one of the most costly departments to a company and if their network is not properly set up, it may cost even more, in productivity and angry users. With this high demand, Intelletrace Professional Services, is constantly installing and maintaining new company internal wireless networks, delpying, managing, and monitoring, for excess usage, all the way down to a single desktop. Watch out… The wireless police may be out to stop you or restrictions will soon be in place, whether it be at the desktop level or times during the day. Remember, when setting up a company wireless network, do not go on the cheap. Make sure you not only getting assistance from a Professional company, but make sure your access points are high quality, such as Cisco.
May 14
Top 5 Reasons to Choose a Network Solution Provider
“Well done is better than well said.”
~ Benjamin Franklin
To me, customer service is about values. And, values don’t change based on external factors such as the push for profits. But, you sure wouldn’t know that if you work with one of the “big carriers!” It feels like profits call all the shots!
Since I was a kid, I have been an unflinching advocate of customer service. I saw the immediate positive effects of good customer service on my early childhood entrepreneurial ventures (lemonade stands, baseball card business, etc.). Provide better service, from the heart, and your business thrives. Business 101, right?
Well, I have carried that work ethic into my adult business life. It is why I founded Intelletrace. I observed that the big carriers were providing customer service that ranged from ambivalent to awful. They are not sufficiently motivated: they have a lock on the market, so they believe they can behave the way they want.
Well, times are changing. And, we’re part of that change.
Increasingly, more and more businesses are looking for a better solution and a higher level of service that what the big carriers can provide.
Here are five reasons to choose a network solution provider:
- Accountable and invested in a long term relationship and success. Not just looking for a quick buck!
- Like or not, you hear the truth.
- Mergers and Acquisitions. Sometimes, you never know what you are really getting and how long your contacts are going to last.
- Experience with multiple carriers with unbiased opinions.
- Most importantly and a big time saver. Single point of contact and a single invoice to handle all of your Wide-Area-Networking needs.
At Intelletrace, good customer service is not a hollow promise. It is our bedrock guiding principle. Find out for yourself and see how good good customer service can feel!
I am Marc. But, tell me: am i on the mark?
Marc Alciati is the President & CEO of Intelletrace.
Apr 18
The Telecom Mob
Telecom is a very complexed Industry, which does not really have to be. One part of the business, which people do not really understand is why it costs so much money to deliver a service from the basement in their building to their suite or server room. Like your home, the utility company only delivers the service to the outside of the home. If the home has never had any service before, then somebody needs to wire the home to accept the service. You can hire a electrician or the utility company will do it for an additional charge. It works the same way with commercial buildings, however, there are a lot more rules and restrictions. The bigger the building and the bigger the city, typically more restrictions. Everybody wants to make money, and for building owners, this is a very easy way. Typically, building owners will only allow their own contractor do the inside wiring. They do not let you get multiple bids or negotiate the job. Although, they will not admit it, they want to get paid by the contractor, so you are stuck. Of course, they do not tell you this before you sign the lease. New Yorkers call these type of builder owners the Telecom Mob. I hope you never experienced this…
Apr 09
What Happens in Vegas Does Not Always Stay in Vegas
Spring Channel Partners was back in Las Vegas. As always, it is a fun time and great to always catch up and meet new people. This year I did not attend a lot of parties, as more companies now move to a more personal set up, and get a suite with food and drinks. It was nice to speak again with the CEO of AboveNet, Bill LaPerch. Bill has been busy traveling to all of the AboveNet offices to discuss the latest acquisition in telecom, Zayo buying AboveNet. AboveNet has been great to work worth, so I hope Zayo does not blow it, like most bigger companies do. Here is more to read… http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=147513&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1673836&highlight=
The buzz word at the show is still CLOUD technology and what everybody is trying to do, as part of their CLOUD strategy. I do not know how many people asked me, “What are you dingo for the Cloud?”, but it was starting to get a little annoying. We have been selling connectivity to the Cloud for many years, however, nobody called it the Cloud until a couple of years ago. It is always funny, how companies jump on the bandwagon, thinking they are getting ahead, when they are already late to the party.
The show was also a great chance to develop new relationships with people I have traded emails, but have never met in person. Learning more about their companies and how possible partnerships could help Intelletrace clients, is what the show is all about. The real activity starts when I get back from Vegas, reaching out to clients to let them know about possible services we can offer now, that will help them out of a bind. Also, reaching back out to the people we met, to discuss the future. You are probably thinking I am leaving a lot out. ” There has to be more, after spending 2 nights at Caesar’s’ Palace ( the same place where Hangover was filmed)?” Yes, I did attend some after dinner parties, but what happens at these parties does stay in Vegas… Sorry.
Apr 04
Your Fire Drill is Not My Fire Drill
What happens in most business’, especially in today’s economic environment, companies are planning poorly, continue to choose vendors based on priced, and do not understand it is not the vendor’s job to put out the fire which they did not create. It was your job to prevent the fire! Do not penalize the people or vendors who come to the rescue.
Recently, Intelletrace was called into help out a high profile on a days notice. The vendor which was originally chosen, was weeks behind schedule, could not provide updated documents to the customer, and no point were they close to integrating the various vendors into the network seamlessly. With less than a month to have their grand opening, the fire was lit!
Let me take you back to a year ago… When Intelletrace met with the customer on this project and explained what the project needed and what it would take to complete a complexed project of this magnitude. A paradigm was stuck with the customer which they could not comprehend and continues to stand in their way. How can a small company handle a project of this size for a hotel group which generates millions of dollars? This ignorance got them in a big fire, as the company which was chosen, was based on size and price, not experience, not accountability, and definitely not a for the customer focused. The fire was starting to blaze…
Thirty days to go before the grand opening, and little to show for their progress. Now, price is not an option, this opening must happen! Intelletrace was brought in for 10 days to get the project back on track, making up for almost 3 months of work. However, with 2 weeks to go, the company still does not practice what has made the company successful.
The hotel provides it’s high profile clients, top notch customer service, a great environment to vacation, and the staff you end up taking for granite, as they are all so friendly and helpful. However, the price you pay is certainly expensive, but it does not cross your mind, because in the end it is worth it. Staying at this hotel is an experience you will never forget!
Since price is more important, Intelletrace was not called back to complete the project. The fire has died but is not out. The hotel wanted a reduced rate. I think they forgot, the rates charged were already discounted and the work performed in 10 days was 3 times less than what the original vendor charged for 3 months of work.
I see the fire starting to gain momentum again….
Whose fire drill is it? More to come….
Mar 22
I’m Back!
After a few months layoff of blogging, I am back with a new look and new takes. A lot has happened, which I will get into in future blogs. Intelletrace has introduced our new logo and new web site @ www.intelletrace.com. A lot of new features and much eaiser to get around. The new tool we added is our Fiber Locater. Just punch in an address and this will tell you immediately whether Intelletrace already has Carrier fiber in the building. If the address pops up more than once, than Intelletrace may have multiple providers on multiple floors in the building. This is only better for you, which drives down the pricing. You will also notice great customer testimonials, so if you are a new client, you will be able to tell right away the reputation Intelletrace has in the market place, to make your buying decision easier. This is only the beginning to the new look and fell of Intelletrace. There will be more changes to come and we would love to have your feedback to constantly keep us improving the customer experience.
Sep 03
Partners Gone Wild!
Back from the Chicago Channel Partner Show 2011… This is a show held twice a year geared around independent agents who broker a variety of telecommunication services. At this show you are able to establish new relationships with vendors and agents, and meet up with current relationships. It is always nice to be able to travel to one spot, to get work completed, which could take several weeks otherwise.
At this year’s show, AboveNet and Telx both held private parties outside of Wrigley Field. A great experience, whether you are a baseball nut (like me), or just there to socialize. We were able to sit across the street on the roof tops of the buildings which surround left and right field. It is hard to imagine this park is almost 100 years old (built in 1914), and the likes of Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, and Willie Mays, used to play here.
It was also nice to establish new relationships and tour the night life in Chicago. Whether we were hopping around Wrigley Field visiting the likes of the legendary Cubbie Bear or hanging around the very popular Rush Street at Mama’s or the Lodge, we had a great time. As the saying goes, “What happens in Chicago stays in Chicago”… There were a few Partners who did get a little out of control and thought they might belong on American Idol. I hope they soon realize, they are a better fit for Telecom. I hope to see you at Vegas 2012.
Aug 29
DOES TELECOM HAVE TO BE PAINFUL?
Flexibility and improving the customer experience is what every business is working on. At least I hope to think so… This proves to be challenging when most people already believe dealing with anything from your wireless service, your cable services, and especially your Internet services is awfully painful and is often a time killer. However, most businesses rely on their data and Internet connectivity, so it is a necessary evil. Intelletrace deals with the unknowns, which often happens after the service is already ordered and the client expects the service turned up tomorrow!
With this challenge of uncertainty, Intelletrace must understand what our customer’s need, not just what they want, in an environment which is moving 0 to 60 in milliseconds. If we just rely on believing what our clients want they and if we can provide it, we may win the business, but the long term business relationship will fail and often times the service the client thinks they want is not meeting their performance needs. Ever been there before? In today’s fast paced environment, clients just want it DONE, and as a small business, we must maneuver between our vendors, who are very large but operate in a small box, to supply a complete solution. Our clients do not want to hear the BS. If they heard it before when dealing with their other Carriers.
How Intelletrace has overcome this challenge are 3 words which we continue to operate our business under:
1. Flexibility-Continue to work with clients to meet their ever changing business needs. Therefore, we never say “NO”. If we have to create a new service on the “fly”, then we DO IT!
2. Accountability-Everybody in our organization is held accountable and we are accountable to our customers. In an industry where everybody likes to put blame on somebody, Intelletrace continues to take the attitude, if our customer’s are not happy (for whatever reason and whoever is at blame) we take it on and get it fixed. We may have to issue credits or let our clients out of their contracts, but we continue to take the philosophy, of “Doing the Right Thing”, will earn us a long term relationship.
3. Experience-We continue to hire people with years of experience in the telecom industry, from our IT group to our Service Delivery Group. As layoffs continue with the large Carriers and outsource overseas, it is tough to get the correct experienced people on the phone to help out.
We often take several meetings with our clients before we are ready to service them. Our engineering team will create a plan and design a network which will be affordable and easily can change as the client’s business changes. We just do not not want to be a vendor to our client, but a partner. We do this by providing a solution to their pain. Although this pain is different with every customer, there is a central theme of dreading to make changes and working with Carriers who do not care or understand their business. Soon this realization of working with a Carrier who does care, hits them, and often the question is asked, “Where were you the last time we made changes?” Another RAVING FAN is born.
Jul 27
Can’t Marketing Make Things Simple?
I am not a marketing major, nor do I pretend to know the first thing about marketing, but I was wondering if all the marketing departments from the Telecommunication providers all hang out at the same bar. It seems they all talk to each other to make sure none of them have the same name for the same service. For example, Ethernet Private Line…. Verizon has many different terms which essentially are the same… EPL Metro, EPL National, EPL Access… TWTelecom has ELAN, ELINE, WSNLAN, SNLAN…Qwest has QMOE…AT&T has Gigaman and Opteman….
I know the Carriers will say these all do different things, but really they are all Private Lines connecting to end points, whether it is to the Internet, cross county, or in the metro. Why can’t marketing departments make it less confusing? In fact, sometimes the people working for these companies do not even know the product lines themselves. Intelletrace has been buying Ethernet services for years now, and Verizon has now said it will not honor the pricing they have given us in the past, because the product name is not in the agreement, even though every other Ethernet Acronym is. I am sure Verizon will do the right thing, as they have been using these contracts for several years, but it is a lot of time wasted to try and understand what exactly are the services which we signed up for. We constantly have to double check and triple check with all of our Carriers when we order Ethernet services. Sometimes you just do not know what you are getting.
Marketing departments… let’s keep it simple, so everybody can understand.
Jun 22
A Huge Value to have Flexibility
“Wow, thanks for pulling this together for me! This sounds like a great plan. For a company like us, it’s a huge value to have this kind of flexibility. I just sent e-signed the agreement.”
The CTO of Black Letter became another RAVING FAN! A fast growing company needs flexibility and act fast. Black Letter is a perfect example of what many companies are going through. Black Letter’s bandwidth were at capacity. They needed bandwidth quickly, but also wanted to plan for growth over the next 12 months. Intelletrace was able to offer a service which the Carrier did not have, because it did not fit in their “box”. Not only were they able to increase their bandwidth needs by 50%, but also had the capabilities to grow another 33% on the fly.
Intelletrace contracts are delivered via Echosign, which enable Black Letter to execute easily and get processed. This process helps when people are traveling. It is clean, quick, and efficient. No faxing, no hard to read pages, and both parties automatically get an executed copy.
Not only did Black Letter get their bandwidth needs met, Intelletrace made it easy for them to act quickly.
Are you ready?