Page 4 - Telecom Reseller JanFeb 2014

January/February 2014 4 Telecom Reseller

If she dials 911,
will the critical help she
byrd
needs be able to find her?

Support: It takes a village

long-term company/customer relationship. By David Byrd, CMO, ANPI
However, all companies face a persistent L
dilemma of determining how many pre- ong gone are the days of simply
cious company resources to allocate to selling a product and moving on to
customer support in order to provide a high the next customer. Today’s com-
quality customer experience.
petitive telecom environment (all business environments, actually) calls for providing
The approach to support lies between consistent, high-level customer service and
two limits: high touch and white glove, or support throughout the product lifecycle.
low touch and no glove. The first approach It follows, then, that support is no longer
is too expensive for most companies or the exclusive job of the Customer Service
services and the second, while more afford- and IT Support departments; taking care of
able, results in weak customer relationships the customer’s issues is now part of every-
and a poor customer experience. Finding the body’s job description.
proper place in between these two poles is In 1996, Hilary Rodham Clinton pub-
nirvana for a business. First, each business lished her book, ”It Takes a Village (and
must acquire talent with experience in sup- Other Lessons Children Teach Us).” In it,
port of sales, product, customer care, billing she focuses on the impact people outside
and maintenance. However, today’s buying the immediate family have on a child’s
paradigm also includes self-service. When done well, self-service can be cost effective life, for better or worse, and advocates for
to the business while delivering a rewarding a society that meets all of a child’s needs.
experience to the customer. A good example The same can be said for the impact every-
of a satisfying self-service experience today one in a company has on each individual
is the purchase of applications on smart- customer’s brand or product experience,
phones or tablets via the cloud.
and how we are all being called on to – as a
The potential buyer can easily search team – meet their needs.
Don’t compromise Our E911 solutions and find products, acquire information In telecom, in particular, customer sup-
help 911 callers get regarding use and market acceptance of port is a big job. For one, it begins way before the purchase. We must correctly
your employees’ the product, read reviews and make an assess a customer’s needs, educate that
the assistance they immediate purchase. Next, the product is customer about our product portfolio, guide
safety.
need − fast.
quickly delivered, installed and running them to the best choice, create realistic
for a very low price. Support at every busi- expectations as to their upcoming experi-
ness can implement some of these prac- ence with the product and, of course, get
The E911 Experts
tices. Providing online information regard- them to sign on the dotted line. Each step
ing functionality, price, performance and in this process registers somewhere in that
911Enable.com references is straightforward. Although,
new customer’s brain as ”good” support or
1-877-862-2835
See BYRD, page 25
”bad” support, so each step is crucial to the

AudioCodes One Voice

for Microsoft Lync

Lync-compatible IP Phones
SBCs and Gateways
Branch Office Survivability
• Fully integrated with Lync
• Connect Lync to legacy and IP-based PBXs • Uninterrupted Lync services in cases of
• Presence monitoring
and the PSTN
lost WAN connectivity
• High-definition voice quality (RTAWB/WB)
• Secured SIP Trunking
• Integrated data services

• Extensive set of essential enterprise phone features
• Integrate fax machines and analog devices
• Advanced call routing capabilities
• Secured SIP trunk and PSTN fallback

Applications for Lync
Network & Service Management Tools
Professional Services
• Connect 3rd party SIP phones
• OAM&P tools for pre-deployment staging • Global services portfolio for partners
• Lync-qualified passive call recording
and live networks
• Planning, design and implementation
• Auto-attendant with flexible IVR and additional
• Integration with Microsoft SCOM
• Extensive post-sales support options
subscriber feature
• Voice quality monitoring with Session
• Applications may run on AudioCodes SBA hardware
Experience Manager (SEM)

See AudioCodes at the Microsoft Lync Conference, booth #625 or at Enterprise Connect, booth #1208
www.audiocodes.com/Microsoft