The Viability of VoIP: Changing Customer Perceptions is an Opportunity for Agents

I’m new to the world of blogging and networking sites. That’s not to say that I’ve been living in a cave (at least not for an extended period of time) I just haven’t chosen to partake in the fun. Frankly it was inconceivable to me that I could find the time but I’ve decided this week that I need to make the time to get involved.

I’ve made an observation as I’ve been working my way through the 24 million “tech blogs” listed on Google. What I’ve found is that even now that VoIP is no longer “cutting edge” technology, it’s viability, reliability and other attributes that end in “ity” are still in question.

Part of the reason, I believe, is that even today with all 24 million blogs offering their expertise, few people are able to make the distinction between the different technologies, products and service that collectively make up what is VoIP. “Why?” may make for a whole other topic of conversation but suffice it to say there are failures by marketing departments, sales people, product development teams, engineers and even end-users.

The point I want to make is that there is a tremendous opportunity in the marketplace for agents and consultants to capitalize on this disconnect between fact and perception by becoming a trusted resource to educate your customers. In fact, I believe it incumbent upon us to educate our customers on all of the aspects of VoIP and the potential impact on their businesses.

Many agents and consultants have been offering their customers and prospects a “free comprehensive telecommunications audit” or “free bill review” as a lead in to get the appointment for years and years. And while still effective to a degree (even if completely overused) I think that, to the point of the Telecommunications World Revolution theme here, it may be time for a paradigm shift.

Why not try offering your customers a “comprehensive VoIP needs assessment” or “VoIP migration strategy” instead. This is an opportunity for you to differentiate from the scores of “bill review” cold-calls your customers and prospects get every week.

Provide your customers an assessment in the following areas:

· Network Connectivity - methods of access and terminating equipment
· On-Net Calling – handling calls from one office to another
· Off-Net Calling – handling calls terminating to the PSTN
· Phone System – CPE solutions vs. Hosted PBX and hybrid solutions
· LAN Assessment – ability of LAN to handle VoIP traffic
· Conferencing – internal vs. external platforms / Webinars
· Unified Messaging – productivity enhancing features
· Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery – mitigate threat of downtime
· Vertical Specific Products – automatic and manual ringdowns, hosted call center platforms, etc


Fundamentally your not doing much different from what you do today, you are just re-packaging your services. Be sure to clear up the popular misconceptions about VoIP…

· Enterprise VoIP vs. Consumer VoIP pricing:
o Consumer – all you can eat
o Enterprise – little cost differential, sometimes bundled minutes
· Public Internet vs. MPLS platforms:
o Public Internet no QoS, voice quality suffers
o MPLS based has QoS, toll quality voice (if QoS is throughout the entire network)
· E911, it works: customer and carrier responsibilities
· Security: does the carrier have a session border controller?

Having a VoIP strategy is important for customers. The technology will create bandwidth efficiencies, Cap-ex and/or Op-ex savings, disaster recovery options, productivity enhancements and more. By educating them you will increase the value of their relationship with you and solidify the relationship.

-sc