sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Telecom Consultants

Is it me or is it harder than ever to find a telecom consultant that is NOT on the payroll of a certain VOIP telecom company when they are there supposedly for thew good of the people that hire (and pay)them? I was just in a meeting with a customer where this "consultant" was telling them everything they "need" when they were there for oh, 5 minutes without even talking to them or looking what they actually do.

Finding a telecom consultant that knows more than just 2-3 systems is impossible.

Sorry, but there's a really GREAT one & we're writing on it. Surely you can get all the recommendations you need right here.

I think that Dave hit the nail on the head here. The problem is that we live in a society today where we can hire-out nearly every facet of life. We pass the buck to someone else and expect our issues to be solved with 100% efficiency. The proverbial 'out of sight, our of mind' mentality. For example:

Let's have a few kids: Then we'll farm them out to a day care provider to raise them. They then end up hiring therapists when their kids have issues.

Let's start a business: Then we'll hire a minimum-wage receptionist to run the show. They then hire consultants to 'help' them find out why they aren't making any money.

Let's build a house: Then we'll hire the low bidder and bitch about how it isn't coming together as we had hoped. They then expect the city or county to come to their rescue when the builder doesn't meet their expectations.

Let's take a vacation: We have this lined up by our new receptionist and end up stranded in Ecuador. You guessed it: The low-bid travel package didn't include round-trip airfare.

We are all responsible for our own actions, or in the case of many business owners, their inaction.

The bottom line is that consultants today are people who are hired by people to take their money. Businesses find it easier to just write a check and assume perfection than to take a moment and do some of the legwork on their own. This applies to any industry, not just ours. People make these decisions about their lives, their families and their businesses out of sheer laziness

There is no doubt that VOIP is the industry's buzz word for the moment and is easy money for consultants. Don't get me wrong, IP works miracles when deployed in the right arena and for the right reason. I have nothing against it; in fact I'm beginning to realize even more benefits that it offers than I had realized.

Still, for anyone to walk in and know everything that a customer could possibly need within a day is a complete pipe dream. A professional consultant needs to not only address the customer's needs and wishes, but to also assess the intelligence level of their personnel. That is something that is almost always overlooked. The consultant prepares a concise plan and presents it to 'Trixie', the part-time receptionist and she picks the wrong solution. Guess who is wrong?

The days of legitimate consultants are long-gone. There was a time when they weren't just seeking kickbacks and commissions; they were truly working for their fees with hopes of being rewarded by referrals. With the proliferation of CLECs and hosted service providers, there is no longer such a thing as an honest consultant.

It's all about the Benjamins.

As Mr. Moore said, the only collection of honest, unbiased answers and suggestions resides within the walls of forums such as this one. We are the ones who interact directly with the customers. We are the ones who know what our customers need, want or expect. We know what is going on in our local market, where the good deals are and where the best service can be obtained. We are the ones who step in to help when our customers need honest advice.

Sadly, despite our desire to help the customer save money based upon how well we know them, they seem to fall for the guy at the golf course with an offer that is too good to be true. Even worse, we never know when things fail because of the customer's sheer embarrassment. We just never hear from them again. It stinks.

Consultant = Someone that couldn't make it in the real world and is now currently unemployed trying to make it off what BS they can sling.

Just MHO.

Expert. An "Ex" is a has-been and a "spurt" is a drip under pressure.

I'd like to think I do a good job at what I do.

Andy, Your bio indicates that you are a tech. But if you are a consultant, you are aware that most of them are educated idiots because they think that by knowing a little bit about something they are qualified to serve up their pompous banal pap! I stand by my original statement.

Around here the "consultants" are usually employees of "integration" companies. In my area, during the thirty odd years I'd been in business, three such companies have gone away, with a fourth on it's death bed. Yes, the "consultant" always recommended the brand that the employer handled, usually the cheapest VoIP out there.

Oh, could I tell you stories........ :read: :nono:

Ed: If this telephone business thing doesn't work out for you, you could go into writing or news commentary. Very eloquently said.

Jim