We don’t sell dial tone, but we connect your phone system to it. We have a lot of experience dealing with dial tone providers.
Understandably, many of you are re-examining your dial tone and internet service bills for savings. Be careful out there. The dial tone market is extremely competitive, and some sales people will use cutthroat and creative tactics to get you to sign a contract.
If you are looking at changing carriers or finding some savings, please give BCS a call. We have been in business since 1991. We work with all dial tone companies. We know some very good dial tone sales people, agents, and brokers. Ask us for a recommendation.
Don’t just mail out a check.
Review your bill at least every three months and try to understand each item. You may find some services on your bill that you no longer need, or that you canceled. By reading your bill, you learn your calling patterns, and this determines the type of service you really need.
Real Life Case:
A BCS customer paid $70 monthly for a special circuit to connect their main office in Westborough to a remote branch in the North Shore. The branch closed, but the circuit provider continued to bill them for three more years. BCS discovered the billing error and helped the customer get a partial refund.
Satisfied with your present service, but looking to cut costs…
… You may be able to do it without switching carriers.
If you are a Verizon customer, and are making a high number of toll calls, consider adding the Freedom plan (for unlimited dialing) or a regional dialing plan. If you are with OneComm, look at going flat rate for local calls, instead of measured service. And vice versa, if your local calls are minimal, look at switching from unlimited local to measured service.
Real Life Case:
A BCS customer was paying $100 per month for a dialing plan. The actual cost of the calls made under the plan averaged $9.80. The customer was paying for not making phone calls! We reviewed his bill, dropped the plan, and reduced his monthly charges by $90.
Are you in a contract for your services, or month to month?
If you have a contract, check when it expires. If you switch carriers, and break your contract, you may pay a hefty early termination fee. Some sales people will tell you that the fee is negligible, or that your current carrier may not even bill you the termination charges. Don’t believe it; and be leery of the salesperson that tells you this.
Also, check for an automatic renewal clause. Some contracts specify a written request to not renew your contract must be submitted in advance of the expiration, or it will automatically renew.
Real Life Case:
A BCS customer was approached by a salesperson offering a great per line price to change providers. The salesperson said the early termination fee would be minimal. The customer contacted the provider and learned that the buyout was $1,800 (significantly more than the anticipated savings). The customer informed the salesperson to cancel their request; but the salesperson claimed to have already initiated the change order (without a signed contract!).The customer asked BCS for help, and we were able to convince the salesperson’s company to cancel any and all pending orders.
Talk to different carriers.
If you only talk to one carrier, they promote only their own product, and possibly a package to maximize commissions. Talk to a company that represents multiple carriers. A dial tone broker can find the plan that works best for you, from the best carrier. Also, a dial tone broker can offer some redundancy, so you are not dependent upon one specific carrier.
Know for whom your salesperson works.
Some companies resell services. They are agents or middlemen who sometimes offer no real value to a relationship. Instead, they add another layer to having repairs resolved or changes implemented.
Real Life Case:
A BCS customer wanted to change their incoming hunt sequence. This change only affected five lines, and normally completes in a week. The customer placed the request in October, and it was finally resolved in January after BCS became involved. The salesperson who took the order left the company, then the order could not be found, then the subsequent order was written incorrectly, then the new salesperson was on vacation. (Imagine if this had been a repair request.)
Alert:
Be wary of people that walk into your office, claim to be from Verizon, and ask to see a copy of your phone bill. If asked for a business card or an ID, the person will say that they do not use business cards. These people may be misrepresenting themselves. Legitimate sales people and companies do not manage customer accounts in such a manner.
Read and understand the proposals.
Ask for the absolute total monthly costs, including all applicable fees and FCC charges. We have seen too many cases of the customer receiving the first bill, and being totally shocked at the additional charges that the salesperson neglected to mention. Make sure the proposal includes all incidentals that will show up on your bill. No surprises.
Can your phone system accommodate the proposed service?
If you are changing from POTS lines to T1s or PRIs or SIP trunks, make sure your phone system is equipped for the service or can be upgraded. The cost of upgrading an older phone system to support the new service might not justify the anticipated savings.
Real Life Case:
A salesperson sold a PRI to a customer with an older Partner system. The Partner system is designed for T1s, not PRIs. The original order had to be canceled and the order rewritten.
Frankly, no dial tone or internet provider is perfect.
Your level of service and support can be improved by a good salesperson or agent. They should volunteer to be your first point of contact for any issues. Ask your salesperson how long they have worked for their company, how long they have been in the industry, and a reference list of their own accounts.
Real Life Case 1 – An inconvenient truth:
A BCS customer switched from POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) to a PRI digital circuit. During the switchover, and afterwards, the customer experienced constant service problems with the circuit, caused by facility issues. Worse, the salesperson, in an attempt to make the new monthly charges more palatable, eliminated all POTS lines for redundancy, so that the customer was completely down (no inbound or outbound calls) whenever the PRI failed. The salesperson was totally out of sight and unavailable, so that the customer was forced to deal with the usual customer-service channels. The customer ultimately disputed his contract and switched carriers, but only after suffering great frustration and lost productivity.
Real Life Case 2 – How it should work:
A BCS customer recently moved and switched carriers at the same time. Their dial tone broker (with more than 20 years of experience in the industry) understood every part of the process, and took care of every detail. The customer was able to concentrate on the physical move, while the dial tone broker supervised the installation of the telecommunications circuits. Deal with someone who can take charge and responsibly manage the account.
Don’t be afraid to mix and match providers.
I know it may be a pain to have multiple bills, but if you can save 50%, and also provide some redundancy, it is worth the extra stamps and time.
Real Life Case:
BCS had a full T1 digital circuit for voice and data, web hosting with e-mail, with a couple of POTS lines (for redundancy), all through one carrier. We recently switched to a combination of different carriers providing POTS lines, internet, hosted inbound fax, web hosting, cable voice with unlimited calling, and SIP trunks with unlimited calling. This approach reduced our monthly bill by 60%, a monthly savings of $375.
