BaldwinTel

Can You Get the AT&T Network at a Low Price with Great Customer Service?

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email 

For the last 23 years I’ve made it my business to explain to business customers why it was a good idea to evaluate other options if they were unhappy with their service from AT&T.

"Would you like to cut your phone bill in half?"

"Would you like to get your customer service from people who know your business?"

"What's the worst thing that's ever happened to you as an AT&T customer?"

These were the only three questions I would ever really have to ask a small or medium-sized business customer that was getting a phone bill directly from AT&T. The stories practically told themselves.

One question I never asked was, "Did you ever have any problems with the AT&T network?"

I never asked this because in 23 years in the business I've still not met anyone who could say anything bad about AT&T's network. It's great, it works and everyone agrees. 

The perception was that only the AT&T enterprise direct customers got any sort of meaningful 
discounts or personal customer service. Small and medium-sized business customers just didn’t 
seem to get the same level of attention as their enterprise counterparts.

 

Can Businesses Get a "Generic Brand" of the AT&T Network? Yes!

One of the silent weapons in AT&T’s arsenal is a subsidiary called ACC Business. When ACC was first rolled out by AT&T, more than a decade ago, there were many fits and starts trying to sell a generic version of AT&T's network to small and medium-sized business customers.

Over the past several years though, ACC, through their independent distribution partners like 
BaldwinTel, have perfected the art of delivering near-perfect customer service at a price that 
comes close to the best in the marketplace for voice and data solutions as well as wide area 
network (WAN) services like MPLS and Ethernet.

What's ACC's secret for success? Simply put, it’s their people. Watch the video below to hear 
ACC's President John (J.D.) Baker explain how it's ACC's people that deliver exceptional AT&T 
network experiences to the small and medium-sized business customers of ACC Business 
channel partners like BaldwinTel.

 

The reason you may have not heard of the "generic version" of AT&T is that ACC Business does 
not have a direct sales force or the marketing budget of their parent company – they only market their services through authorized independent agent & channel partner agents like BaldwinTel.

 

Is it Time for Your Business to Move Back to the AT&T Network?

If you've had MPLS or Ethernet technical troubles with second-tier voice and data telecom 
providers you should take a look at moving back to the AT&T network.

If you've had trouble saving money with other tier-one telecom carriers on your voice, data and WAN (wide area network) services you should consider the tier-one benefits of the AT&T network when priced through the discount structures of ACC Business.

Give us a call at 714-525-8100 so we can share with you some of the success stories that other small and medium-sized business customers have had when going back to the AT&T network through ACC Business.

*********************

Interested in licensing this copyright protected content for your email newsletter, blog or website? Please contact [email protected].

Photo credit:  Generic pill bottle

Keywords:  AT&T, small business, medium business, phone bill, AT&T network, enterprise customers, generic, ACC Business, John Baker, J.D., direct sales, authorized independent agent, channel partner, MPLS, Ethernet, voice, data, WAN services, wide area network, 

Should You Aggregate Multi-Location Broadband Internet Bills Under One Invoice?

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email 

Back "in the day" when there was just one phone company, business owners only had two problems with their single phone bill:

1. Too much money charged for ...

2. Marginally useful phone service

Today any business owner can get super low rates for terrific phone or internet service but a new problem has developed:

1. No provider can service all locations

Today's business owners are faced with the old problem of a single phone & internet provider with high rates and marginal service OR ...

Great rates and terrific service but from dozens of different service providers who all bill separately and can't coordinate with each other.

Not surprisingly most business owners and managers choose to go with multiple providers and hope their internal admin staff can figure out how to manage multiple invoices from multiple vendors for the firm's multiple locations.

 

Can't This be Outsourced to an Expert at a Decent Price? Yes!

Yes Virginia, Santa Claus lives, he serves free lunch and says "You can have your cake and eat it too!" (In other words, broadband service aggregation and invoice management is possible at an affordable outsourced rate.)

Multi-location broadband aggregation started as soon as DSL service become a popular replacement in the late 1990's for dial-up internet for businesses.

Over time, as DSL has been replaced by 3G/4G/LTE/WiMax, local cable and fiber, experienced internet broadband aggregators that originally specialized in certain regional geographies or services have now grown to be able to handle any service provider anywhere in the USA and beyond.

Watch the following short video to see how one aggregator, Bandwave Systems does business.

 

 

Is Broadband Internet Aggregation Right for Your Business?

Probably ... if you hook up with the right aggregation management company. Some broadband aggregators specialize in cable companies while others specialize in wireless. Other aggregators specialize in matching vertical markets to required online business applications used in that vertical market.

Maybe you need a software solution that lets you aggregate your broadband invoices and management duties in-house. It might be worth taking a look at.

Give us a call at 714-525-8100 to start a conversations with us about which broadband internet aggregation solution is right for your business - if any. 

********************

Interested in licensing this copyright protected content for your email newsletter, blog or website? Please contact [email protected].

Photo credit:  Drowning in bills

Keywords: broadband internet, outsourcing, bandwave systems, aggregator, 3g, 4g, lte, wimax, aggregation solution, cable, fiver, vertical market, dsl, multiple locations, 

 

Price Alert: No More Free Smartphone Upgrades From the Big 3; Is it Time for Wi-Fi First of Wi-Fi Only Cell Phones?

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email 

Verizon Wireless recently reported that they were following the lead of both AT&T and Sprint by charging their Southern California customers an extra fee to upgrade their mobile phones where in the past many mobile customers got a "free phone upgrade" every two years or so.

Following is the widely distributed Verizon statement: 

“On April 22, Verizon Wireless is implementing a $30 upgrade fee for existing customers purchasing new mobile equipment at a discounted price with a two-year contract.  This fee will help us continue to provide customers with the level of service and support they have come to expect which includes Wireless Workshops, online educational tools, and consultations with experts who provide advice and guidance on devices that are more sophisticated than ever.  While the upgrade fee is not unique to Verizon Wireless, most devices can be traded in with our green friendly trade-in program at www.verizonwireless.com/tradein as a way to save money or potentially offset the fee completely.”

It's reported that Sprint and AT&T both are charging a similar $36 fee.

 

Time for "Wi-Fi First" or "Wi-Fi Only" Employee Cell Phones?

Now I'm no revolutionary. I understand that the CEO, the Chairman of the Board and your top salespeople (and your spouse) can have any damned expensive phone and usage plan they want and, as the company owner, you're (mostly) happy to pay for it.  

But what about all those other W-2 folks hanging around your office who claim they need "smartphone mobility" to remain a critical business asset of yours?  Do they all need an exensive monthly cellular data plan and the newest phones when they spend 90% of their waking hours inside a Wi-Fi network?

Probably not. (Time to get out the savings calculator and sharpen your pencils!)

 

What's a "Wi-Fi First" or "Wi-Fi Only" Cell Phone and Where Can You Get Them?

Well just as the name would imply, "Wi-Fi first" cell phones or smart phones use "free" Wi-Fi connectivity first over "expensive" 3G/4G cellular connectivity when trying to make a phone call or data app connection. "Wi-Fi only" phones only work for cell calls or data connections when connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Where do you get them? Let's just say that phone equipment makers are not exactly falling all over themselves to bring them to market. T-Mobile actually had a solution like this called HotSpot@Home that made smartphone calls over Wi-Fi but they discontinued the service back in 2010.

Eliminate Business Phone System Wiring Nightmares with New, Static-Free DECT 6.0 Wireless Technology

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email 

If your Southern California business empire includes locations that can operate with four total voice phone lines or less (this describes almost every small, customer-facing retail business on the planet) then there are new wireless business phone systems available that you should look at if you're in the market for a new phone system.

The best thing about these new business wireless phone systems is they operate just like regular phone systems with incoming phone lines in hunt or roll-over, have intercom, auto-attendant and voicemail but largely need almost no wiring.  Because labor to install phone wiring can be very expensive, wireless business phone systems can save business owners a great deal of money.

 

Removing Voice From Your Data Network Solves Expensive Problems

A decade ago every business had two separate wired communications networks in their office that they had to pay to maintain; a phone wire network for voice communications and a data wire network for computer communications. Then someone (I can't remember who exactly) had the great idea of eliminating the cost of the phone wire network by connecting their office phone system over the data network.

That was a good idea in theory but it really didn't save small businesses much money and actually created expensive problems. The biggest problem created was poor voice phone call quality for small businesses that could not afford QoS ("quality of service") upgrades to their data networks to ensure that phone calls always got priority of data transmissions.

 

New DECT "Static Free" Wireless Technology Reinvents Cordless Business Phones

Most everyone that still has a landline in their home accesses that landline dial-tone with a cordless phone and understands the shortcomings that older cordless phone technology can bring to a phone call. Static, disconnects, interference with WiFi devices and "dead-zones" are just a few of the problems associated with the older 2.4 gHz, 900mHz and 5.8gHz.

Business phone system manufacturers seem to have selected DECT over other wireless spectrum technologies as evidenced by the AT&T SynJ^® line built for small businesses and PolyCom's KIRK Wireless Solutions build for any sized business.

The DECT technology wins over older technologies due to increased range, call clarity and extended range when using DECT repeaters.

 

How Will Your Business Incorporate DECT Wireless Phones?

The technology is built to be a modularized solution that augments your existing PBX phone system or it can entirely replace it.  If you have an existing business phone system that you'd like to get a couple more years out of contact your equipment provider to see what cordless phone option they have to offer.

Is Your AT&T Phone Bill Paying for $107,000 Per Year Call Center Reps?

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email

When it comes to how Southern California business customers feel about having AT&T as their phone company -- it seems that they fall into one of two categories.

They either love AT&T or they hate AT&T.

In the news this past week I learned another reason it might be the "hate" category.  It seems that AT&T phone customers are supporting call center representatives that earn a total "wages and benefits" compensation package of over $107,000.

Network technicians, the folks who show up and install services on site at your business earn a compensation package eclipsing $133,000.

Wow! That's a lot of money. I've got friends with college degrees and every Microsoft and Cisco certification you can name who are unemployed and who would be happy to get a job earning half that.

 

Over Paying AT&T or Verizon for Phone, Internet and Data Service?

Now I'm not saying that people shouldn't get paid what they're worth but hey, business customers have choices.

When I fly, I fly economy, even though I know I could pay double (or more) to fly up front in the first class section. But after a five-hour flight coast-to-coast, the good folks flying in first class only get off the plane about four minutes before I do.

Solution Review: How Distributed Enterprise IT Directors Solve 3G/4G Fixed Wireless Connectivity Problems

By Dan Baldwin, Editor
951-251-5155 email

 What's an IT director for a quick service restaurant ("QSR") or similar distributed enterprise company in Southern California or beyond to do when the wide area network ("WAN") solution he or she wants to implement using a low cost DSL landline solution can only reach 80% of the companies locations?

Throw a 3G cellular AirCard in a wireless router, right?  Wrong.

An aircard in a router is probably the best solution if the business location is actually a recreational vehicle - contantly on the move. AirCards are great for mobile wireless data needs be far from perfect in a fixed office environment.  So how does an IT director solve the 3G/4G connectivity problems when trying to implement a fixed wireless solution?

Call on Accel Networks, the wireless data company that "tunes in" your wireless data signals with their unique proprietary antennae like no other wireless or landline company can.

If you've tried fixed wireless using AirCards for your data network locations unreachable by DSL and couldn't solve the connectivity problem, don't give up without calling your authorized Accel Networks solution partner.

 

How and Why is Accel Networks Solution Better than Everyone Else?

How does Accel do it better than all their competitors including AT&T, Verizon and Sprint?

Listen to Jonathan Forest, VP of Accel networks explain it himself in the following short recorded interview.

 

Listen to Recording:  Click Here to Download MP3

 

 

Read Transcript:   Click Here to Download PDF

How Quick Service Restaurant & Other Distributed Enterprise IT Directors Solve 3G/4G Fixed Wireless Connectivity Problems:

Accel Network's New Cellular Broadband Antenna

February 2012A Business Phone News conversation with Jonathan Forest, Vice President of Accel Networks, about how their new Maestro cellular broadband antenna system is gaining traction with CIOs and IT directors of many quick service restaurant chains and other similar multi-location retail businesses.

 

  DB:  So let's get right to the problems that QSR (“quick service restaurant”) IT directors have. They want to power the broadband needs of their retail stores with affordable 3G or 4G fixed wireless, but they're getting killed by connectivity problems.   

Question #1.   Please describe the nature and prevalence of the connectivity problems.

  JF:   Yes.   Specifically we see in our market that broadband is certainly the desire of many of the QSR and retail customer since it's a lower cost option, and it really fits their needs; however, broadband, DSL and cable isn't really prevalent in all locations, and we see consistently approximately 10% to 20% of the market not being covered for these customers, and that's where we fit in. 

Accel provides a high-grade, premium wireless solution that provides broadband type of service at these 10% to 20% locations, and that's with 3G.

With 4G coming out, and we're launching that next month, 4G speeds will, in many ways, surpass DSL.   So, the 4G solution that customers will be experiencing will be right on par, or superior to what they are experiencing, and we fully expect the wireless services to continue expanding.

 

  DB:  Question #2.    Can you describe how does Accel's proprietary fixed wireless Maestro antenna address the problem? 

  JF:     Yes.   I would be glad to.  If you had to boil it down, Accel provides the cleanest wireless signal.  What does that mean?  What it really means is that we're trying to minimize the carrier noise, and optimize the signal.  The result is better performance.    

2:11  Accel comes from this perspective, the wireless perspective.    We do not come at this from a landline perspective.   This is crucial, and the reason is that in landline technologies, the transport, DSL, cable, T1, it's a commodity.  No matter whether provider A or provider B is offering the solution, the same result is going to happen.   DSL, the same distance from the CO (phone company “central office”), it's all the same, and with wireless it couldn't be any different. 

When's The Last Time You Reviewed the 411 Directory Listings for Your Business? How to Fix Problems the Problems...

By Dan Baldwin

 If a prospective customer or business partner calls 411 directory assistance in an effort to get your Southern California phone number, what happens?  

Are you having trouble getting credit extended to your business? Maybe your prospective creditor couldn't find your business in the phone directory.

When's the last time you called 411 yourself to make sure your multi-location business phone listings are correct in both your main location and all your satellite locations?

 

Business Phone Listings & Yellow Page Ads are Different

Many business owners cancelled all their Yellow Page ads long ago in favor of Google ads or some other form of Internet marketing.  Because many people equate Yellow Page ads with White Page business listings, many people neglect to make sure their business phone listings are kept up to date after they stop paying for Yellow page ads.

It's not uncommon for a business owner to brush off a business listing when switching from AT&T or Verizon to some other business phone service provider by saying, "Oh we don't need those listings because we're advertised on the Internet".

While the Internet may be sending a business all their new customers, proper business phone listings are still required to ensure that a business is seen as credible in a local community.  Business owners need to pay as much attention to their 411 listing as they do to their 911 service.

 

Call 411 Yourself to Make Sure All Your Listings are Correct

You may have decided that your business does not need AT&T, Verizon or the other old "Ma Bell" phone companies because you've rolled your service to business VoIP or some other new business phone service, but you really do still need the "big 3" phone companies for your proper 411 listings.

A Cheap Cloud Phone Solution for Small Professional Office Locations? Panasonic says "Yes" but we say "Maybe"

By Dan Baldwin

For over 10-years, hosted VoIP providers (initially Vonage & 8x8) have been telling small businesses that "the cloud" (their broadband DSL or cable Internet connection) can host their phone service so they can abandon their expensive local phone company lines and save money.

The idea was fine when it was first proclaimed, but the actual phone equipment that small offices needed to work "with the cloud" did not have all the features required like intercom, music on hold, cordless handsets, etc.

 

Panasonic's "Office Cloud Phones" to the Rescue?

For years Panasonic has been a phone equipment champion for small businesses. The phones are pretty inexpensive, fairly easy to install and easy to

Thinking "Unified Communications" for Your Under 100 Phone Office? Here's Four Phone Vendors to Start With...

By Dan Baldwin

I've been helping Southern Californai based small and medium sized multi-location business customers choose business phone equipment and business phone services for over twenty years and I've never once had a customer or prospect with a office phone system problem call and ask me for a quote for "unified communications". What they do ask for is some sort of "magic telecom bullet" to make what they've already paid for work "better, longer and cheaper" - especially in today's economy.  

Business customers that have heard of unified communications are the ones that have previously had some telephone experience with an "enterprise business" (a business with 1,000 or more employees) where an employee's office desk phone interfaces with their mobile smart phone which interfaces with their office computer. In other words, small business customers equate unified communications or "UC" as a pretty fancy phone system with a very high price tag that only very large companies can afford.

 

Does "UC" for SMB Exist - and What Does it Look Like?

Unified communications does exist for the small business that needs between 15 and 100 phones, and thanks to Steve Jobs, small business owners already kind of understand UC and are ready to buy it - from UC vendors that can properly explain it - like the four that follow.  

Steve Jobs has been indispensable to the UC sales process because all a UC/hosted VoIP/cloud phone system salesperson now has to say is, "You know how your iPhone does phone calls, text messages, video and all kinds of cool apps, right? UC connects all that to your office phone and computer! Is that what you want?"

For every small business owner that owns a smart phone or an iPad the answer is always, "Yes!"

Unfortunately, wanting UC for small business and being able to buy UC for small business (that actually works) can be a daunting task for small business owners, their independent telecom consultants and IT equipment VARs because it does not always work perfectly when operating on top of the public Internet.

 

How Do You "Buy Right" When Buying UC for Offices Under 100 Phones?

Fortunately, "buying UC right" in the "under 100 phones" sector is a fairly low risk endevour because most smaller businesses will want to have the UC phone solution operate off of their existing Internet connection and computer network.  

Unfortunately, without the proper precautions, haphazardly trying different UC phone solutions without an experienced UC "sherpa" showing the way (an independent telecom partner experienced with UC for SMB) can be quite painful due to disruptions in the customer's computer network and phone calls that simply don't work.

 

Four "UC 4 SMB" Solution Vendors to Start With

Telecom Association members report positive customer experiences in the UC 4 SMB realm when using MegaPath, Broadview Networks, SimpleSignal and 8x8.  Following is a brief overview of each of these four vendors. To learn more or to get started on a demonstration please contact your local independent telecom agent or channel sales partner.

 

MegaPath

MegaPath had primarily been seen as one the the nation's largest data network providers after they merged with Covad that dabbled in "hosted VoIP" but that changed in a big way when they merged with Speakeasy. Speakeasy was one of the most successful hosted VoIP business phone service providers in the US for businesses with under 100 phones.

How Seasonal and Burstable Phone Systems Lower Phone Bills Up to 25% for Businesses with Uneven Phone Usage

By Dan Baldwin

Owners of Southern California multi-location businesses with uneven phone usage are often forced to buy a business phone system that's bigger than they really need AND buy more phone lines then they will consistently use.

Some businesses like amusement parks or ski resorts are only really busy for half a year at a time. Other "swing-shift" type businesses like restaurants are only busy for a couple hours a day.

In the past, uneven usage businesses like these had no choice but to "phone up" for their busiest peaks and then simply pay for equipment and services they were not using during the off times.

Well no more. 

Modern phone systems that are "powered by" hosted VoIP and/or SIP trunk technology are able to ramp capacity up and down on fairly short notice. This enables seasonal businesses like amusement parks and ski resorts to put unused phones into virtual hibernation during the off season.

Other bursty businesses like restaurants with peak call times several times a day can buy fewer phone lines than the really need if their phone service provider will allow them to "burst up" and give them extra phone line capacity during their busy hours.

 

GLOBALINX to the Rescue!

One modern phone company that is helping uneven usage businesses is GLOBALINX.  

Click here or the image below to view a short webinar about how GLOBALINX's seasonal and burstable phone solutions are custom designed to save uneven usage businesses up to 25% on their annual phone charges.