PHONE+ Articles

Ethical Dilemma No. 4: First Quote or Ink Wins?

Tue, 25 May 2010 04:42:38 PDT

The channel community has been discussing the topic of business ethics in its blogs, conferences, forums and backrooms. At the suggestion of master agent Josh Anderson, CEO of Telephony Partners LLC, PHONE+ is tackling the topic in a new and, hopefully, constructive way by presenting “ethical dilemmas” that have happened ...(1750 words)

Desktop Video Conferencing Can Be Profitable

Thu, 20 May 2010 04:56:54 PDT

Desktop video conferencing is on a collision course with other types of communications in the enterprise. New stand-alone desktop video conferencing solutions are arriving on the market almost daily — some as services, others as PC-based products and some running on proprietary devices. While each of those types of deployments ...(963 words)

Case Study: iland Treats Home Health Care Company’s BC/DR Needs

Wed, 19 May 2010 05:05:40 PDT

Help At Home Inc. provides in-home care and respite services to elderly, medically fragile and disabled individuals. In business for more than 30 years, the company employs a large staff of trained personal care aides, respite care givers, nursing assistants and registered nurses who provide 24/7 in-home care.With more than ...(1053 words)

The Art (and Business) of Finding More Time

Tue, 18 May 2010 16:22:52 PDT

Time is money. We’ve all heard it before, but these days it bears repeating. Yes, it’s always been important for workers to make sure they’re doing the right things and staying on task, but in shaky economic times, it’s a matter of survival — your own, career-wise, as well as ...(2134 words)

Energy + Telecom: A Good Match

Tue, 18 May 2010 04:49:32 PDT

The telecom and energy industries have a long shared history. Many of the nation’s utilities also are its telecom service providers; they leveraged their private networks to not only serve residences and businesses but also to sell to telcos seeking deeper, diverse or off-net coverage. A case in point: WilTel, ...(2656 words)

PHONE+ ASKS: Is Energy the Next Big Thing for the Telecom Channel?

Tue, 18 May 2010 04:48:49 PDT

“Definitely. This is an untapped market. This market is a great parallel to the telecom market. The auditor helps reduce cost, the agent receives a residual by ‘switching’ the customer to Glacial Energy or PAETEC, etc., and the TEM providers like TeleBright manage the customer’s inventory and billing. Since we ...(689 words)

Agents Reinvent TEM

Tue, 11 May 2010 08:42:45 PDT

Bill review has long been a sales tool for telecom agents looking to convince business customers to switch their services to a new service provider that would presumably be able to offer lower rates. It was a short step for them to then audit what was billed against what was ...(1028 words)

Becoming An Inner Winner in Your Sales Career

Tue, 11 May 2010 08:33:14 PDT

Matt is a sales manager with a computer software company. His sales people have the responsibility of generating new business by making cold calls and following up on leads. Besides making sure that his sales people can answer any questions about their products, Matt has also trained them in the ...(1076 words)

Why Sometimes It’s OK to Be Selfish

Mon, 10 May 2010 10:15:43 PDT

Take a businessman who keeps a terrible employee because he feels sorry for her. He hasn't the heart to fire her because her life is a wreck, her mother is an alcoholic, her husband's in jail – whatever – and so he enables her self-destructive behavior and lifestyle by keeping her on. ...(1040 words)

Dollars and Sense: Targeting Retailers and Franchisees

Mon, 10 May 2010 10:10:46 PDT

Expert forecasts tell us the economic recovery is coming. The National Retail Federation, for instance, projects retail industry sales for 2010 (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) will increase 2.5 percent over last year. And the 2010 Franchise Business Economic Outlook prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) forecasts that the number ...(914 words)