[asterisk-biz] Consortium of Sorts for Interconnects and VoIP providers to a Lesser Degree

[Steve Totaro]

Hello all,

I am replying to a few questions above (or below depending on your
email client).

International and evolving, as far as back end and Consortium peer
"review" or "karma" or some kind of system to bleed out the leaches or
the people hurting the Consortium or the Consortium's name as a whole.

Having a Consortium presence all around the world is what I envision.
It is integral to the whole idea.  Timezones, less travel (many
companies want to shake the hand and have some facetime of the vendor
and documentation what they have is best done by going on-site.)  Some
customers like to see a local presence.  You will retain your
customer, yet have more flexibility to look and act more professional.

I am well aware that people will attempt to steal customers at some
point, before we can weed them out.  In the Consortium contract, they
will be immediately kicked out and also be liable for revenue loss to
the original vendor.

"If this is coordinated properly we can also setup 24x7 supportlines and
service-level-offerings much easier. However, a great deal of internal
trust and quality assurance is required! I am looking forward to see how
 this can be taken care of."

Yes 24/7 support, this is an eventual goal as is having a 24/7
receptionist and other services (and I am talking about people who
know what VoIP and/or Asterisk, not some crummy answering service).
Who else has that?  Even the "Big Boys" are not going to have that
kind of service.

Automated emails sent out a week after a job is complete sent to the
customer for feedback (with some incentive to reply) will be essential
as well.  Calls routed through the Consortium phone system can and
will be reviewed by others for QA.

Other things that benefit us from the unified face are sales materials
(tri-folds, brochures and online advertising (possibly direct
mailing), adwords (maybe) and other online promotion, more
credibility, and an answer the age old "what if you get hit buy a bus?
question, or what if you decide to move out of the VoIP market or
whatever.  You could sell your customer to another consortium member.

Remember, these are your customers, but if they come in through a
Consortium lead, then you must represent yourself as part of the
consortium, not your own business.

Down the road, we have the 24/7 support done in a way that makes us
all look very professional to customers.

It is all economies of scale.  Maybe with a 24/7 receptionist, you
could trim out that position within your business, or add a real
receptionist (rather than auto attendant).

Another piece of the puzzle is an internal knowledge base and and forums.

The way I see it, times are tough and they will be getting tougher
soon.  My pipeline is even dwindling a bit.  The purpose of the
consortium is for member to help each other with the bottom line of
making money and meeting and exceeding our customer's expectation.

Now that I see some interest, I will start to build out what I have on
the whiteboard.

-- 
Thanks,
Steve Totaro
+18887771888 (Toll Free)
+12409381212 (Cell)
+12024369784 (Skype)


On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 6:08 AM, Vlasis Hatzistavrou (KTI)
<vhatz at kinetix.gr> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Interesting idea. Is this about a US-only consortium or an international
> consortium?
>
> Best regards,
> Vlasis Hatzistavrou
> Kinetix Tele.com Helas Ltd.
> Monastiriou 9 & Enotikon
> 54627
> Thessaloniki
> Greece
> Tel.: +302310556134
> Fax: +302310556134 (ext. 0)
> GSM: +306977835653
> e-mail: vhatz at kinetix.gr
> http://www.kinetixtele.com
>