The Life and Times of Seattle’s Only Small Business Systems Consultant. Articles and advice on small business phone systems, phone and internet services, VoIP, and all things technology related.
Selkowitz Technology | Seattle’s small business network and telecom consultant
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Today I had the opportunity to offer a proposal to someone considering changing T1 providers. This client was getting just about the rawest deal I’ve seen and it brings up a good point in how the business works. Many T1 providers don’t publish pricing and let salespeople work deals largely as they see fit as long as they stay above the set minimum, this does lead to some customers paying way too much.
One thing to look out for is auto renewing contracts which at the end of the contract will renew without notice for the same duration and price! Most customers don’t keep track of their T1 contract termination dates, so they can get perpetually locked into outdated, higher pricing.
The other interesting note is recovery fees. Recovery fees are surcharges which should go towards government mandated improvements - interconnect costs, number portability, E911, etc. But don’t confuse these for regulated taxes, they’re more like shipping fuel surcharges. Some companies use recovery fees as a way to line their pockets - this vendor was charging nearly twice as much as we do!
Bottom line was they were paying $923 for their T1 with surcharges, we offered them a superior T1 for $602. That’s nearly $12k savings in the next three years - not a bad reason to switch!
The Author: Kevin Selkowitz
About: Kevin Selkowitz is the founder and lead consultant for Selkowitz Technology, a Seattle-area small business systems consulting company. We focus on the four major technology needs of small businesses - phone systems, phone and internet service, servers/network infrastructure, and business applications.
This entry was posted by Kevin Selkowitz, on Saturday, February 3rd, 2007 at 3:16 am and is filed under Networking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response on the right, or trackback from your own site.
