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Innovative, Single-Source Voice & IT Solutions
Serving the DC Region for 40 Years
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Connect with us
(703) 321-3030
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A Message from the President |
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In this issue, TCI addresses the ongoing technology challenges many businesses are facing as we prepare for the new year. Along the way, we discuss some practical solutions for better connecting your teams and your customers.
- Managing field service personnel? With the right communications technology, you can eliminate delays, manage operations more efficiently, improve customer satisfaction, and drive more profits for your business.
- With budget season here and 2024 right around the corner now is a great time to start evaluating your office technologies and setting strategic goals with the assistance of a TCI Technology & Business Review.
- To prepare for the next unexpected business disruption, SMB owners and IT professionals need a strategy for connecting their distributed workforce, while supporting customers over their preferred communication channels. The latest UC tools can position you for success.
- Finding ways to improve fiber, broadband, and private network connections - while cutting costs - is vital for the financial health and competitiveness of any business. One way to achieve fast results is to have the TCI team look over your providers’ bills and services to recommend better solutions.
- Finally, we look at best practices for choosing a tech partner for your business communications and recommend questions that will help you uncover the optimal choice.
Contact me today to discuss how TCI’s products and services can help your organization get more out of its technology investments – now and in the future.
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Managing Field Service Techs? Learn how TCI’s Collaboration Solutions & Tools improve Field Operations |
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With embedded communications technology, you can eliminate delays, manage operations more efficiently, and generate improved customer satisfaction and greater profitability for your business.
- Have you looked at your field service applications lately?
- Are your field techs getting tired of jumping back and forth between mobile apps, dialers, text windows, video players, and more to get their job done?
There’s a more efficient way to stay connected and run communications seamlessly with TCI’s Mitel-powered solutions.
Field service companies juggle a lot of moving parts - including scheduled and emergency customer calls, tracking technician status and availability, and being able to resolve a customer’s problem on the first visit.
When it comes to running a smooth and efficient field services operation, a unified communications solution with built-in collaboration tools is the only way to keep a mobile and disparate team connected, informed, and prepared.
Here’s how UC tools get the job done…
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A mobile app for truck fleets with turn-by-turn directions keeps technicians connected, on schedule, and productive. It provides access to everything they need to complete a call without having to navigate between systems. Service calls are shorter, reducing the overall cost per call.
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SMS notifications keep the customer up to date on the technician’s estimated arrival time, along with their name and job number.
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CRM integration provides technicians with access to customer information, including the last service date, equipment on site, the current problem, and even possible solutions. A qualified technician arrives at the customer site with the right parts on the truck.
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Video conferencing enables real-time communications between technicians and subject matter experts. Techs receive assistance in the field if questions arise about how to resolve a difficult issue.
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Automatic rescheduling empowers customers and gives your service reps more time to spend on complicated issues.
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All data for a service call is stored within the system, including video communications and the customer’s signature, so the job can be closed out at the time of service.
Field services companies that implement these collaboration tools not only see greater workflow efficiencies, they generate more revenue and improve their bottom lines.
Ready to transform your field services operation? TCI can help… Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
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2024 Budget Season is Here… Schedule Your TCI Technology & Business Review today! |
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Improving Operations with Better Technology Starts with Your 2024 Planning Session
With budget season here and 2024 right around the corner, now is a great time to start evaluating your office technologies and setting strategic goals.
A TCI Technology & Business Review gets you prepared for the new year, whether you’re looking to simplify your technology, connect your Hybrid Workforce, or thinking about Faster Broadband, Online Collaboration, Disaster Recovery, Cloud, or Managed Voice Services.
Not familiar with the latest innovations or apps?
We'll get you up to speed so your business can connect more easily and become more productive than ever.
Schedule your 2024 planning session with TCI today. Call (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
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Position Your SMB for Success with the Latest UC Capabilities… Connect Your Employees & Customers |
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As we look toward the new year, small business owners have a lot to consider…
- After navigating a global pandemic and high inflation, small business owners know they need to be ready for the next unexpected business disruption.
- Customer expectations have reached an all-time high, and delivering an optimal customer experience has become more critical than ever.
- Employee needs have also changed, with many desiring more flexible and fulfilling work options.
These increasing demands present new challenges for SMB owners and IT professionals who now must develop a strategy for connecting a distributed workforce while interacting with customers wherever they happen to be.
The SMBs that will be the most successful are implementing the latest Unified Communication (UC) tools to provide resilience over the long term.
Today’s UC is more than a phone on a desk. Today’s UC tools are integral in streamlining business processes by combining features like Team messaging, AI-powered chatbots, Video chat, and Third-party app integrations.
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Delivering an Optimal Customer Experience – Today’s UC solutions provide SMBs with the flexibility to connect with customers on their preferred channels – whether it be contact center, SMS, Web chat, email, social media, or even virtual agents. SMBs need UC solutions that easily follow a customer conversation from virtual chat to phone to email.
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Providing Flexibility to Employees – 98% of employees want to work remotely at least part of the time. As your workforce moves toward a hybrid work model, long-distance collaboration will be essential. A single easy-to-use UC interface simplifies this process for both employees and IT departments bringing together phone, chat or messaging, audio and video conferencing, web collaboration, and more.
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The Cost Consideration – Lost productivity from poor communications strategies can cost SMBs significant dollars – funds that small business owners can’t afford to lose. They need reliable UC tools that are scalable and can grow and change with their business. Their UC deployment models must adapt to what’s best for business - whether that’s on-premises, in a private or public Cloud, or hybrid arrangement.
Plan Now for a More Prosperous 2024
As many SMBs prepare for the new year, there’s no better time to start implementing UC tools into business practices. Customers will spend money with businesses that are easy to communicate with and can solve any issues that may arise, quickly and efficiently.
Prospective employees looking for a new opportunity will also be attracted to businesses with systems that make their jobs and lives easier.
Let’s talk about your challenges and goals and map out a plan that will move your organization forward. Contact us today: (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
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Business Internet, Fiber, Private Networks… Do you have the best connections, support & pricing? |
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Finding ways to improve fiber, broadband, and private network connections, while cutting costs, is vital for the financial health and competitiveness of any business. One way to achieve fast results is to have the TCI team look over your providers’ bills and their services.
As your advocate, we recommend the providers offering the best service with the best pricing. We lay out all the options so you can make a well-informed decision to meet your unique needs.
Based on our continuously updated knowledge of the leading service providers’ products and service offerings, here's our approach...
- Undertake a thorough review of your services, invoices, agreements, and providers.
- Evaluate your spending, find better deals and service arrangements, and uncover savings.
- Explain all the alternatives and offer recommendations with a clear projection of your savings.
- Implement your choices by acting as your agent to place orders with the service providers.
- Track installation progress and manage escalations.
- Provide a single point of contact for all your voice, data, and Internet needs.
Our decades of experience with leading carriers, cable companies, cloud providers, and manufacturers put TCI in a trusted position to assist in sourcing best-fit solutions for your business.
TCI makes sure you have the latest services, the most responsive support, and the best pricing. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
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Why TCI? Best Practices & Questions for Choosing the Best Tech Partner for Your Business Communications |
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Many companies sell communication solutions but lack the product expertise and experience to recommend the right product or migration strategy for your business. They’re simply focused on making sales.
A true technology partner is focused on developing a long-term relationship with your business. It acts as a trusted advisor — actively engaged in your mission, understanding your goals, and fully dedicated to helping you achieve them.
The Right Balance: A Local Partner with Global Backing
When you’re evaluating technology partners, proximity is essential. Your ideal technology partner should be near enough to your business that company representatives can get to your site, if needed, in a reasonable timeframe.
But size and stability are essential, too. Choose a partner backed by a well-known, proven global organization with a robust, established partner program.
This combination will give you peace of mind, knowing your partner is fully trained in their communications systems, and you have fast, easy access to additional expertise and insight when required.
You’re an expert in your business area, but your technology partner’s job is to bring expertise in the best communications strategies and solutions to drive your business forward.
Look for a knowledgeable partner who can clearly explain each technology and solution, the difference between an update and an upgrade, the reasons you need both, and the best way to approach a communication solution that can grow alongside your business.
Your technology partner should also be able to speak about the security risks of using outdated communications technologies and the security benefits of keeping your system current. It should be able to help you evaluate the different deployment models available to ensure you choose the approach that best fits your business.
Flexible and in it for the Long-Term
Be wary of technology companies that take a short-term “in-and-out” or “one-size-fits-all” approach. If you feel their primary goal is to sell you on a particular strategy or solution – ‘move to the cloud today or go away’– or simply to get you to sign on the dotted line, it’s time to look for another partner.
The ideal technology partner understands where you want to go but isn’t panicking to get you there. They realize you need to make decisions that are right for your business. They also understand that there are as many different paths to communication solutions as there are companies. As true partners, they take a consultative approach to meeting your requirements in the short term and the long term. Their goal is to get you from here to there in the way that best matches your business goals, budget, and priorities.
Specialist in Your Industry and Business Size
Depending on your industry, choosing a technology partner with specialized knowledge of industry requirements and a history of working in your industry can be extremely important. For example:
- Businesses in the healthcare industry need communications systems that enable compliance with regulatory and privacy requirements, helping streamline workflows and improve conversations between care providers and patients.
- Businesses in the hospitality industry need communications systems that help them improve guest services, simplify complex workflows, and integrate communications across locations and systems.
- Government organizations need communications systems that reduce operational costs, enhance service delivery, and make it easy to support a hybrid local and remote workforce.
Best Practice: Ask a Lot of Questions
You must feel fully informed and comfortable with your choice of a technology partner. When evaluating potential partners, don’t hesitate to ask every question that comes to mind. Consider questions related to:
- Technology options, where they’re installed, and how they’re managed.
- Communications features and functions and how they’re accessed.
- Short-term and long-term IT efforts required on your side.
- Solution deployment and migration processes and timing.
- Payment options, schedules, and processes.
- Ongoing communications and notifications about updates and upgrades.
- After-sales service and support.
Talk to the Partner’s Other Customers
The best technology partners will ask if you’d like to speak with other customers they’ve served. If they don’t proactively offer the opportunity to contact their other customers – especially customers in your industry – ask for it. If they hesitate or don’t want you to speak with their other customers, it’s important to ask why that is.
TCI supports voice and data network solutions for 3,000+ businesses, associations, and governments in the DC region. Let’s talk about your organization.
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(703) 321-3030
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