The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/163881
best practices (supplementary fees, inside wiring fees, hardware configuration fees and redispatch fees to name a few) to eliminate any surprises once the deployment process commences. Other important factors to negotiate include overlapin-billing credits when migrating from an existing carrier network, dispute windows and cleft-based industry adjustments, when negotiating longer-term contracts. Customer Example: A midsize, regional law firm was acquired by a large national firm. Some of their circuits were under contract, and they needed to consolidate offices, so they negotiated with the carriers to allow for portability and waiver of early termination fees on circuits at vacated locations. They offset spending on one product with spending on another to allow for the flexibility they needed. 5. nsure Adequate Implementation Support: A part of E selecting the right carrier for large projects is ensuring the commitment of dedicated resources to execute the project. Dedicated project management and engineering personnel are essential resources to ensure the timely and effective deployment of new carrier technologies. The project manager will oversee the carrier's responsibilities, manage deliverables and work with local contacts to coordinate delivery and deployment of the new services. A design engineer will put together network diagrams and scope-of-work documents, and will review testing plans with the IT team to facilitate a well-planned migration strategy. An implementation engineer will work with the carrier during testing and follow a stringent process to ensure the proper testing of the new technology and services. For example, during enterprise SIP implementations, testing E911 from each location serviced by the SIP trunking environment is an essential step that many engineers omit and can subsequently have grave business ramifications if it proves problematic or goes uncorrected. 6.Develop a Solid Project Plan: Every project must start with a clear project plan that incorporates a well-thought-out scope of work with clear objectives, responsibilities, timelines and expectations. The project plan must also contain a well-defined testing plan that provides a clear cutover strategy. You must ensure the carrier will be able to execute such a project plan and dedicate the necessary resources for success. Many IT organizations attribute their success in managing complex migrations to their technical knowledge, the experience on their teams and their wealth of technical tools. There's no doubt these factors are important to any organization's success. When it comes to managing a complex transition, however, success hinges more on the discipline to implement well-defined and consistent project management principles, and ensuring everyone involved, including the carrier resources, are following those principles. Effective management of the sourcing process eludes many organizations, which results in a suboptimal and more complex telecom environment to manage. Leveraging these methodical practices and the right experience will help IT leaders set the stage for a properly managed telecom life cycle. Enterprise organizations have the option of hiring those resources inhouse or partnering with a telecom life cycle management firm. While there are many professional services organizations that offer such a service for a fee, the new model of telecom management as a service (TMaaS) presents an appealing value proposition, as the cost to gain valuable expertise is subsidized heavily, as is the cost for the tools necessary during the next steps of the telecom life cycle. Sameer Hilal is the Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of vCom Solutions. Under Sameer's leadership, vCom has been ranked in Entrepreneur Magazine and "The San Francisco Business Times" as a fastest-growing company, has achieved over a 95 percent customer satisfaction rating five years in a row, and has been ranked fourth in best places to work in the San Francisco Bay Area in the small company category. Prior to vCom, Sameer was the vice president of operations at Networld Communications. He can be contacted at sameer@vcomsolutions.com. 20 Peer to Peer