Telecom RFP Procurement Management

Telecom RFP Management

BCC provides a valuable service to assist its clients in managing the acquisition of new telecom equipment and services. Since most people have limited experience procuring these items, outside expertise can save you time and money, while assuring that your company makes the best long term decision.

The procurement of phone systems, conference bridges and video conferencing systems can be outsourced to BCC in order to manage a careful and detailed analysis of your requirements as they pertain to the products and suppliers that are available in the market. When the selection is finally completed, BCC can also provide project management services to manage the installation and implementation locally or worldwide.

Procurement of local and long distance services, internet connectivity, Wide Area Networking and Hosting Facilities is typically performed every two or three years, simply because there are the typical term lengths of such contracts. None-the-less, it can be performed more frequently. The review of the telecom services presently in place typically takes place six months before their contract renewal period approaches. If you wait any longer, you can end up facing usurious penalty charges or simply lose your negotiating leverage. Our consultants manage the review, selection and contracting of a telecommunications service provider for all your landline voice and data communications services. This eliminates the waste of dozens of hours of your staff time that can be spent meeting with salespeople and trying to decipher their varied proposals which are purposely crafted to avoid apples-to-apples comparisons.

Your staff has more important things to do than to waste of dozens of hours:

•	Soliciting proposals

•	Deciphering arcane terms and conditions

•	Determining whether all your requirements have been addressed

•	Uncovering unnecessary services being paid for

•	Trying to unbundle your present costs for comparison

•	Normalizing data from various quotations for comparison

•	Obtaining industry benchmark data to be able to have a real negotiation of rates and terms.

BCC recommends a phone traffic audit of one week's telephone usage to determine the amount of call traffic taking place on each telephone circuit. This study is used to determine whether your phone system is provisioned with the correct number of phone lines. Most companies have more lines than needed. The study results provide accurate statistical evidence as to whether your company is wasting money on un-needed telephone lines.

The deliverables are:

1.	Detailed description of telecommunications, Internet connectivity and managed service requirements to obtain quotations from vendors, to assure that no opportunity is overlooked. This also makes it easier to compare your carrier quotations.

2.	Creation of a telephone line inventory to verify that all lines on your bills are in fact connected and in use to determine whether you are being billed for any “phantom” lines. Almost every company has phone lines that they don't need to be paying for.

3.	Documentation of all telecom services for all company locations to maximize your bargaining power and simplify accounts payable. It is not uncommon to find services are billed separately that would be less expensive in a consolidated invoice.

4.	Identification of opportunities and recommendations of applicability of new technologies to reduce your communications costs or improve productivity

5.	Management of the quotation and proposal process. This means issuance of a RFP, vendor meetings, confirming that what is being proposed really suits your requirements and determining if any system changes are required as part of the proposals. Then BCC uses its proprietary benchmark data to assure that you are getting the best pricing possible.

6.	Presentation of four competitive quotations selected from those received by BCC, after normalizing all the data and clearing up confusing items, so results can actually be compared on a side-by-side basis with little effort on your part.

7.	Recommendations as to the pros and cons of any potential vendor.

8.	Final pricing negotiation and facilitation of contracts with the selected vendor(s).

9.	Participation in teleconferences with vendors to facilitate provisioning of circuits and new services. Project management with your company and its vendors regarding implementation of lines to assure a smooth and transparent process. The details of the execution are vital to success.