Future Proofing with bluArc

Future Proofing with bluArc

Many years ago at a Press technology Trade Show I was asked about what the future prospects were for VoIP as a technology to replace the TDM technology of the time. My response was that ‘it was a slam dunk.’ By this, I meant that there was no doubt that the Internet Protocol would eventually overtake and then replace TDM as the primary protocol connecting phones to our office phone systems, the PBX, within the customers’ premise. There is much evidence that this technology replacement has indeed occurred. In fact, the vast majority of vendors of traditional office phone technology now use Internet Protocol as the primary protocol for connecting phones to their PBX’s. So while my brief stint as a technology prognosticator was successful, what I didn’t anticipate was the explosive growth of technologies like bluArc’s – a hosted service that connects phones through Internet Protocol both internal and external to the customers’ premise. But that’s the problem with trying to predict the future – you typically get just part of it right.

In speaking with customers and prospective customers I find that this fear of getting it wrong, making a bad technology choice, can lead to decision making paralysis. Nobody wants to make a significant capital investment only to find that technology has gone in a different direction. However, I believe that when making a decision for a new voice technology services there are ways to mitigate against making a wrong technology choice. The first is to understand your business requirements and the second is to choose a vendor that can grow with you as both your requirements and technology changes.

When speaking with my sales team about interacting with prospective customers I tell them that the most important thing to do is to understand what the customer’s needs are. What does the customer like about their current service, what do they dislike, if they had a magic wand, what would they want in a new voice service? What services are they using now, how much, how often? For many prospective customers these aren’t easy questions to answer, but by providing a framework for getting the right information it’s easier to accurately understand what the business requirements are.

The second part of minimizing risk is to choose the right vendor to work with…one that can address your business requirements now, but also have the flexibility to work with you in the future….back to my axiom about the future – you typically get just part of it right! That’s where bluArc comes in – I like to tell prospective customers that bluArc’s hosted service is all about future proofing. bluArc makes the investment in ensuring our services ride the technology curve so that you don’t have to. As technology changes bluArc changes with it, transparent to our customers, all included in a single monthly fee. Flexible, powerful, easy to use.

These days I spend very little time predicting what’s going to happen in the future. By understanding what bluArc customers need to run their business now, and by investing in an infrastructure designed to change as customer requirements and technological capability intersect, I leave the guess work to others. If you’re thinking about changing your voice technology, please consider inviting bluArc in to help you assess your voice service needs. If you’re worried about protecting your investment into the future let us show you how we already do it daily for thousands of bluArc users.

Rick Koenders

VP Sales, bluArc Communications