How can you design cost-effective mobile communication solutions that are scalable and reliable?

First you need to fully understand your customers in terms of their mobile communication usage patterns, i.e. data & voice usage (this info is normally available through the organization's marketing team/s). If you don't have the capacity/expertise to design these solutions then partner with reputable & reliable specialists in the field to formulate these solutions. This also ensures the risk is shared. Scalability & reliability is shaped by your understanding of customer buying patterns and your partner/s level of expertise. You cannot spend millions designing a solution which will only give you thousands in return so a "cost-benefit" analysis is key.

I think a very important aspect of this is knowing and understanding all of your options. Those are that actually available to you in the market. This is a world that changes at an incredible pace and is full of inflammatory statements; best network, most used, the biggest, more reliable than…. These statements and more lead to a lot of confusion. actually meeting with experts within the industry and trusted advisors can help you understand the market, availability and implementation schedule, some of the best platforms out there take the longest to deploy your needs, and goals will have to factor in to the final decision.

Find a provider that is not only a highly ranked partner of all major networks, but one that also takes the time to understand your business' requirements and build a solution around those needs. I would also look for a partner that can offer impartial advice, and advise on all options suitable for your requirements so that you can make an informed decision and help you implement any changes all whilst offering on-going, dedicated account management throughout your term with them.

Finding a trusted advisor rather than a sales rep is key to finding how your organization can best use and deploy the right communication tools. Advisors seek to help solve your business problems, sales reps want you to know about the latest promotions.

Consider the same caveat as with any other investment: past performance is not an indication of future performance. While it is impossible to accurately assess future growth, it is possible to put in place clear targets and build around them. Best practice is to build with scalability and future proofing in mind if you're targeting growth beyond startup parameters. Alternatively use those parameters as restrictions and prepare to start a separate project when when all parameters are met and new requirements present themselves. Most of the time it's more effective to build from scratch rather than replace the entire infrastructure.

As an expert in the space, it is my opinion that with very little exception, the cloud or at least cloud hybrid options are viable for 99% of businesses and institutions. We have made this cloud infrastructure with the focus on speedy and satisfactory implementation. When we are looking at solutions often times the unknown can lead us down a path where we invest in infrastructure that will quickly be outdated. Often times we also see a lot of turf wars regarding this arena.

Choosing the right platform can be difficult, especially with so many options available. Moving to a hybrid solution ie your workers use the personal device and you provide the connection seems to be a popular option, but what are the implications? what do you need to secure your services. Having worked in the industry for 13+ years now, I have seen the change from companies supplying their own equipment and connection right through to implementing a cloud-based solution for their employees, such as a cloud-based solution that provides flexibility to work from anywhere without sacrificing quality, efficiency and high-levels of customer service - so options like implementing a VoIP solution that also has a mobile app available.

Security and data privacy should be the driving factor when choosing the type of network, not the cost. Cutting corners in those regards in an effort to stay within the budget will open up the company or institution to high risk of either losing intelectual property or employee/contractor or customer personal information. Disclaimers can only protect one to a certain degree and barely protect from bad publicity which normally leads to a high cost for damage control.

It's also wise to look beyond the provider and evaluate what type of partners they work with for a seamless integration of technology. A provider that can help you manage the full technology project can lower your overall expenses as well as streamline your project.

Depending on the level of control you require, it is sometimes more efficient to internalise services for two reasons: - overhead is the easiest cost to cut out. There is no real need for middlemen since most providers will have to train their resources specifically to customer needs leading to a shallow learning curve due to the human factor involved. It's cheaper and quicker to train an internal resource or hire an experienced contractor directly rather than allowing your provider to do it and charge you for it. - transparency is difficult to obtain from a provider since they will always protect their interests, whereas your employee/contractor will work with your values in mind since their success depends on yours.

These are all very great steps one perspective that I would add, however, is consider the company that will provide you with a consultative and challenger style sales process. They should know and understand your goals, as well as help you in winning over internal stakeholders and external ones often times companies have better technology or even just comparable technology lack the appropriate sales process and or knowledgeable individuals in the field to successfully guide and navigate through potential roadblocks missed steps and ultimately delayed integration.

As an account manager for a leading communications provider in the UK, my role is to help customers make the right decision by providing impartial advice/support and help them understand the current marketplace. By providing a high level of customer service, I/we have helped many businesses throughout the UK choose the right mobile provider and handsets, make the change to VoIP as well as advising on the changes being made due to Digital Switchover to help with their continued growth and long-term longevity

The article discusses the process of creating an cost efficient network.,. It all starts with nailing down your requirements and defining the technology you need for your network. Then, when it comes to picking the right vendor or service provider, keep your budget in mind. With so many competitors out there, it's like shopping for the best deal. You might lean towards one that offers good quality at a reasonable price. Ultimately, time is precious too, and finding that perfect spot between cost and quality can save you both money and precious hours.

Something to consider is implementation, speed, a temptation from any businesses is too slow rollout, new technology, in my opinion this is a massive oversight, and a potential long-term pitfall. Working within the framework of your provider find the fastest possible implementation path and give the powerful new tools to your team as quickly as possible this accomplishes a few things such as ensuring all the benefits of your selected system are implemented as quickly as possible, your team is up to speed in a unified fashion, This ultimately leads to synergy and successes internally within the organization.

Provider best practices and guidelines should never be blindly followed, especially when there is no reasonable justification for that specific process. In my experience, there are a lot of outdated processes which aren't justified anymore, however providers will be quick to hold you liable if they are not followed. Most of these can be easily removed when negotiating if you either have an employee experienced in the field or contract a third party consultant with a proven track record

While monitoring KPI is normally a very effort intensive task, most processes can be easily automated and regular reports can be generated and translated for higher management by the internal resource or direct contractor responsible for implementation. The level of insight provided by experienced personnel within or adjacent to your company/institution is invaluable in these cases.

We're currently in the era of AI, where technology is advancing rapidly. Leveraging AI tools allows for automation in project control and monitoring, leading to reduced costs by minimizing the need for human resources. However, it's important to note that, in the end, you still require skilled individuals to develop and fine-tune these tools to ensure accurate data and ultimately facilitate project acceptance and handover.

This step actually begins much further up in the process defining success will be a critical component for both you and your vendor, whom you’ve selected. A reputable vendor should have metrics for success, and should ask you for your own metrics of success. If not, this is a major red flag in my opinion. Utilizing all available data, internal surveys, and any external or customer facing metrics to measure success, provides you with deep and valuable insight.

Through dedicated account management, Talk UK Telecom, provide regular tariff analysis and provide a report of how you can optimise your services. We have helped so many businesses in identify where they can make the smallest change that can enhance their experience and implement changes to keep their on-going costs to a minimal

The right business partner will offer regular reviews of the services you have with them and offer advice on how to: reduce costs, implement changes to improve user efficiency. With all the above being implemented correctly, they can put forward the right solution to meet your business' future requirements, giving you more time to focus on key business functions.

To avoid any overbearing or burden some process, I would recommend, selecting a few, less than five, key metrics to continue to monitor. Having regular check with your vendor as well as your team is, of course, valuable, I would also recommend placing a flag on any internal service calls related to your mobile communications and issues.

Ensuring enterprise data is secure is critical throughout the entire mobile communications life cycle from 1 / assessment (what are your security needs) 2 / platform (how will data be protected between IaaS and SaaS providers 3 / vendor selection (can they support your requirements) 4/ implementation (what on boarding tools does the vendor provide) 5 / monitoring (are there APIs to provide a real time view) and 6 / operations flexibility (are you locked into a proprietary solution that can't be changed when you find a vulnerability). If you don't integrate security into your mobile communications strategy you'll likely be hit by a major breach within 2 years and be out of job because you didn't take this post seriously. #opentowork

Something else to consider is service and support. While sometimes this is an afterthought in the selection process, it really needs to be a key item on the decision tree. The only way to truly gauge service and support capability is by speaking with others who have utilized the provider in the past. Anyone can make promises, but it's important to understand who can deliver on their support promises. You don't want to go midway through a project and find out the support capability is just not there. Your company, your customers, and your career may depend on these decisions. A small savings upfront is not worth poor results for many stakeholders later in the process.

One thing to add in this, whenever considering global communication devices, I think, having fail over an emergency back up plans in place is a critical component. Looking at technology available from either your selected vendor or a redundant vendor may be valuable in achieving a emergency fell over plan. There are lots of elements Available for you to consider whenever making this decision it is complex, and that is why my earlier suggestion of a consultative approach is key.