One Contractor, One Solution, One Product
Hi, my name is Milan Tomic and I’m Director of Product Management and Presales here at ECT. I’d like to tell you about one of the main differences between ECT and our competitors. It’s about implementation.
If you’ve ever tried, I’m sure you know; implementing a value-added service can be a hassle. There are a lot of big companies out there who offer modular network-based contact center or IVR solutions. However, when you buy from them you end up buying from three parties and dealing mostly with an integrator. He does the programming, customization, configuration and adaptation of the solution. Typically, there is the software vendor, the integrator and the party that sells you the NGIN equipment. The software includes only the basic functionalities. It usually comes without hardware, without user interfaces and without network integration.
The integrator would then be your prime contractor. He resells the software, adds his margin on hard and software and charges per man-day for the integration. However, his main business is the maintenance as well as the professional services and programming for the implementation of the solution. That’s why integrators typically work with partners that leave them a large portion of the work with every customer. No wonder he doesn’t have much interest in closing the project too soon. Plus for any further change or update you’ll need the integrator’s help, so you’ll remain stuck with him. Integrators may have a conflict of interest with their customers.
At ECT we have a better solution. We provide a complete end-to-end solution, normally including the telco equipment and the technology which can easily be customized.
As a one-stop shop, our complete solutions include professional services, usually at a fixed price. That way we have the same interest as you do in sticking to the agreed project plan and milestones. When the project takes longer, we lose money and so do you. We want a win-win relationship for us and the carrier we’re working for. We give you the application, put it on standard carrier-grade servers and do all the network integration and testing. That is, by the way, another difference between our technology and what most large vendors sell you: ECT technology is designed to run on standard servers.
We actually tried to procure a major integrator as a partner. It didn’t work. The integrator said he wouldn’t partner with us because we wouldn’t leave him any business, our solutions are just too complete! He asked us if we could take some functionalities out so that he could program them. Of course we said no. That way we found out that we simply don’t need third-party integrators. This is very good news for our customers because it saves them a lot of money because they don’t have to pay three parties for one project. Why don’t you deploy your new value-added services quicker, easier and more cost-efficiently?
