In case you are unfamiliar with the term,
T-1 refers to a class of services offered by various phone
providers that allows 24 phone lines, 1.55 Mbps of Internet
capacity, or some combination of both, to be delivered across a
4-wire circuit. The T-1 is not new, having first been offered
in 1961. The T-1 has a newer cousin called a PRI, and it is
now offered in a dynamic form, which allows the entire circuit to be
used for Internet until a phone call occurs.
The T-1 is a popular product with phone service
resellers
because of the relatively
high commissions involved. In addition, some providers, most
notably Cbeyond, sell these aggressively door-to-door. We have
had numerous visits in our office from Cbeyond reps, and never the
same one twice.
We tend to steer our customers away from T-1's
because they are often not cost-effective for small
organizations. That being said, they do make sense in some
cases, including:
-
If you need more than 4 phone lines and
DSL. In this case, a T-1 maybe cost-effective.
-
If your phone system requires a T-1, or where
a phone system is less expensive when a T-1 is used instead of
individual phone lines.
-
High Internet upload capacity is required for
VoIP or video streaming (most DSL circuits are limited to 500K
upload speed)
-
You need DID or other special services.
-
Your phone/Internet service is absolutely
mission-critical.
If you wish to consider a T-1, start by getting
quotes from multiple providers, and compare the monthly cost with
what you are paying now. Note that in most cases, providers
will give you a 3 year quote by default. We advise our
customers never to go above 2 years, because pricing is trending
down, and services improving.
Since there are many flavors of T-1's, and many
nuances involved, we recommend that you find a trustworthy vendor
who represents multiple providers to help guide you. We can
provide quotes from multiple carriers and advice about what is best
for you, without charge.
For more information, read our
blog entry on T-1 service.
On December 21st, the eNable/BIZTech office erupted
into organized chaos as we had the privilege of hosting the wrapping
and delivery party for
Act Together Ministries' Christmas Gift
event.
Supporters were invited to
adopt an underprivileged child, or family of children, and to
purchase gifts for them from a list provided by each child.
Each gift was accompanied by various stocking stuffers and
bibles.
At the December 21st event, volunteers wrapped and
organized all of the presents, after which the families were invited
to pick their gifts up, which ranged from small video games to large
bikes.
In total, over 100 kids received gifts through this
program, which also helped the self-esteem of parents, otherwise
embarrassed at not being able to give gifts to their kids.
It was our privilege to host this event, and to work
side-by-side with many volunteers involved. We are
already looking forward to next year!
Using
DID Numbers for Marketing Campaign
Tracking
Do you conduct multiple marketing campaigns which
include a phone number for customers to call? If so, you can
benefit from using DID numbers to track the response to your
campaigns.
A DID (Direct Inward Dial) number is an outside
phone number assigned to a particular individual or program.
In the past, DID service was expensive, and restricted to users with
larger phone systems. With the advent of Voice over IP (VoIP),
it is now possible to use DID service inexpensively.
As an example, assume you are running a small ad in
3 publications at the same time that includes a phone number for
customers to call. If you want to track the number of calls
received in response to each ad, you can assign individual DID
numbers to each ad, and use the call log from your phone system to
track which phone number gets the most calls. You can also
personalize the response based on the publication, or direct calls
from different publications to different individuals or recorded
greetings.
If you run ad campaigns nationally, it is possible
to use the same approach with toll-free numbers. Since all
inbound calls with some VoIP carriers are free, using toll-free
numbers can get customer calls to you at minimal cost.
In the tight economy, it is important to get the
maximum benefit from every marketing dollar. The ability to
track ad response using DID numbers can allow you to spend your
marketing dollars with those publications that produce the best
response.
