Hey guys-
One of the dealers in my area asked me to look into this one �.(I
know what you guys are thinking�I didn't sell this system to the
end-user, and depending on how you view things, this local dealer is
really my competition, so what am I doing getting involved??)
First let me describe the application then we'll talk about LEMON-AIDE�
When it comes to CID on the TD systems, I believe that it only
automatically logs unanswered calls at the lowest jack that rings. So
the way I see it, if you want to automatically log the CID information
for every incoming call, you either have to use a TD171 expansion card,
which will send the caller id out to a single line device and use some
type of standard CID box or pump it out through SMDR to a printer or
PC.
Here's what the dealer is stuck on - His customer wants to see the CID info on a
large display - he's thinking 12-15-20 inches wide - I know there is hardware and
software out there that will do this using the SMDR output going to a PC with a large
monitor. This would work but the customer also mentioned that he wants the display
mounted on the wall - he really doesn�t want to have to deal with a PC and a monitor.
Here's the question. Does any one know of a CID Box, that has such a
large display, or does anyone know of any product(s) I can use as a
"flush mountable" type large display -, connected to a PC or some other
hardware setup that might accomplish what this customer wants??
Now - about LEMON-AIDE...
I've been in this industry for over 20 years now. I am a born
mechanic/technician and all of my experience in this industry, has been
on the technical side. Unfortunately, I have never acquired any real
sales or business management skills and I don' t have any
business-management oriented schooling. In other words - I don't really
know how to be aggressive with the sales side of this biz, or how to
set up a staffed-back office, or how to deal with the banks about
financing, or about advertising, etc.
Last year, when I finally had enough of you guys, (just kidding) and I
left my position as a tech support rep with Panasonic, I figured it was
time I went solo. So I set out to live out one of my lifelong dreams of
owning and running my own company - making all the decisions - not
having a boss!
The only work rite now that is keeping me afloat are referrals and
sub-c type of work that I am getting from other dealers. At this point,
until I learn more about business management and sales, I have no
problem if someone else gets the profit from the hardware sale and I do
the installation - some of these referral type of jobs from
internet/out-of -state dealers, will be semi-profitable and others can
turn out to be very profitable. I'm the one on-site, face-to-face with
the customer, I'm the one they are going to call a month down the road
when they hire two new people and need a couple of workstations wired
up for voice and data. I find that in the end, as long as my fee is
reasonable and if I gain the customers confidence and respect in me as
a technician, then they will call me with more work sometime in the
future. I'm also learning that every install and customer is
different. On some jobs the profit margin will be on the low side and
on others your profit margin will be on the high side, and hopefully
some will be on the very high side!!. I recently accepted a job from an
out-of -state distributor. He sold and installed a td and tvs to a
customer. Shortly afterwards the customer moved his company to NYC. The
dealer contacted me and asked me to take care of this customer by
installing the system in his new office. It was a td 816 with only 6
phones and a tvs100. A very easy install that wouldn't take to long
and one in which there is hardly any real $$$ involved. I think the 816
has 3 mounting screws. How much can I charge to install 3 mounting
screws to mount the system and to splice and/or crimp 6-7 plugs at the
ksu. If the customer knows what he wants, it only takes me 5-10
minutes, if that long, to program the tvs with a main greeting and 6
mbxs. Most dealers might stay away from this type of job cause of the
headaches that might come along with it, is just not worth it. An
established company with a solid customer base and a sturdy financial
situation and a steady flow of their own work, can chose to turn down
the above job, but the new guy on the block, someone in my position,
has to reach out and grab hold of these type of jobs. By the way, on
the above mentioned job, turned out that the suite was newly renovated
and needed both voice and data cables, it was a very easy cabling job
and I made way more profit than I expected. Being the person that I am,
I told the referring dealer about the unexpected cable runs and I asked
if he wanted "A piece of the action". He said no thanks- you did the
work, you keep the profit.
In the end - No harm done and everyone went away happy.
We also have to remember Panasonics role in all of this - Panasonic is
not a telephone-industry oriented company. They are an electronics
company with a small business communications division, that is run by a
management team of very well trained and experienced sales-minded
businessmen, whose main responsibility and goal is to make the monthly
budget. The product is good and reliable and worth the $$$, but the
systems are not the "Rolls-Royce" of the industry, and they do lack in
some technical areas. The management at Panasonic does not seem to care
much about these so called shortcommings, as long as they make budget.
When the ta624 was first released and every other call to tech support
was a dealer complaining about the annoying cascading ring, how long
did it take for Panasonic to make the proper changes in the system. At
that time, the tech support team went to our upper-level managers to
address the complaints from the dealers, and we were basically told
that everything is ok and that no changes will be made to address the
cascading ring. The ta624 was selling like crazy and if a few were
being returned due to the ringing, it didn't matter. Cause after all of
the returns were tallied, they were still making budget at the end of
the month, and for that, we in tech support would get a handshake and a
pizza party lunch in the big conference room.
And there's my 2 cents ( looks more like $1.02)
Any dealers or do-it-yourselfers, who would care to take advantage of my telephony
experience and my first-hand knowledge of the Panasonic systems, and are willing to
pay my fee!! - can always contact me at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
JOEL WEISER
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