Once upon a time British Telecom (BT) dominated the marketplace and companies had little choice but to go with the telecoms giant. This was primary because BT owned the lines, leaving other smaller companies to rent the lines from BT.
Although this may still be the case that BT holds the lines for the vast majority of the country, since the deregulation within the marketplace, consumers now have far more choice than ever before.
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We are bringing you some new news on telecoms soon. Please stand by for some important announcements in the sector.
This change brought about a much needed and refreshing look at the telecoms industry. This move has also given businesses a greater opportunity to be able to choose from a variety of wholesale companies, each with their different offerings and price points.
While some companies will prefer to choose a small, local provider for their telecoms services, others will feel more comfortable with a nationally recognised brand.
However, the competitiveness of the industry has meant that all companies small and large have had to raise their game and provide an outstanding service and reasonable prices to compete and remain in business.
One advantage of working with a smaller company is that the support is often handled in-house, meaning that your call will not be routed to a call centre in another country where communication can become difficult. Secondly, with a small local company you often get the benefit of a more personalised service and quicker response and call-out times if your situation requires an engineer.
Other Benefits of Using a Smaller Provider
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Pricing
As mentioned above, pricing can often be more reasonable than the bigger competitors such as BT. These providers have the ability to cut their costs and all the while, still use the services of BT’s Openreach technicians when it comes to installations or should problems arise.
Customer Service
Customer service is a big consideration in most marketplaces nowadays. However, the telecoms industry is one where the consumer is paying particular attention.
This is likely to be due to many consumers having the frustrating experience of their technical support calls being routed to other countries and handled by people who are not native English speakers. This makes the understanding rather difficult. Having all your calls dealt with by a native speaker who is also close by is a great plus point for many businesses.
The quality of Service
Since the deregulation, BT now offers smaller companies the opportunity to use their Openreach technicians as part of the wholesale deal. This means that local telecoms providers can now offer top quality support and assistance to their clients. If there are any issues with your lines, then you can have the peace of mind that the help is coming from the best.
Fluent Technologies Ltd are a small telecoms provider in the South-East of the United Kingdom. Based in Kent, Fluent provide some businesses with telephony services all across the South-East.
Fluent have been in business since 2000 and have won awards in the telecoms industry for their services and levels of support. Partnered with some of the leading industry telephony providers, Fluent are an excellent choice for any small business when it comes to communications.
There are many businesses out there offering competitive rates to local businesses on telecoms deals. There is so much competition in the industry at the moment, you can pretty much tell most companies what price you are willing to pay and they will be willing to meet you somewhere along the line to get your business. Basically, don’t be shy in negotiating and always ask for a discount.