Whether or not you buy the phone company’s offered telecom asset management platform is not the real issue. That decision is totally up to you: only you can tell what is right for your business, however it might be wise to think about whether or not you can afford not to have this additional benefit, especially if the additional cost is minimal. The simplest answer to this question is no, you do not have to buy the telecom asset management platform that is offered to you through your phone company. The bigger question remains though: can you really afford not to?

The phone company will be more than happy to take your order and provide you with the installation of the services that you need. There is so much competition in the market that you can practically write your own ticket in a number of cases. They want to get you as a customer. They want to keep you as a customer. Other companies want the exact same thing and that leads to a huge advantage for savvy business owners to negotiate some rate reductions, service upgrades and other benefits.

Take the telecom asset management platform for instance – the cost of that beneficial service can be negotiated during the initial installation. While there will have to be some level of compromise on both parts, there are some things that you, the business owner should keep in mind during the negotiation process.

First: do not tie yourself into an extremely lengthy contract or you might lose all of the benefits completely. If the telephone company would like for you to sign a five year deal, counter offer with a two year deal. Do not sign anything over three years because the rate changes that come about so quickly after law changes or de-regulation of services will be lost to you. Most company heads prefer to sign year to year contracts but if you can factor in the beneficial asset management platform and still come out ahead, then why not sign for two years?

Second: think of exactly what an asset management platform can do for you. For instance, Life Cycle Management can connect you to your monthly billing so that you can see exactly where and when your major expenses are accrued, allowing you to find solutions to those costs. In addition, you can adjust your spending as your company either expands and has greater needs or goes through a downturn and has lesser needs.

 Third: Think of the people who are providing this asset management in the first place. It is the rare company that hires green, unproven telecommunications “students” before the ink on their new diplomas is even dry. The phone companies know that this service is too complex and too valuable to both themselves and their clients to trust it to just anybody. The people handling this service are veterans of the telecommunications field – an irreplaceable asset to have in your corner.