Many companies hire an office manager to take care of the day to day details and tasks that need to be done.  In addition to taking care of some of these details, the office manager might be expected to handle the telecommunications details as well.  The more involved your company’s telecommunications needs are, the more responsibilities there will be and the more expensive these services will end up being.  For instance, the cost of the equipment that is needed and the staff that will also be needed to keep the services running smoothly need to be accounted for.

 Cost Elimination: No More Equipment Costs

The managed service provider that is hired will be responsible, not only for finding the right equipment but for making sure that it is working correctly and is always up to date.  Without managed services, the office manager will have to continually stop day to day tasks to investigate updated equipment information to find out not only what the best option is but what the best price rate is as well.  The manager will also have to work toward training the staff on the new equipment.  As the company grows, the possibility of having to hire and maintain a full IT staff will increase.

 If you are using the office manager to handle this responsibility, it will also mean the need to take care of repairs or replacements when there are malfunctions or breakage, further reducing their ability to handle day to day tasks that are just as important.  The office manager is needed to take care of other types of services and should not be relied on to manage the telecommunications needs of the company.

 No More Training Costs

 With a company that only has a few phones, with a few lines each, training is not that big of a deal.  On the other hand, when the telecommunications move up to multi-line systems and multimedia approaches, the training will be more involved.  Each new staff member may need to be trained on all aspects of the telecommunication system.  The longer it takes for the training to be completed, the more it will actually cost the company in the long run.

 Installation Costs  

In addition to the cost equipment and training, there is the cost of installation for the telecom lines, especially when they are being placed in a new building or need to be updated from one type to another.

Managed Service Providers  

The managed service provider company not only eliminates the need to train staff on the telecommunications system, but the need for the office manager to find the right equipment, deal with malfunctions or to hire a full IT staff is gone as well.  When comparing the costs of managed services versus the cost of hiring an on-site IT staff, there are several things to think about, such as the costs of equipment, set up, upgrades as they become available and maintenance to start with.  In addition, the costs of hiring and training staff should be included.  IT staff can be very expensive and will also include the need to consider sick time and holiday pay.