Don’t have time to take on another major project?

Is it time to replace your existing phone system?

If you’re like others we have worked with, you are BUSY!

There are always more projects than time.

Changing your phone system is a highly visible project that impacts all of your users.

You have to get it right.

But how do you find time to research the options? Or document your requirements?

And writing an RFP (Request For Proposal) takes a lot of time and effort.

If you find a template on the internet, can you trust it? Who actually wrote it? Do they have any expertise? What did they leave out? Is it biased towards a particular solution?

Skip the research project. Don’t worry about creating documents. Make yourself look good. Engage an unbiased advisor who knows the marketplace and already has created the tools you need.

Ensure the success of your project with our experience doing hundreds of similar projects, successfully.

Save tons of time, using our knowledge as a shortcut.

We know the players and what they have to offer. You don’t have to spend time doing research.

Take advantage of our tested documents and processes. They are continually updated and refined as technology and the marketplace changes. You don’t have to create anything from scratch.

Make it easy on yourself!

Independent consultants

Swartz Consulting offers independent advice from experts who never sell you any products. We help you find the right solution, and make the process easy for you.

We have worked with many clients to sort through the sea of solutions and find the right one for them. And we often serve as project managers through the implementation process. We know how the solutions work and their strengths and weaknesses.

How can Swartz Consulting make things easier for you?

You don’t have to do a lot of time-consuming research.
You don’t have to develop
- Tested documents
- Proven processes
- Knowledge and experience
When you invest in our services, we bring these things to you.

Using Our Documents & Processes	Without Us
Meet with our team to mutually create a plan	Do an internet search and grab some documents
Fill out our Current Environment document	Review docs and choose one for a template
Schedule meetings with key stakeholders and users to determine new system requirements	Start trying to fill in with your stuff, until something doesn’t make sense or you don’t have the info needed. Get stuck.
Review the Needs Analysis document that we prepare to ensure that we are correctly stating your requirements	Do some research—what do these terms mean? What solutions work well now? Who are the players?
Answer questions we may have as we create the RFP for you	Figure out what you need in a new system. Who do you talk to? What do you ask?
Review the RFP document that we created	Figure out what’s available in new systems. Do you ask the vendors and then endure a sales pitch? How many do you have to see before you know enough to keep going?
Attend the bidder’s meeting that we conduct for you	Revise what you need
Answer any questions from vendors that we cannot answer on your behalf. We gather everything and send out the answers to the vendors for you	Get phone and license counts
When proposals are submitted, we will evaluate them and provide a comparison of the options for your review	What kind of phones do you need? What kinds are available? Each vendor is different. How do you get counts?
If additional information is needed we will contact the vendors and obtain it	What is included in the various types of licenses? Again, each vendor is different. How may do you need of each type?
Review the 5-year pricing comparison we have created for you	Does your company have any standard terms and conditions to include? If not, what should you put in to protect your organization?

How should pricing be submitted to get something to compare? (more web research—are there forms out there we can use?)
Write the RFP. What should you include? How much detail?
Send out the RFP. Which vendors should you send it to? Who should you avoid?
Conduct a bidder’s meeting
Gather questions from the vendors, answer them, and send out the answers to all vendors
Receive proposals. Read and evaluate them.Compare and contrast proposals—how do they stack up? Was anything left out?
Prepare questions for vendors if needed, send them out, track responses.
Add new information to update comparison
Prepare 5-year pricing analysis

Put our knowledge to work and save precious time.

How can you be sure that Swartz Consulting is truly vendor agnostic?

We demonstrate our independence through membership in the Society of Communication Technology Consultants (SCTC), the premier organization of ethically based, professional, independent communications technology consultants. Members are required to be independent and are prohibited under the SCTC Consultant Code of Ethics from selling any product or service other than independent services.

You can find our statement of ethics here.

How do you know that Swartz Consulting is qualified to guide you?

As veterans of hundreds of projects, we have the experience required to guide you through your phone system replacement project. Melissa Swartz has presented at Enterprise Connect on topics such as:

Staying Clear of Cloud Migration Land Mines

Avoiding the “Gotchas” in a Cloud Migration

Practical Advice for Navigating SIP Trunking

Top 4 Pitfalls to Avoid When Implementing SIP Trunking