Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 50 seconds
Fully Managed IT Services Solution For Small Business
Small businesses use plenty of technology, and managing all that tech can be beyond the capabilities (in both time and understanding) of most of the business staff. More small businesses are turning to what is called Managed Services. CenturyLink has launched its own version called Managed Office tarteted at small businesses.
"Managed Office is CenturyLink's solution for customers who are frustrated managing disparate networks, keeping up with new technologies, allocating IT staff, reconciling multiple bills, making never-ending investments in IT infrastructure and failing to resolve issues via the traditional call center support model," said Shirish Lal, senior vice president of marketing, CenturyLink. "Our research convinces us that no competitor is offering SMBs a thorough managed services solution with high-touch customer service at such an affordable and flexible price."
Leveraging network, Hosted VoIP and cloud capabilities, Managed Office is CenturyLink's first managed services offering geared toward small and medium-sized businesses combining and supporting all of the following features:
-- Managed network and Hosted VoIP: The Managed Office environment is
anchored by a single, converged IP network for Internet, data transport
and Hosted VoIP voice service backed by solid service level agreements.
Network connectivity is delivered via reliable, business-grade Ethernet
or other connectivity options available at the customer's choice of
speeds.
-- Managed CPE (customer premises equipment): CenturyLink provides and
maintains hardware, including feature-rich IP phones, routers, switches
and Wi-Fi access points.
-- Hosted apps and cloud-based storage: Reliable cloud-based business
applications free IT support from expensive and time-consuming software
and server maintenance, creating opportunities to focus on big-picture,
revenue-driving priorities. Managed Office includes hosted email and
calendar software, collaboration software and data backup services.
Software upgrades are included, and the suite of cloud-based business
applications available with Managed Office will continue to be expanded
in the future.
-- Security software: Advanced security features are layered throughout the
network and applications.
-- Managed install and training: Each Managed Office customer is assigned a
dedicated project manager and an account consultant who learns its
business, understands its network requirements, manages installation and
reviews the first bill. Customers receive personalized service, feature
and software training, tailored to their needs and schedule.
-- One-stop support: When service is up and running, trained specialists
who work exclusively with Managed Office customers are on-call 24/7 at a
dedicated, U.S.-based technical assistance center. In addition,
customers receive ongoing support from a single account consultant who
understands their IT services and communications network needs.
-- Scalable per-seat pricing that shifts costs from capital to operating
expenses: Managed Office offers a monthly price-per-employee user option
that can help make it easy to predict the cost of managing the entire
communications network, and businesses can easily scale up or down to
meet seasonal needs or accommodate growth. As a monthly operating
expense, Managed Office reduces the total cost of ownership for IT
services by eliminating up-front capital investments or ongoing
maintenance on equipment that could break or become obsolete.
"SMBs face very different challenges from larger businesses; scaled-down enterprise services can't serve these companies effectively. CenturyLink Managed Office has been built from the ground up to deliver a comprehensive package with the levels of service and support that smaller business customers need," said Brian Washburn, an analyst with Current Analysis.
"We ordered Managed Office to consolidate our voice, data and IT services into a single package. Our CenturyLink project manager made sure that the entire process from install to training went smoothly and was on time. Our new VoIP phones give us crystal-clear sound, and we especially like the flexibility we have to add seats as our business grows while knowing in advance how much we will be spending," said Curtis Eubanks, vice president of Aleutian Consulting, a business consulting firm and a Managed Office beta customer.
Latest from News
- 29% of Companies See Improved Accuracy with Accounts Payable Automation
- Discover the Secret to Small Business Success This Holiday Season!
- Discover the Top Tech for Working From Home in 2023/2024
- Is Your Business' Tech Stack Holding You Back? Here's How to Tell
- Big Tech Sponsors Biden Admin's Small Business Week
Most Read
-
-
Feb 08 2012
-
Written by SBN Editors
If you own a business, you should get fleet vehicles.…
-
-
-
Sep 08 2011
-
Written by Editor
ADP®, a leading provider of human resource outsourcing, payroll services,…
-
-
-
Jun 18 2013
-
Written by News
NETGEAR®, Inc. has shipped the NETGEARProSAFE(TM) Single-Band Wireless-N Access Point…
-
-
-
Nov 14 2012
-
Written by SBN Editors
Today we are going to focus on a few of…
-