Voice, Data & Cloud Managed Solutions

Grudi Associates’ Voice, Data & Cloud (VDC) Managed Solutions is a powerful tool that helps businesses get the most for their telecom & IT expenditures, while saving a significant percentage of their budgets. VDC Managed Solutions is a complete enterprise voice, data and cloud management service, addressing everything from invoice management, inventory management, service procurement and implementation, to help desk, contract management, billing dispute resolutions and much more. Through outsourced managed services, expert VDC support and proactive consulting, Grudi Associates will help optimize your telecom & IT performance and maximize its value.

Direct Benefits

Customers who take full advantage of Grudi Associates’ Voice, Data & Cloud Managed Solutions can enjoy these benefits and more:

Lower Voice, Data and Cloud Cost – in many cases, 15-25%
Higher Productivity – the right services, equipment and capabilities perform better
Competitive Advantage – optimizing voice, data and cloud services enhance your capabilities and enable you to work smarter
Staff Efficiency – outsourcing to us lets your team focus on other key priorities
Customer Satisfaction – excellent voice, data and cloud technology makes you faster, more accessible and more responsive
Less Down Time – we proactively keep you up and operating at peak performance
Budgetable – pay a flat fee that you can rely on
Lower Stress – your team will have less things to worry about
Guaranteed Savings – free up capital for use in other projects

Who is Voice, Data & Cloud Managed Solutions For?

It’s for most businesses with one or more of these characteristics:

Multiple Locations
Medium to Large Workforces
Critical Connection Requirements
Complex Data and Network Needs
Compliance Issues or Other Needs that Require Very High Uptime Percentages
Business with an Overwhelmed and Understaffed IT Department
The Need for Additional or Specialized IT Expertise
An Accounting Department Whose Staff Spend Too Much Time Breaking Down Charges on Services They Don’t Fully Understand.
An Array of Other Critical Business Needs

By outsourcing voice, data and cloud management services to us, your team can spend more time and attention on running your business and achieving success. You will also save money because our telecom & IT professionals are experts at finding ways of reducing cost and increasing productivity.

C-Suite – with VDC Managed Solutions, you can be assured that your telecom & IT dollars are being spent wisely and your services and technology are optimized and expertly managed. And we will provide the documentation to prove it.

Accounting & Finance – Grudi Associates’ VDC Management Solutions saves you money. In many cases, a lot of money – 15-25% savings. That’s even more important when you consider that telecom & IT is now one of the top expenses for many businesses. In addition to savings, we streamline the coding and payment process to save you valuable time.

IT Department – our team of experts will supplement and enhance your IT and administrative team, enabling you to do more and focus on other priorities. We’re team players, always here to help.

Sales & Marketing – you’ll enjoy the competitive advantage of better, more reliable connections, more ways to offer value to your customers and enhanced collaboration with the team and stakeholders by leveraging the newest technology, software, hardware and applications.

Operations – meeting deadlines, achieving goals and many aspects of running a business are increasingly relying on dependable, high-functionality connections. Our proactive VDC Managed Solutions can play a key role in keeping your business connected, secure and operating optimally.

Human Resources – on-boarding new employees and off-boarding employees who leave with phones & desktops. Setting up new services for remote workers in their home offices.

Expertise

Grudi Associates has been a leader in telecom & IT for decades. We’ve stayed on the forefront of the industry every step of the way, continuously offering our customers the best choices, the newest technology, best capabilities and the most cost-effective plans, all backed by unrivaled support and service. From needs audits, plan and technology selection, implementation assistance to outsourced management and ongoing support, the Grudi Associates team takes the lead.

Why Grudi Associates

Grudi Associates has a proven track record in the industry. We treat your accounts like they are our accounts, giving personalized attention and hands on problem-solving. We have real people answering emails and phone calls. You will recognize our names and we will recognize yours as we work together, building trust and a great relationship. We are independent and carrier agnostic, with over 150 national and regional partners. This allows us to leverage our experience and knowledge of all carriers to find the best solutions, offers and promotions. We have a fiduciary responsibility to you, while carriers have little to no incentive to proactively reduce rates – that’s a key role for us. We have a robust service offering and complete solution, different from traditional TEM providers, whose primary focus is giving you access to software for self-management. Our size and processes allow us to adapt quickly to a changing technology environment and your business needs. We are innovative, adaptive and flexible.

The Grudi Promise – At Grudi Associates, we have built our reputation for excellence on providing high-value telecom and IT solutions supported by truly exceptional customer care. That’s our promise to you. Read the Grudi PromiseSM (link: https://grudiassociates.com/about/grudi-promise)

Industries

Automotive
Banking
Call Centers
Construction
Media
Engineering
Entertainment
Financial Services
Healthcare
Higher Education
Hospitality
Insurance
Logistics
Manufacturing
Non-Profit
Retail
Sports Organizations
Utilities
Waste Management

Comprehensive Services

At Grudi Associates, we developed our VDC Managed Solutions to provide the suite of services businesses need to optimize their telecom & IT capabilities and investment. Our team of experienced telecom professionals will work with you in the following areas:

Web-Based Portal – to track spend and savings information. Click on each item below to see a sample portal page.

Initial Audit of all Telecom Carrier and Cloud Invoices & Contracts – Local, Long Distance, Phone Systems, Internet, Cloud Services, TV/Video, Data, Audio & Web Conferencing

Establish baseline rates for monthly savings comparisons
Identify key target areas for cost savings and consolidation
Review existing contractual obligations
Document contract end dates and critical notification requirements.

Location Specific Recommendations & Technology Solutions

Identify and recommend technology solutions for each location
Provide detailed cost savings and ROI analysis
Recommendations to replace and/or eliminate excess lines and outdated services

Procurement & Contract Negotiation

Request and obtain competitive proposals from multiple providers
Negotiate contract terms and commitment levels
Review agreements & propose changes to standard contract language
Obtain contract addendums to address specific concerns when applicable
Place and track all orders with carriers

Professional Project & Change Management

Establish implementation timeline and migration plan
Manage implementation & migration to new services
Coordinate on-site installation with carriers and vendors
Properly notify Carriers & disconnect legacy services when change is complete

Outsourced Invoice Management

Billing address changed on all telecom carrier invoices to Grudi Associates PO Box or email address
Monthly audit and approval of payment amounts on each account
Identify issues and open billing disputes
Verify credits are posted properly to your account (see Proactive Billing Dispute Resolution below)
Verify contractual rates are properly reflected on invoices (see Proactive Rate Plan Optimization & Adjustment below)
Code invoices with proper GL Codes to streamline accounting department payment
Provide electronic copy of invoices and remittance slip with correct amount due within 3 business days of receipt from carriers.*
Archive bill copies electronically for 7 years
Securely destroy original paper bills through on-site document shredding service
Disconnect and cancel legacy accounts after migration to new service
*Service Level Guarantee – Grudi Associates will obtain credits or reimburse you for any late fees caused by our delay in processing your invoices.

Proactive Billing Dispute Resolution

Manage the dispute & credit process to completion
Verify credits post properly to your account
Identify inactive and unnecessary accounts
Cancel unnecessary accounts and dormant services
Identify 3rd party charges; cramming, slamming, casual long distance billing
Cancel 3rd party accounts & consolidate casual billing
Resolve systemic problems that cause inaccuracies or unauthorized charges
Pursue credits for previous billing errors prior to Grudi management*
*Additional fees apply

Proactive Rate Plan Optimization & Adjustments

Recommend & implement changes to provide on-going incremental savings
- Optimize Services
- Monitor and adjust voice & data rate plans based on usage
- Apply applicable Promotions
- Monitor contract commitment levels and adjust appropriately
- Renegotiate rates and extend contract terms when applicable
- Identify excessive usage and make recommendations to resolve
Monitor account for new services and technology improvements

Account Management (MACD’s)

Provide primary account management and interface with providers including Professional Change Management as outlined in Professional Project & Change Management section above.
ADD ORDERS and CHANGE ORDERS to existing locations
- Place and validate orders to add lines and new services
- Ensure all new orders receive appropriate rates and are billed correctly (including accurate start-date validation) on the correct provider invoice
- Validate all pro-rated charges with correct dates and amounts
- Prevent casual billing and additional invoices from being created
DISCONNECT ORDERS
- Place and validate orders to delete lines and disconnect services
- Ensure all disconnect orders are reflected on invoices and that billing stops on the date of disconnect
- Validate credits are reflected properly for any pre-paid services
- Request check (for credit balances) and ensure accounts are closed properly
Physical Location MOVES:
- BRAND-NEW CONSTRUCTION: If the location is a new building (no telco service ever delivered at that location before), there is a tremendous amount of coordination involved with contractors and telco providers just to establish a Demarc so service can be delivered
- MOVE PHYSICAL LOCATION (Outside of same building): Moving from one office to a smaller office across town
- MOVING SUITES WITHIN SAME BUILDING

Help Desk / Trouble Resolution

Dedicated Tier 2 support for troubleshooting & resolution of service issues
Standard 8x5x5 EST business hour support (24x7x365 Support Available for additional Fee)
Dedicated help desk email and toll-free support number
Case management system with ticket tracking
Manage Escalation process to NOC and Carrier management team
Provide trouble ticket status updates and ticket closure when resolved
Ensure SLA’s are met and request credits when thresholds are exceeded
Verify SLA credits are received and posted properly to the correct accounts

Inventory Management (per carrier)

Identify every line and every service at every location – additional on-site vendor fees may apply if needed
Document and Maintain inventory list
- Circuit ID’s and Individual Phone Lines (By Location and Carrier)
- Detailed line information includes: DID Numbers, Hunt groups, Toll Free ring to numbers, IP addresses, alarm lines, fax lines, modems and others

Contract Management

Maintain list of all contract start/end dates
Archive executed copies of all agreements
Assist in submitting Do Not Auto Renew paperwork as needed
Negotiate carrier agreements and discount percentages (see Procurement & Contract Negotiation section above)
Identify when thresholds are met for additional discount percentages during term

Monthly Reporting

Provide customized reporting
- Monthly and Year-To-Date savings by location
- Monthly spend listed by service type per location
- One-time credits
Monthly baseline comparison

General Consulting – following are other services we provide: