Questions from and answers for our clients in Southern California and beyond

A:  A channel agent is a company or individual who represents several technology service providers.  They work to understand the unique and specific needs of your business.  Then they work with their portfolio of providers to craft a solution to meet those needs.

A:  It means you are working with a channel agent to source and implement the technology services for your business, rather than going directly to the service provider.

A:  There are different ways to get technology services for your business.  One option is directly from a provider.  Another is working with a channel agency, like Telworx.  

If you already know exactly which services you need and who the best providers are, you can contact them directly.  They will not know who you are.  You will simply be the next one in the queue for that day.  You can request the service you want, negotiate all of the terms and pricing, schedule the installation and manage the implementation.  If you don’t know exactly what you need, you will need to do the research to understand which services are right for you and who the best providers are.  It would also be wise to schedule demonstrations of the services before making a final decision.

If you decide to work with a channel agency, you will start with a discovery meeting so they can understand your business and which services you need.  Your agent does the work to figure out which providers are the best, takes the initial calls with the providers, schedules the demos, helps negotiate the agreements, helps to schedule installation and manage implementation.  While they are taking care of the details, you go back to serving your clients and minding your business.

How would you prefer to spend your workday?

A:  We cannot speak for all channel agents.  However, at Telworx we believe your business deserves all the benefits of going through the channel, regardless of size.  Our portfolio of providers can work with all sized businesses, from a single-person operation to the large enterprise.

A:  You are in business to help your clients and customers with your product and/or service, not to be an expert in technology.  We will work with you to understand the unique needs of your business and recommend the best services and providers.  Whether you are replacing existing services, know exactly what you want, or just know you need help, we will meet you where you are.  We will do the research and vetting to remove the confusion from the process.

A:  The short answer is yes.  Even more, you might be using cloud services without realizing it.  Unless you have an email server on-site, your email is in the cloud.  With the improvements in the speed and reliability of Internet service, there are very few, if any, technology services that are not available in the cloud.  Everything from your phone system to servers to security can be run and/or managed from the cloud.  Doing so generally decreases expenses while increasing efficiency and security.

A:  Every business, regardless of size, needs to be concerned about security.  Most criminals do not care about who you are or what you do as a business.  They are focused on breaching your security.  Still not sure?  Consider this.  Is it more likely that several single-family homes will be burglarized or the White House?  Even the most security-conscious homeowners do not have teams of security professionals keeping them safe.  The same applies to small businesses.  They can be more desirable targets for criminals because of the size and even more the lack security in place.