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The following article is courtesy of Connections Magazine. Please visit their website at http://www.connectionsmagazine.com. The article was written by Roy Emmett and published in the July 1996 issue. Please check back often for more articles.

New Communications Service Bureau

Roy Emmett (July 1996)

The majority of people who read this magazine are in the communications businessto make money. That being true, it bodes well for all of us to explore just whatit is that the business world really needs and wants, that makes sense for us toprovide, in order for us to make money in our chosen profession.

Simplelogic and first-hand experience can provide some substantial clues about thechanging needs of today's small- and medium-sized businesses, which are, afterall, our prime prospect base.

On the side of logic, we can gauge thatwhat our prospects want is help. Help in streamlining their business and inreducing overhead. Help in bringing their businesses in touch with how the restof the world is communicating. Help in some or all of the functions of running abusiness. Help in getting new business.

From first-hand experience, wecan see that what they don't want is yesterday's solutions and older ways ofdoing things. Astute businesses want what's going to take them into the future,but based on practicality and common sense, not futuristic, far-flung ideas thatdon't relate to today. We can easily recognize the first-hand experiencecategory, since we've all been watching as countless businesses have shiftedfrom the traditional methods of communication into the trends and leading-edgeservices being used by the world at large.

All these being accuratefactors in the contest to attract new business, it's easy to suggest that awhole new concept in communications service bureaus is at hand. Actually, therehasn't been a lot of communication service bureau alternatives available forbusinesses to select from. Truth of the matter is, the only true service bureauwith any history has been the telephone answering service. Interconnectcompanies, paging and cellular companies, and voice mail companies haven't yetmatured into full-fledged service bureaus, per se.

When you actuallystop and think about it, the business world hasn't ever had a real support team,like an in-depth service bureau to help them as a professional communicationsconsultant. Companies have simply sold and provided service for answeringtelephones, for providing paging service or cellular service, or forinstallation of new hardware. But, there has always been a void in the area ofcommunications assistance where someone was available to function as a resourceto help businesses zero in on the best overall options and help plan uniquesolutions.

The reason? There have never been so many options. There hashardly ever been any option to just plain phone service. Today, there are somany variables and price differences, almost nobody knows what all is availableor what will work best in each situation.

That spells opportunity in anage where telecommunication is redefining how businesses function. Consider allthe home-based businesses and the concept of the Virtual Corporation. Look athow many businesses are networking together and how many very small businessesare starting where communication is a key element. Take a look at howcommunication is spilling over into advertising and marketing support servicesand how the Information Age has created the demand for access to information ondemand. Look at how fax and computers have integrated with the telephone and howmany advantages there are for small businesses in using specializedcommunication.

Think about all the types of pagers and soon-to-be-newwireless products. The telephone itself is undergoing renovations with manyphone company features, as well as specialized services that voice processingtechnology is adding, that all fit in with our potential service bureauofferings.

Add to that, the influx of new services evolving from theTelecom Reform Bill that Congress passed. Competition in long distance and 800number service will bring about all kinds of change. New 800 number services andOne-Call services are already creating special niche features and servicecategories. And, just wait until video spreads its wings with new inter activityand computer-to-voice mail video capability. Business-to-business communicationis entering a whole new era and the "Communication Service Bureau" has anopportunity to play a major role.

Enter The New Service Bureau ForBusiness Communications

A new aura surrounds the new service bureau.It isn't a telephone answering service … it's much more, in reality and inimage. It isn't a "just anything" business. It is a "resource" for assistance inproviding specialized communications, as well as marketing support services,customer service enhancements, clerical support functions, information services,and a variety of networking services.

The main engine of this newservice bureau will be a feature rich, commercial grade voice and fax processingsystem, outfitted with special software to provide highly customizedcommunication services. Specially trained operators will form an additionalengine for this new hybrid service bureau, although many service bureaus won'thave operators on staff. Central operator services will undoubtedly becomeavailable as a resource to operatorless service bureaus, to supply the realpeople required for those unique services. Already we are seeing this work verywell with alpha dispatch services for paging. Many such automated servicebureaus are opening up and could use a good operator service with 800 numberaccess. Anybody out there got a package for us?

Like it or not,automated communications services are the new way of the business world. True,automation won't replace the many applications where real people are an absolutenecessity in a communications link. But as a result of cost factors alone, mostof the new elements of communication are designed to bypass real people wheneverpossible. The new generations of wireless products are designed to communicatedirectly, person-to-person, without any intermediaries of any kind. But thedefault, in case a recipient is unavailable, will always be a form of "voicemail." Cost, efficiency, and now diverse features in automation are the logicalreasons.

This will open the door of opportunity for highly specializedoperator services that will bear little resemblance to the answering service oftoday. Good people cost good money. The services supplied by real people won'tcome cheap. As with the phone companies, connections to a real person will becharged at a premium.

I foresee the operator relationship in the newservice bureau being more of an assistant to a business with greater personalcontact and responsibility. An entrepreneur could build a business around such aresource who could supply in depth support via computer and through all aspectsof personal contact on behalf of the clients being represented. Such servicescould start at $500 a month and legitimately replace the need for areceptionist, a database manager, an inventory clerk, a follow-up correspondent,and probably a host of other special responsibilities.

Evenentrepreneurs in a home-based business environment could explore thisopportunity. A talented person with telephone and computer skills could handle 4- 6 accounts on an 8 am - 6 pm basis and bill $2000 to $5000 a month with selectclients. Could be a whole new concept in specialized services.

Thecommunications service bureau of this new era will have at its disposal the fullrange of business communications services. A proposal to a prospect wouldlogically include 24-hour message service, information service via fax, audio,Internet, and coming up, even video. You would include automated order-taking,advertising requests for literature, even pre-recorded sales presentations. Youwill have a link to special discount long distance service, 800 numbers, and avariety of specialized telephone calling cards - all with passive incomepotential to add profits with no liability.

You will include pagers witha variety of enhanced services to make more money in paging than just pagingprovides. You can recommend cellular services and make money in a specialrelationship with a wireless service provider.

Your fully connectedvoice and fax processing system, the real bread and butter winner, will allowyou to bring an incredible variety of services to the market that right now,today, are hardly even exposed to the business world. I suggest that you couldadd a good 20 to 25 services to your mix that will direct you toward a whole newaudience for profitable communications services that are not pro-activelyoffered by the phone companies, or by virtually any other type of communicationscompanies in existence.

Now, combine your complete resource program witha close personal relationship to your market. This is not a Yellow Pagemarketing effort. This is selective marketing at its classic best. Positioning,image building, application selling, niche marketing – these are all terms thatspell the new focus of what the new service bureau is doing to grow whole newtiers of business.

This is becoming a dynamic opportunity for theProfessional Communications Consultant. It has reached a point where you cannotlogically separate the various services as individual specialties. They all worktogether in a cohesive program to bring about the desired results for eachclient. Not bringing all these services into the picture as a packagepresentation is to miss out on some very serious profits. Perhaps you could evenstand to lose business as clients begin to expect a cohesive, interlockingprogram to maximize efficiency and minimize costs. The image of the new servicebureau is designed to preclude that from happening.

Service bureaus thatredirect their efforts this way can expect to be leaders in a volatile newdimension in the world of communication. Rather than being at the mercy ofradical change that is sure to come, we can be at the forefront of change andintroduce new ideas as they evolve, making money as a result. If we getpigeon-holed as a specific service company, we may never gain a toe-hold in thevast new era of telecommunications.

How Big Do You Want Your CompanyTo Grow?

Silly question, isn't it? Not really. A lot depends on whatyou want to become. A company that bills $50,000 a month and has an overhead of$45,000 a month isn't as much fun as a company that bills $25,000 a month andspends only $5000 in overhead. Empire building, where you plan to expand intomultiple markets with an aggressive plan to grow substantial revenues, requiresa completely different set of priorities.

Your personal life style, yourplans for retirement, your desire to play golf or travel and enjoy life - theyall should have a place in your plan. Being in the new era of telecommunicationshas some distinct advantages over all other businesses in which you couldengage. The main advantages are recurring revenue, subscriber-based services, aswell as passive income. But a service bureau is not a business where you simplysleep-in and occasionally check-in on your automated system and monitor yourbank account. It's hard work and it involves developing business relationshipsthat should last forever.

Defining what you want to be, how big you wantto grow, and how fast you want to get there, are all crucial elements in yourbusiness plan. As you set up your plan to start a service bureau, or redirectthe one you already have, keep in mind that today is the time. So much ishappening to change the way the business world works. Service bureaus thatspecialize in working with businesses to support them through all the changethat is here and yet to come will be building an incredible future. What was inthe past is about to be forever changed. That means that the opportunity tobegin today can put you on almost an equal footing with those who have beenaround for years. You might even have some advantages.

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