Text Box: Page 6 ò Return to Page 1 Text Box: STC LINES—January 2005 Text Box: Why Is STC Membership Worthwhile? Text Box: Past-president Ivan Sindell worked with Tom Weiman, Don Dietrich, Lori Thompson, Janice Baugh & Matt McCor- mick on a voice and data imple- mentation project for the school district in Oswego, Illinois. NEC Unified Solutions & Cisco were selected solution providers. It is the STC that has made each of these joint venturing projects pos-sible. And there is a clear indication that active, involved STC members (most of those named above) are more likely to encounter collaboration opportunities. Even so, the new STC database promises an expansion of joint net-working opportunities for all STC consultant members in the coming months by making it easy to learn of each other’s areas of expertise. In addition, the teaming guide-lines contributed by Ivan Sindell that appear on the Membership Benefits page of the STC web site facilitate teaming by proposing how to explain the teaming arrangement to prospective clients, invoicing for work performed, and delineating project management responsibilities. Some Hard Numbers For VAC Organizations But what about hard dollar benefits for VAC organizations? How about: $10 million in equipment and services over the last four years, and still growing, plus a service contract worth $600,000 per year, for Siemens. The installation started with the HiCom-300 series and now being migrated to the HiPath 4000/4500. Text Box: $24,000/year in Directory Assistance services for ComTrust. This service contract has been signed and the ComTrust service is up and running. $88,000 of an expected $250,000 to $335,000 for custom call recording for HigherGround, depending upon the user’s final selection of HigherGround feature packs. $70,000 in an audio and web confer-encing bridge for Sonexis. The client is saving $6,000 per month in audio conference fees, and now has webinar capability. It is likely they will add more units as the service is fielded to other hospitals in their group. Recommendations for the above ser-vices were made by STC member, Rick Hathaway. When Rick was researching his client’s needs, the VAC membership list was the first place he looked. Sie-mens, ComTrust, HigherGround, and Sonexis are all active in attending confer-ences and educational activities. Their investment has already paid off, and they have been able to do some “great net-working” that has resulted in tangible sales for their companies. Other recent recommendations by STC consultants for VAC member products and services include: Approximately $8 million in equipment and services to Cisco, over four years, by Sara Uzel. Approximately $3.5 million in equip-ment and services to Nortel by Sara Uzel. $800,000 in equipment and services to Avaya by Melissa Swartz $80,000 for an Avotus Call Account-ing system by Sara Uzel. Consultants As Revenue Generators Each year, a U.S. telecom consultant recommends, on average, $4.2M worth

of telecom equipment and services, according to The Brookside Group's 2004 U.S. Telecom Consulting Market Update Study.

     Top consultants recommend even more, according to this study: in fact, 23% of consultants recommend more than $10M each year. An STC confer-ence attended by 40 consultants would thus represent $168 million to $400 million in recommendations in one year. 

     In addition, the Brookside study shows that 93% of consultants selec-tively use and rely on vendor consult-ant programs; 88% of consultants say effective consultant programs can contribute to their recommendation decisions.

     The STC offers VAC members the perfect opportunity to launch or sustain an effective consultant liaison program. Personal contacts made at conferences and through working to-gether on committees permit VAC organizations to establish relation-ships within the consultant commun-ity that will distinguish themselves from their less savvy competitors.

     After all, what e-mail or webinar could replace the opportunity to demonstrate your product, or make informal, conversational presentations to the consultant community? And what distribution channel offers so much upside potential, with no commission expense?

     Of course, there are other benefits to VAC organizations. Many STC consultant members are known within the VAC as good sources of perspective on the marketplace.

     However, the STC is like anything else. As with Siemens, ComTrust, HigherGround, Sonexis, Avaya, Cisco, Nortel and Avotus, you have to invest some time and  attention on the organization

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