We interview Duncan Hannigan (@duncanhannigan) Head of Professional Services at Total Ltd, about how telecommunications companies are viewed by Professional Services firms through the medium of Twitter, where ‘tweets’ are limited to a maximum of 140 characters.

@total_ltd: How do you feel telecoms companies are viewed from within the Professional Services sector?

@duncanhannigan: Currently, there are so many, it is hard to differentiate. Firstly, it’s best to establish the differences between a good and bad provider.

@total_ltd: So, what do you feel the major differences are? How do you tell a friend from a foe?

@duncanhannigan: If your comms provider is looking at business challenges, industry goals and objectives and asking how they can help, then they could be a friend.

Traditional box shifters that offer seemingly cheap deals, give bad service and are unable to meet company requirements tend to be viewed as foes.

@total_ltd: The comms and legal industries are experiencing drastic changes in how they operate. Have you noticed this shift?

@duncanhannigan: In today’s industry, standing still is not an option. Single source telecoms companies are on the way out and with alternative business structures, the legal sector is being squeezed too.

Firms have to seriously evaluate the way they communicate and operate from client care to increasing fixed fee profitability or billable efficiency.

@total_ltd: How can a telecoms company help a legal firm with such challenges?

@duncanhannigan: By understanding pain points, capacity requirements, goals and objectives and then giving a relevant solution offering.

@total_ltd: What is the worst thing a telecommunications company can do in the eyes of Professional Services?

@duncanhannigan: Things mainly go wrong when a comms dealer sells a firm what they themselves need to sell and not necessarily what the firm needs or requires.

@total_ltd: How do Professional Services firms get around this as they may not be telecoms experts?

@duncanhannigan: They need to follow four key points:

1) Set clear goals relating to growth or rationalisation and stick to them.

2) Understand the true value of the elements of the current situation e.g. speak to existing software contact management I.T providers and find what capacity they generally need to operate most efficiently.

3) Understand what is important to fee earners and operational staff e.g. the ability to bill more time to a client already feeling the pinch may not be as valuable as getting the work done more quickly for your fee earner.

4) Companies that treat telecoms as an ongoing project and not a transaction generally source better suppliers and enjoy long term cost efficiency and service benefits.

@total_ltd: Where do you see telecommunications companies helping the Professional Services arena?

@duncanhannigan: For me there are two clear areas: client care and supporting a firm’s most important asset – its employees. The intelligent use of telephony is only relevant if it delivers value to the firm’s team and their clients.

@total_ltd: Where do you see the biggest change for Professional Services in regards to telecommunications?

@duncanhannigan: Integrated voice and data services, where firms bring traditionally disparate services and suppliers into one managed and resilient offering.

@total_ltd: Currently, there seems to be a buzz around SaaS and cloud computing. What are your thoughts?

@duncanhannigan: They are only as good as the connectivity that supports them. Having the correct infrastructure, bandwidth and resilience embedded in the firm will make it a viable option.

@total_ltd: So, what is Total’s success in the Professional Services industry built on?

@duncanhannigan: For prospects, it is our holistic approach; for customers, our ongoing client support has been key.

We take the time to thoroughly understand what a firm needs to achieve and advise directly against the specific points gained in the consultation process.