Jakob Ragnarsson

IT manager at GEOCON, Inc, Jakob is an Astaro Certified Administrator as of November 2009 (ACA), and has completed the Tekelec T6000 Service Administrator Course as well as the Tekelec T6000 Installation & Maintenance Course. His phone call with Phil is an honest consultation with the aim to improve the phones system and beyond for his company.

How One Call with Phil Resulted in 80% IT Savings with Jakob Ragnarsson

Phil Howard invites you to join a unique consultation call that wasn’t originally a podcast episode. Listen to what became “one of the best ever; people are going to love this!” (Phil Howard), where guest Jakob Ragnarsson touches on the frustrating points of being an IT leader. But stand by! Because Phil will show Jakob and the listeners of Dissecting Popular IT Nerds how one call with him can result in 80% savings (you heard right) in their monthly telecom costs, providing clarity on what Microsoft Teams has to offer and sharing additional resources–free of cost.

You need to sell executive management on the idea that there is no receptionist!

3 Key Takeaways

  • Why you should never pay the licensing fees for each separate plan of Microsoft Teams
  • The best two ways to adjust your team to Microsoft Teams
  • How Phil saved Jakob's company 80% of their IT costs in one phone call

Listen To The Full Episode Below

Dissecting Popular IT Nerds
Dissecting Popular IT Nerds
139. How One Call with Phil Resulted in Saving 80% of IT Costs with Jakob Ragnarsson
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Episode Show Notes

[1:14] Phil welcomes you to another episode of Dissecting Popular IT Nerds
  • Jakob shares why he shouldn’t be in charge of other people
  • Join the candid conversation; this wasn’t originally recorded as a show!
[3:00] This is a live consulting session with Phil
  • Going over Microsoft Licensing
  • Their good clickbait helped!
[3:50] Does Jakob pay month-to-month
  • Operating at ~140 users
  • Primarily on E3, some E1s, and one E5
    • Why they’re on E1s
[6:30] Phil pulls out his Microsoft cheat sheet
  • Sending Jakob’s numbers over to save as much money as they can for Jakob
  • What Jakob was paying per E3 license last year
    • They’re paying list price
    • Trying to backlog to the old price or else help them with discounts
[10:24] The effects of a discovery call
[10:48] Phil and Jakob talk phone systems
  • Their three-year contract
    • Buyer’s remorse and Jakob’s phone system
    • “He promised the world and did not deliver it.” -Jakob Ragnarsson
[13:30] What Jakob loves about it that has to stay
  • Jakob doesn’t have to do anything
  • Every call goes through reception
  • Everyone has their own ID
    • The app feature
[15:00] What happened to their team when COVID hit?
  • Forwarding their work phone to their cell phone
  • Phil’s experience wanting to find a solution that’s a best fit for particular users
    • Phil pays attention to your contract
[17:40] Phil explains the Microsoft Teams route
  • Don’t pay the licensing fees for each separate plan
  • Making international calls will cost you
  • Microsoft built a software that makes migrating easy through a direct routing partner
  • Don’t pay $132 per employee! instead, pay 25 cents
    • Phil can find an 80% less cost for Jakob’s company!
[22:20] The only setback: Moving to teams is an adjustment
  • The best way is to either be ruthless and take everyone’s phone away, or use Teams to enable phones
  • Each end user is different and there’s a learning curve
    • “You need to sell executive management on the idea that there is no receptionist!” -Phil Howard
    • Or! employ a direct routing partner for additional benefits and features
[25:30] The other benefit of having a Teams environment
  • Make and receive calls through the app
[26:22] What is Jakob going to do with the money Phil saves him?
  • Where Phil is from
  • The weather in New England compared to Iceland
  • The crazy things you see in the poorer parts of Egypt
[28:40] What about Move/Add/Change requests?
  • It’s done through a portal
  • Have they had any outages?
[31:16] What an outage costs Jakob’s company
  • It’s as bad as $40,000 an hour
  • What Jakob gets yelled at for
    • Dropped calls
  • Phil assesses their fiber and the possibility of backup internet connection
    • Looking at 5G
    • Operating in one location
    • Bigleaf Networks
[35:50] Phil assesses Jakob’s phone support
  • What about faxing?
  • What Jakob wants to do with those old DIDs
[37:52] They talk company extension sheets
  • Jakob’s frustration with their side car
  • What Phil will do: look at all of the solutions, find the best five, and narrow it to three
  • “I do believe that five years from now, Microsoft Teams will be the main way people do telephone calling.” -Phil Howard
[40:20] The kinds of additional features Phil would need to know about
[42:00] Why a phone call with Phil is better than calling 1800-go-pound-sand
  • Phil’s story
    • Leaving the bureaucratic corporate world
    • Starting by taking every customer
      • Firing all the people he hated
    • Starting a podcast to highlight IT managers who struggle to sell IT as a business force multiplier
  • Receive eight to nine extra resources that you don’t have to pay for
    • Phil’s nine-different-things wheel
[46:48] What about mobility?
  • Unless it’s at 100 phones or more, you’re fine
[47:24] The impact of saving energy
  • What Phil is happy to help you with at no cost
  • “We fill that gap in the Telecom data world that is so known for providing really mediocre service.” -Phil Howard

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