Hello All:
Most of my diaries on this website have revolved around the 2008 presidential election, with some forays into humor and my life growing up in central Illinois. However, I have long debated whether it would be appropriate for me to reveal information about my job in an effort to A) increase my company's revenue and B) to help Kossack business owners save some money. After a diary on Tuesday which seemed to give me the go-ahead, here is a litlle about me, my company, and why it makes sense for Midwest business owners to go with us for telecommunications service.
One caveat. I am not a salesperson, and my company is financially secure, so this is neither a sad attempt to drum up commissions or a desperate plea to avoid a business failure.
My company is called Call One. We are a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) based in Chicago, Il. We resell telephone service to businesses, school districts, and municipalities (sorry, no residential), mainly in the immediate Chicago area, but also throughout the AT & T "footprint", which comprises of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. We also have a small presence in the legacy SBC area, which includes (I believe) Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
As an AT & T reseller, we offer prices which are lower than those of AT & T, while still remaining on the AT & T network. So customers of ours get the security of the existing telecom framework, while avoiding the infuriating hassles of dealing with the frustrating beauracracy which is AT & T customer service. Services we provide include POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), Centrex, ISDN Prime Service, point-to-point circuits, T-1s, and long distance service through several carriers. We also have a data department which provides internet service, and a inside wiring team that can set up a phone system or run cable for you. And we are starting up an offshoot which will work as a consulting firm to companies that want to get a little greener.
Why should you go with Call One? Well, aside from the pleasure of sticking it to AT & T (and man, do a lot of our customers enjoy doing THAT) we are a small company that treats its employees right. We are not publicly traded, so there is no "quick buck" corporate mentality. In the 8 years that I have worked there, there have never been layoffs. It is the modern-day equivalent of the old style family-run business. I can walk into the president's office and shoot the bull or run an idea past him (of course, it doesn't hurt that we roomed together at college).
Want some recommendations? Try these on for size: A La Carte Restaurants, City of Evanston, Illinois, Village of Downers Grove, Illinois, First Midwest Bank, Old Second Bank, City of Waukegan, Illinois, The Solheim Cup (female international golf competition), City of Zanesville, Ohio, Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, Springfield Illinois Public Schools, City of Anderson, Indiana.
And those are just the one that I have worked on in the past six months.
What do I do? I am not an executive, and have no real desire to be one. I enjoy helping people out and saving them money. I work as a provisioner, which means that I order your phone service for you and make sure that it gets installed and that it works the way you want it to. If you want to change your service, I do that too. Mostly, I am in the business of sticking it to a corporate monster that treats its employees like dirt.
It's fun.
If you are interested, visit us at www.callone.com. If you like what you see, give us a call.