Staying Connected

ICT service providers spin-off entities and services, acquire others, go into bankruptcy, and merge.

When contracting with a provider, you need to take steps to ensure these changes don't adversely impact your deal and the services you are purchasing. More importantly, you need to think about what you can do now in anticipation of a change, and what you'll need to do when your provider goes through one of these merger, acquisition, or divestiture ("MAD") events.

In this 11-minute podcast, LB3 partner Laura McDonald joins Tony Mangino to discuss how to prepare for a MAD event and the important contractual clauses you need to mitigate exposure.

If you would like to learn more about our experience in this space, please visit our Network Services Transactions and Success Stories webpages.

Companies are always on the lookout for unexpected increases in their telecommunications spend and today, in this uncertain environment, it is more important than ever to maintain vigilance. Case in point: buried in customers' May 2023 invoices Lumen provided notice that they would be increasing rates for out-of-term services by 7.47%.

In this 7-minute podcast, TC2 Director Theresa Knutson joins Tony Mangino to dig into this rate increase notice from Lumen and discuss what companies can do to both quantify and mitigate their potential exposure.

If you would like to learn more about our experience in this space, please visit our Contract Compliance and Optimization and Strategic Sourcing webpages.

No matter what type of ICT deal you're negotiating, understanding the full scope of facts and documents underlying your contract can be challenging, but is critical. In this 8-minute podcast, LB3 Partner Deb Boehling, and TC2 Director Keith Cook join Sara Crifasi to offer tips on what enterprises should consider in developing document retention policies, when its necessary to make reasonable assumptions, and how to strategically prioritize information to formulate short-term and long-term strategies. Proactive planning for initiatives by organizing and maintaining contract documents, training employees, and developing strategies early on can save you valuable time for your current and future negotiations.

If you would like to learn more about our experience in this space, please visit our Information Technology Advisory Services and Success Stories webpages.

If your enterprise has noticed lower than usual text message completion rates lately, you aren't alone. Mobile network operators are increasingly blocking enterprise customers' legitimate outbound text messages, spurred by FCC decisions on text messaging's regulatory classification and a push to limit illegal spam robotexts.

In this 9-minute podcast, LB3 Of Counsel Sara Crifasi discusses with Tony Mangino the new rules of the business text messaging marketplace and helps enterprise customers navigate their options to avoid those dreaded "undeliverable" texting bouncebacks.

If you would like to learn more about our experience in this space, please visit our Mobile Services and Success Stories webpages.

Ahead of his retirement from TC2 at the end of this month, Joe Schmidt talks to Ben Fox about how the communications industry that we work in has evolved over his 21+ years with TC2, and how we've evolved with it – from the network services that preceded MPLS, through huge change in UC technologies and adoption, the rise of SD-WAN, IT outsourcing, and the latest in SaaS and cloud services. And to finish off, Joe also shares a few thoughts on what might be coming next.

ChatGPT and other AI systems continue to captivate IT executives but have also caught the attention of governments and government agencies that want to keep the technology in check. A successful deployment of these AI systems can offer massive productivity gains, but caution is required because untrained GPT systems can deliver confident, yet incorrect, results.

In this 9-minute second part of the two-part podcast, David Lee, TC2's Technology Director, and Joe Schmidt continue their discussion about ChatGPT's implications for networking and communications and provide some real-world use cases and best practices.

If you would like to learn more about our experience in this space, please visit our Technology Consulting & Strategy Development Services and Success Stories webpages.

The days of TDM voice services are numbered, with many suppliers confirming their intent to cease providing those legacy services over the next couple of years. If your enterprise is still utilizing POTS lines, T1 access circuits, or PRIs, you're likely being pushed to disconnect and transition at an increasingly rapid clip.

In this 9-minute podcast, TC2 Managing Directors Mark Sheard and Jack Deal join Sara Crifasi to discuss the challenges enterprises face and the plans they should be making in confronting the end of TDM voice.

If you would like to learn more about our experience in this space, please visit our Technology Consulting & Strategy Development Services and Success Stories webpages.

AI is predicted to fundamentally alter the delivery of IT services. Early use cases include enhanced service desk support, Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) and the optimization of cloud services.

In this 12-minute podcast, Ben Fox, one of TC2's Managing Directors discusses with Tony Mangino these early use cases and the importance of focusing on specific outcomes that service providers promise will be delivered via AI.

If you would like to learn more about our experience in this space, please visit our Technology Consulting & Strategy Development Services and Success Stories webpages.

Back in November of 2021, we began recording a series of podcasts that described the ongoing dispute between the FCC and the FAA over the use of C-Band spectrum to deliver new 5G services. Much has changed since we first warned about the consequences of this issue but, unfortunately, there are still unresolved matters that could have a major impact on both the communication and aviation industries.

In this 11-minute podcast, Steve Rosen, a Partner at LB3, and David Lee, TC2's Technical Director discuss with Joe Schmidt the ongoing dispute and highlight key actions that need to be taken to prevent planes from being grounded this summer.

If you would like to learn more about our experience in this space, please visit our Mobile Services and Success Stories webpages.

ChatGPT stands for Chat "Generative Pre-trained Transformer." ChatGPT is a repository of information (i.e., the internet), computer code, and algorithms that process a user's request. In short, ChatGPT is a chatbot that has scaled to a point where it simulates human qualities.

In this 13-minute podcast David Lee, TC2's Technology Director, and Joe Schmidt discuss ChatGPT and other AI platforms and look at what their implications may be for networking and communications.

If you would like to learn more about our experience in this space, please visit our Technology Consulting & Strategy Development Services and Success Stories webpages.