From a distance Francis Downey’s stature can be seen clearly in a crowd. His imposing height and warriors gait may lead you to thinking that someone has called security, as he approaches.

Nothing can be further from the truth. Nothing.

Francis professionalism comes from his almost unique need, and want to help you. No matter what, he just wants to help.

I have known Francis for a number of years now, and he is very highly regarded by all who know him. He is a man of integrity, honesty, and is as humble as he is tall. I have tried on occasion to recruit Francis for clients when I was in the recruitment industry.

On top of all of this justified praise, Francis is loyal.

To his employers, to his customers, loyal.

In the sales industry we are all aware of the perception of the “dodgy” salesperson. Car sales, insurance, recruiters, and telco . For this reason, I asked Francis to be my guest.

Nothing dodgy here.

The Chat

We began with the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT can be defined by Wikipedia as follows:

The internet of things, or IoT, is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

Basically to my mind, everything is connected. A watch that measures your heart-rate, and reports back to your database on your activity. A doorbell/video camera that you can answer on your phone, if you’re not at home. All of this needs connectivity to work.

Francis explains that in the last year things now the “norm” used to be possible, but expensive. Lately they are more possible, and less expensive.

Everything is changing, Telco is changing. Customers are no longer looking mearly for internal phone systems. Business is now concerned with reporting.

• Reporting on incoming and outgoing calls.
• Increasing the quality of the calls.
• Using the recordings of the calls for training.
• Monitoring the quality of service.
• The customer experience.
• Measuring against K.P.I’s.

Call monitoring and how easy the data is to access is in high demand for all of the above reasons.

We moved on to discuss the impending 5G.

The basic difference between 4G and 5G will be that the end users latency will improve.

When asked if 5G will replace landlines in the future, Francis was quick to point out that 5G cannot penetrate buildings. To clarify, if your office was in a cellar you may not get the service your business requires, likewise in a valley. This could all change in the future, but right now this is the case. The lesson to be learned is to do your homework on your specific needs.

I asked Francis the following:

If I move into a new premises, am I better off pulling out the old system and replace everything, or adding to the existing system?

Francis replied by telling me that that depends on what I am trying to achieve.

“Every business has different needs” he says. “Depending on what your businesses particular needs are will depend on your set up.”

Something amazing that came up during or discussion was that currently Northern Ireland is in the top 3 places in the world for Fintech. I for one was not aware of this.

I asked Francis if Telco companies have transformed into I.T. companies.

Francis replied that Telco companies stop short of being I.T. companies, but have evolved into Networking Companies.

Top Tips

Businesses should ask themselves the following:

1. What do broadband and the internet do in my business?
2. How important is it that it works?
3. How can I limit downtime/Do I have a fail over?
4. Does my business need a leased line? Uninterrupted service?
5. What will a lack of broadband do to my business?
6. Do I treat my communications like my electricity?
7. Do I understand what I need my telephony to do?
8. When did I last review my bills for my service?
9. What will I need in the short to medium term?
10. Do I want reporting on my customer’s experience?
11. Should I speak to Francis

Thank you very much for your time Francis. Excellent insights, well worth considering.