Atlantic crossing

Tony Crittenden reckons customer service in this country is appalling. And he has set up his B-Partners telecoms business-to-business operation with a US customer service model to beat his Limey rivals at their own game.

Customer service in the US is far superior to the UK, he claims. I have tried to build our customer service around the US model. An example is when a customer calls a UK company about a problem, the organisation tries to to end the call as quickly as possible. We think this is a chance to actually engage with the customer and help build the relationship.
According to Crittenden, companies keep using cold-calling methods.
We try to be friends with the customer and cultivate a positive relationship. It ‘s vital to earn the customer ‘s trust.We don ‘t want to be known as wide boys. The mobile industry is full of cowboys and we don ‘t want to lumped together with them.
Crittenden is from the Bronx, in New York City, where he was a community project volunteer working with the homeless and drug users. He has had to modify the famous brash New York approach to accommodate English reticence, however.
He has also been a New York stockbroker and was involved with UK start-up Blue Saffron, developing new business in the mobile, data, VoIP and fixed-line sectors.
Blue Saffron taught me so much  the four directors alone had 75 years ‘ telecoms experience between them, says Crittenden.
Plans for growth
He started B-Partners in May last year, after working in UK telecoms for seven years for organisations such as One-Tel and Bulldog.
B-Partners currently has 15 staff and turns over £450,000 a year. It ‘s not enough for Crittenden, however, who is hoping for a direct deal with networks and wants to expand the workforce to 25 within two years.
Crittenden argues that the mobile industry ‘s future is in convergence. So B-Partners provides the full house of mobile and telephony, data connectivity, broadband and hosted VoIP products to business users.
He claims B-Partners is particularly strong in the Mobex field, which integrates mobile handsets with WiFi and fixed office telephone systems. Thus calls can be made to any phone within a company, whether mobile or fixed, at the cheapest rate. So executives can still use their mobile in the office at landline rates.
B-Partners provides the the package of VoIP, WiFi and switching equipment, broadband hosting and service to enable the mobiles between cellular and wireless networks.
The company ‘s strategy is not to go for connection growth at any cost. The plan is to only offer the best technologies and solutions to client companies, even if that means fewer mobile connections.
There seems to be lots of flag-waving about convergence of all these technologies, says Crittenden. But this is usually coming from people who don ‘t quite understand what they are talking about. The end user needs further education about these technologies, especially VoIP.
B-Partners deals with Carphone Warehouse ‘s Opal Telecoms fixed-line subsidiary, and also works with four large VoIP companies  VoiceNet Solution, Netservices, Interoute and Mobikey  to source the best product for clients.
Mobile and data connections are handled by independent West End consultancy Premier Mobile, which specialises in supplying handsets to the music industry. All-star clients include Oasis, Bob Dylan and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Premier connects through Yes Telecom as well as directly with the networks.
B-Partners usually supplies client firms who require voice and data systems for around 20 to 50 users.
But we wouldn ‘t turn down larger companies, Crittenden hastens to add. We are working with a Premier League football club on a convergence project. I can ‘t identify the club though, as we are still finalising the agreement.
Crittenden says that, after years of hype, the age of true voice, data and mobile convergence has arrived.
When he is not working, the American football enthusiast lets off steam playing rugby for leading amateur team London Scottish. He ‘s also a keen golfer.
Does he miss the States? The answer is he keeps a membership of the American Society, which gets him an invitation to the Ambassador ‘s July 4 party.
His ambition now is to make B-Partners the leading telco in its field and then hopefully sell up and return to the US within the next 10 years after building up the company and then selling it on. But he is adamant he will remain with B-Partners for at least a year to oversee a smooth transition to any new owner.
We want to maintain our presence in the convergence arena, he says. Our style is to build a consultancy-type relationship with the client. We don ‘t want to just sell, then disappear. We survey its whole infrastructure to maximise savings and productivity. The first line in customer service is always to maintain the relationship.

More free broadband
Crittenden predicts widely-available free broadband and free local and national calls for businesses within the next two years, in a similar way to the US, where local and national calls are already unmetered.
The market is shrinking and it will consolidate to make way for convergence, he says. Lots of mergers have already taken place, such as Virgin and NTL. The new VoIP technology is there, but people are still spending lots of money on traditional services.
He suggests the slow uptake in VoIP may be due to worries about call security. Customers believe that hackers will intercept their calls. This is unlikely. But it is still a risk and is an issue that is currently being addressed.
Crittenden reckons WiFi usage will explode in the next two years and roaming rates will disappear or greatly reduce.
B-Partners also has plans to expand into other markets outside the UK. With convergence, you aren ‘t limited to the UK and it opens up Europe and the worldwide market, he says.

American journey

Bulldog Broadband
April 2005  September 2005
Channel manager

Blue Saffron Communications
May 2004  Feb 2005
Sales manager

OneTel
November 1999  May 2004
Dealer manager

JW Bullard Security Exchange NY
November 1995  May 1997 
Broker

Hemsley Spear NY
January 1989  June 1994
Security/fire control