From the neighbourhood deli to the overnight delivery business, a company’s fortunes can rise or fall on the quality of its communications.

This is where Calgary’s TNS Telecom steps in, providing straightforward solutions to the most complex problems, for all sizes of business.

TNS Telecom was founded in 1995 by Joe Gentile and Paul Moffatt, two veterans of the business communications industry who felt there was a better way of doing business.

“We were with another company like this,” explains Gentile, “but we felt what was missing was a great focus on service.”

Telecom companies, Gentile says, are usually run by technicians. While they certainly understand the technical side of the industry, they aren’t necessarily adept at the interpersonal part. For any size of company, business communications can be a daunting whirl of buzzwords and technobabble.

TNS principals Joe Gentile, Paul Moffatt and their team go to great lengths to help solve their clients’ challenges.

This is where TNS Telecom sets itself apart from the competition.

“We come from a customer-focused viewpoint, rather than a technician viewpoint,” says Moffatt.

It’s all part of the TNS strategy to simplify the often complex world of business communications.

“It’s our job to inform our customers by using layman’s terms, rather than overwhelming them with jargon,” says Gentile.

TNS provides customized business communications solutions by using a mix of complementary products and services designed specifically for your business environment. TNS is committed to the highest service levels in the market.

“We are able to provide service within 24 hours for customers who are on premium service agreements,” says Moffatt.

And TNS puts extra value into their service contracts, adds Gentile.

“The traditional service contract in the industry is essentially just to protect your equipment. We take proactive measures to make sure the phone system continuously operates, rather than waiting for something to go wrong.

“Service to us is not just what the technician does, but rather what the whole company does.”

That level of service begins with the salesperson, who conducts a thorough analysis of the business to determine how to best apply today’s technology to improve the routing and flow of on-going communications, whether voice or data, internal or external.

That audit encompasses not just the standard telecom needs, but “the entire operation – their data transmission, internet, database, network – the way they do business each and every day.”

Businesses of all sizes have turned to TNS for communication solutions. TNS, which employs eight, has about 1,200 customers in Calgary and area. They range from familiar small businesses such as Spolumbo’s, to national giants like CP Rail and UPS, and critical public-sector clients such as the Calgary Public Library. TNS sells equipment and provides expert service for Samsung, Comdial and Nortel.

It’s a rapidly evolving world, and TNS is on top of a cutting-edge technology called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which is not as daunting as it sounds.

Essentially, VoIP allows companies with branches in different cities to transfer calls from one city to the other just as easily as if they were in the next office. It’s as simple as pushing a three-digit extension number, and the call is instantly transferred to another phone in another city – with no long distance charges, since it goes over the Internet.

On a local level, you can also be connected directly to your office through your home phone.

To demonstrate the VoIP technology, the TNS in-house system is fully integrated with similar companies in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Seattle.

Rather than just saying, ‘It works - trust us,’ TNS clearly demonstrates that it works. And it works with total quality sound.

TNS takes care of everything, from setting up internal wiring or cabling throughout the office, installing the phone system, or simply arranging for the telephone company to install their lines. “We co-ordinate all of that,” says Gentile.

“We want to solve business problems, rather than just sell them a product,” says Gentile.