Joseph P. Smith

My career in Telecommunications began with a position selling AT&T Local Service (dial-tone) to business customers in the Indianapolis market.  This was during a time when the RBOC’s operated as separate entities, and AT&T entered the local arena as a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), giving business customers a choice in who provided their local phone service.  This was shortly after the 1996 Telecom Act made competition possible, and AT&T was at the forefront of this industry-changing trend.

As sales, and my career, grew I was asked to assist in opening several new offices, including Boston, Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth.  While in Fort Worth, I took advantage of an opportunity to advance my career and left AT&T for Birch.  This move transitioned into a management role with Birch Telecom, a regional CLEC in the Southwest which focused on small to mid-sized business customers primarily utilizing POTS lines and DSL services on a UNEP platform.  I was later moved to Atlanta where I assisted the Regional Vice President of Sales in launching the Southeast Region for Birch.  Several months later I was transferred to Charlotte to open the NC market and establish a presence for Birch in the Carolinas.  After several successful years in this market my career had escalated to the position of Senior Regional Manager of NC Division Sales, managing direct B2B sales teams in Charlotte, Greensboro, Wilmington and Asheville, NC.  Before Birch succumbed to post-merger financial difficulties in 2006, I had achieved the Presidents Club honor (known as Birchievers) 5 out of 6 eligible years, and carried away a lifetime worth of knowledge, memories and lasting relationships.

In 2006 I used this experience to start my own venture into Telecom Consulting, which quickly transformed into an exclusive partnership with AT&T.  This was a major change, having been on the direct sales side my entire career.  In my current role I now develop and manage an indirect sales channel consisting of various telecom equipment and service vendors nationwide. In addition to managing the sales process, agent recruiting process, and business administration, I have also added a completely new business segment and revenue stream to our business model through online marketing and lead generation.  This latest business segment complements our existing sales avenues and has provided me with an opportunity to experience a more complete picture regarding the sales, management and marketing roles within the telecom industry.