How much to charge for a small office cme deployment?

Unknown

At my job my boss has me deploying cme, cue, vpns, firewall on ISR router (later upgrading to 5505) and an aironet ap in the office and warehouse for 15 users. I've been setting everything up at home dedicating a lot of my time to get all the features going extensions, call park, hunt-groups, voicemail, and auto attendant basically setting up a whole pbx. So the day of deployment its basically plug and play when I connect the ethernet cables. He said he will pay me separate from my salary since I'm taking my personal time to get everything ready. He also said jokingly to give him a good deal. How much should I charge? We will install everything on a work day.

it_consultant

What kind of PBX and what kind of VPNs are you dealing with?

I think I am at $75-$100 an hour of real work. That is a low ball because there are only 15 users. Much more and I am at $15K for the entire deployment.

Legacy User

Thanks for the reply. Cisco Cme as the pbx and ipsec vpns.

it_consultant

I think $100 an hour is reasonable. At a 1099 rate I would bill a little higher, like $125 an hour. If you were on a Nortel or an Avaya you could bill more like $150 and up. Complex telephony really drives rates up.

drkat

I just did one of these over the weekend actually - $40/hr took 11 hours so I collected $440 bucks - $100/hr is just unrealistic unless you're a CONSULTANT being brought in as one.. but as a side job for the boss who keeps you employed I wouldnt be trying that ****.. You could always have him pay you 1.5x

TLeTourneau

When I consult it's $85 - $150/hr depending on scope. For something that size I'd probably be at $100/hr. Just a note - I'm with drkat on the if it's your regular boss don't annoy him. How much does he pay you normally? I'd use that as a safe base line.

shodown

I charge a rate of anywhere between 125-150 a hour for side consulting. Anything that is offered long term I can come down in price. So I feel if you know the technology you can charge the same.

it_consultant

drkat wrote: »

I just did one of these over the weekend actually - $40/hr took 11 hours so I collected $440 bucks - $100/hr is just unrealistic unless you're a CONSULTANT being brought in as one.. but as a side job for the boss who keeps you employed I wouldnt be trying that ****.. You could always have him pay you 1.5x

It really depends on the relationship, from the original post it sounded like a consulting type of situation. There is no way to determine by reading a couple of lines in a post on techexams all the intricacies of OP's relationship with his boss. We have no idea how much the boss is collecting on this job, if he is collecting at all, or if he is doing it as a favor. The 1099 rate is fair at $100 an hour. If $85 is reasonable considering the relationship, then that's where it is. I find it hard to believe that $40 is a fair rate and I think you underbilled. Be careful with favors and extending your home time to dedicate to work. You can and will be taken advantage of. I know, I have been down this road.

I based my judgement of rate on the PBX work. Many people can set up the data side of a 15 person office, setting up a PBX with all the bells and whistles is labor intensive and detailed. There is a far higher standard with phones since people pick them up, expect a dial tone, and expect everything to work right. You can mis-configure more on the data side and still have a semi-functional network. The first time someone gets disconnected in the IVR and it may very well be a resume generating event.

drkat

True. This was a cash deal for me though so I figured I'd extend a helping hand. The rate is a bit low, but meh I wasn't even thinking about it to be honest and I didnt really put that much time into it. It's gonna lead to more work actually so we can have an on-going relationship so it should be worth it in the end.

ptilsen

I won't even fix a desktop PC for $40 an hour for people have been with me for years. I think $75/hr or more if very reasonable even given the relationship for this type of work. I also agree that $100-$150 is reasonable. The firm I worked for charged $185 for out-of-contract work, and an absolute minimum of about $100.

However, location is very important. The Twin Cities and Denver are very different markets than upstate NY, so drkat is coming from a very different perspective on that much alone. These rates would be absurdly low in NYC, but pretty high in other regions. That being said, I would still put $40/hr as an absolute minimum for anywhere in the US and Canada for this type of work.

lantech

You might want to do a little research into what the voice people are getting for rates in your area and base your rate off of that. Rates can vary depending on the area.

And remember, your boss is keeping you gainfully employed. Wouldn't be good to piss him off with to high of a rate. Plus if this is giving you experience with something you don't normally get experience with it will help increase your skills as well.

Legacy User

@it_consultant I'm making $22/hr

Plantwiz

I'd agree with lantech and drkat...basically, if you are 'learning' on this system or this is one of the first few you are installing, charging average going rates is a little over-the-top IMO. I know of folks who have done it, but you are gaining more than you are losing, so the experience plus a little extra cash should not rip off the installee. Once you are proficient, you can charge top dollar because you'll be 'saving' the customer money by paying upfront for your knowledge.

it_consultant

dmarcisco wrote: »

@it_consultant I'm making $22/hr

That is probably OK as far as a salary goes but if you are getting paid 1099 style then it is way too low. As others have pointed out, a lot of this has to do with the dynamic between you and your boss and how this little small office plays into the grand scheme of things. If this is a small business your boss is "Helping Out" then I wouldn't feel bad about charging nearly the 1099 rate - especially if your boss is not capable of doing the work himself. If this is a regular client and this is a new office deployment, i.e. your regular client is expanding, then being closer to time and a half is probably reasonable.

drkat

It really does depend - I'm not saying my rate(s) were awesome, but I knew it wasnt going to take that long and the potential to develop a relationship was there. I'd get some feedback from the boss

shodown

Im not to sure how I feel about this. Your rate should be for the work that is being done. Your boss may very well be raking in way over that amount which is not good business. You can say your skills are lower, but it seems like your boss brokered the deal, but may very well be taking a big chunk of the money. Your boss should only take in 15-20 percent of the total amount and the rest for you. This is just how I see it. I'm also considering you are spending your time doing a lot of this on your personal time he should be compensating you for that as well. Maybe not all the hours, but something.

Legacy User

I mean I wouldn't think of charging him if I was working on the lab a few hrs a day at work. Time doesn't permit me to do anything like that at work. I am putting a lot of my personal time with this I'm up late losing sleep setting everything up. The reason why I ask everyone how much would they charge because I know if he contracts someone else to come in and do it they'll charge him a pretty penny. I have no problem doing it I just don't want to get the short end of the deal. My boss told me originally in private he'll pay $400 for it then later he said put down how many hours I spend working on it. Yesterday he said let him know how much I want to be paid.

shodown

400 is pretty close to reasonable.

drkat

dmar - dude if you need some help let me know

Legacy User

@drkat I now see why you weren't to fond of working with phones. Last night I was ready to toss the router out of the window.

/usr

Don't sell yourself short. Base your rate on your experience and how comfortable you feel with your own knowledge. If you are learning as you go, consider the experience as partial payment and adjust your rate accordingly. That said, your ability to even get into CME and understand it's base functionality should get you no less than $75/hour.

For any CME work, I would likely charge $125 - $150 an hour, depending on the complexity and desired features.

drkat

dmar - see!!! now imagine doing that day in and day out

it_consultant

dmarcisco wrote: »

@drkat I now see why you weren't to fond of working with phones. Last night I was ready to toss the router out of the window.

Phones are almost always the rate setter whether you are on an IP office or a Ma'Bell. $400 is pretty low. For 15 people I would ask for $1000. An outside consultant would be $3K - that would include some post install support as well.

Legacy User

@drkat I feel your pain

@it_consultant out of curiosity if you are charging $125/hr do you milk it?

it_consultant

dmarcisco wrote: »

@drkat I feel your pain

@it_consultant out of curiosity if you are charging $125/hr do you milk it?

Never. Round up after the 31st minute and charge half an hour for minute 30 and below. I always kept accurate logs of what I was doing and when. That way, when I was questioned (which happens) I can say "Well, it took me 4 hours to configure the voice router" or whatever. When you consult, you end up billing 80% of the actual time you spend dedicated to the cause. You can't charge your client for the time you spend thinking about the project, but you can charge if you try something, it doesn't work, and you have to go back and reconfigure something to get it to work. You can charge your client for the call to Cisco TAC (unless your incompetence caused the call to Cisco) for them to work out a problem with a device.

Phones, even for 15 people, are time monsters. For a shop that size, I would go hosted.

Legacy User

Yes going hosted was the first thing that popped into mind when the thought of going voip came up. But we have all the equipment in our inventory so its a matter of just installing it. I know it would've been much easier going the hosted route but I wasn't going to interject with that idea. I seen it as a great opportunity to get my hands dirty.