Overview

In this episode, Erin and Katie chat with Andrew Ward, CEO & Founder of Award Consulting, about how rural service providers can scale technical readiness without bloating headcount. We dig into when to train vs. when to outsource, the power of “everyday vs. rare” skills, and practical ways to make end-user training actually get used during migrations.

What We Cover

• The “engineering cousin” to B-Lynk: how Award Consulting partners with rural service providers on SBC setups, VoIP rollouts, troubleshooting, and complex configs.
• Train vs. outsource: deciding when to build internal capability and when to bring in an expert for rare, high-complexity tasks.
• Internal knowledge culture: lightweight documentation, daily sharing, and a simple wiki over perfection.
• End-user enablement: making training searchable, snackable, and available at the point of need—especially during cutovers.

Notable Anecdotes & Examples

• Bulk provisioning win: Using the Metaswitch import spreadsheet to speed up new business setups; building tailored templates to reduce clicks, errors, and time.
• Migration reality check: A large org ignored pre-cutover materials; on go-live, no one was ready—proof that training must be easy to find and actually consumed.
• PDFs ≠ living training: Static, non-searchable PDFs get outdated and lost—dynamic, searchable content keeps pace with product changes.

Key Takeaway / Actionable Insight

• Build a two-track approach:
• Internal: Encourage quick, imperfect documentation (notes in a shared wiki, daily syncs). Don’t let “perfect” delay progress.
• External: Deliver short, searchable, in-workflow training for end users; avoid long classes and static PDFs. For rare tasks, outsource to experts rather than over-investing in one-off internal training.

Call to Action

• Enjoyed this conversation? Follow Train to Gain for more practical chats on training, onboarding, and product adoption.
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Learn more about our guest: Award Consulting—and keep the conversation going with us on LinkedIn.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to B-Lynk’s Train to Gain. We’re pumped to have another fantastic guest join us to talk about what’s happening in the industry and the work they’re doing.

Andrew Ward, thank you so much for joining us—loving the background!

Thanks, Erin. It’s great to be here.

Katie, I’ll hand it to you for the introduction.

Absolutely. Andrew, we’re thrilled to have you on.

Andrew is the CEO and founder of Award Consulting—a technical services and training firm that feels like B-Lynk’s engineering cousin. He works with independent telecom providers on technical migrations, SBC setups, and VoIP rollouts, partnering with some of the largest calling platforms in the world. That’s our take—Andrew, how do you describe what you do?

I’ll give that an A-minus, Katie—great start.

We’re a technical services firm. Our typical client is a rural service provider that has served its community for decades and added internet and other services over time. These teams are often small, so they can’t maintain deep expertise in every area.

We come alongside them in two ways: sometimes we provide services directly—“Can you do this for us?”—and sometimes we train a new or junior team member to build internal expertise so they can take on more over time. Training is part of what we do, but we also execute projects and work shoulder-to-shoulder with clients in whatever way helps them most.

So it sounds like you wear a lot of hats.

We do—and so do our clients.

If you’re a switch tech at a rural provider, you’re responsible for many different things. You’re great at your job, but you don’t have the time to go deep on everything. That’s where we help. We can dive deep when needed—troubleshooting, project work, configuration.

We draw a distinction between everyday skills and rare skills. Internal teams handle the everyday tasks they see weekly. But some tasks pop up once every six months—or every few years. It’s often not worth training someone extensively for something they may never do again. In those cases, it’s better to bring in an expert, get it done right, and move on. Training is valuable when it will be used repeatedly; otherwise, outsourcing can be the most efficient choice.

Before we hit record, we synced up about a recent project where your team improved a process—spreadsheets were involved. Can you share that example?

Happily. We specialize in the Metaswitch platform and were discussing ways technical input can streamline day-to-day tasks—like setting up business lines for a new customer. That can be complex: multiple lines, different profiles, hunt groups, auto attendants, phone provisioning—the works. One simple but powerful tool is the platform’s import spreadsheet. Using it for bulk provisioning dramatically speeds up building a new business: copy/paste the required lines, tweak fields in a spreadsheet, and avoid clicking through a web GUI to configure each item manually. Beyond awareness—some folks don’t know the tool exists—we also help create optimized starting templates tailored to how a client typically works. The result is a repeatable, fast, high-quality process that reduces mistakes and frees the team from tedious setup.

Exactly—efficiency you can reuse.

Right. We don’t want to do clients’ day-to-day tasks for them. Our goal is to help them do those tasks better. When we enable that, everyone wins.

We called ourselves training cousins earlier—and we align on end-user training, especially during migrations. Can you talk about that?

Sure. We recently supported a client migrating a large organization from an on-prem PBX to a hosted PBX. The client prepared well: phones were pre-placed on desks, and training materials and videos were shared ahead of cutover. On cutover day, the users were busy and hadn’t reviewed anything. The system changed, and they weren’t ready. The lesson: training is critical—but it also needs to be consumed. That takes collaboration: high-quality, easy-to-access materials (your world at B-Lynk), plus internal champions who prioritize and drive adoption.

Looking ahead, what best practices would you recommend to providers thinking about technical readiness and scalable training during a migration?

I’d split it into internal and external training.

Internal: Don’t let “perfect” block progress. People defer training because they feel it must be polished. Build a culture of lightweight documentation: share what you learned today. We do a quick daily stand-up to surface insights verbally, but we also write things down. A simple wiki or knowledge base is fine—no need to fuss over presentation. If you learn something others might need, document it where they know to look. If you’re tackling something unfamiliar, check the notes first. That culture compounds organizational knowledge.

External (end users): Make training easy to consume at the point of need. Most employees don’t want a two-hour class on a new phone system. Instead, provide searchable, short, digestible resources they can find when they’re stuck or ready to go deeper. Meet them in the workflow, not in a long classroom block.

Exactly. Two hours in a classroom is too much, but a paper handout buried on a desk is too little. The sweet spot is searchable, snackable, and accessible when needed. On that note—PDFs. At B-Lynk, when we’re asked for static PDFs, we push back. They’re hard to search, easy to lose or version-drift, and quickly outdated. In fast-moving software, static training just doesn’t keep up.

I completely agree. Software changes constantly. Keeping training living and findable makes all the difference.

Speaking of keeping things lively, we’ll wrap here. Our promise is fun, useful, and educational conversations with great guests like Andrew. Andrew, thanks for starting your day with us and jumping right in—welcome to your Thursday!

It was a pleasure having you. To everyone listening, keep hanging out with Train to Gain, and check out Award Consulting. Have a great day—and don’t forget to like, tag, and share the podcast!