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CASE STUDY: IMPLEMENTING A VoIP SOLUTION AT A MAJOR NATIONAL CALL CENTRE

Systematik Pty Ltd (“Systematik”) is a Melbourne-based IT firm that has been on the cutting edge of Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) solutions for a number of years. Managing Director, Dan Plimak has the story:

“Our success is based on technology and people. The technology we have developed is definitely cutting-edge, but its people who ultimately are the most important. We had a great relationship with our client based on trust. Trust we had built up through consistent performance and a can-do attitude. We were real close to a major deal but I knew we needed a contract to solidify our business relationship and avoid any future conflicts.”

In the absence of a formal, written agreement, a business relationship is governed by oral agreement and by the provisions of relevant statutes and common law. There are complex evidentiary rules relating to proving the existence and terms of an oral agreement and some oral agreements (such as those relating to real property) are simply invalid. In case of a dispute or misunderstanding, it can be very difficult to establish the respective rights and responsibilities of the parties, often with disastrous consequences for the unprepared. Keeping detailed internal records of conversations, oral agreements, meetings, discussions and working arrangements is recommended to assist in proving the terms upon which services or products have been provided.

A better alternative is to have an appropriate contract or agreement prepared. This may be in the form of a services contract, a commercial joint-venture, a license, a click-wrap agreement or any of a number of suitable alternatives depending on the situation.

“I started to work on a written agreement which soon began to take on the dimensions of a footy field…figuratively speaking. I knew what we had agreed, I knew what I needed but I struggled putting pen to paper in a way that would produce a logical, clear and legally enforceable document.”

Clients often make the mistake of wasting their valuable time on drafting relatively “simple” legal documents under the impression that they can save themselves “unnecessary” legal costs by doing so. The reality is that this is simply not so. Well, not entirely so. Clients can reduce their legal costs by doing some of the work themselves. The problem occurs when clients do the wrong work. Drafting contracts or agreements is not only a technical skill that requires a broad based understanding of the applicable law and the conventions of drafting, but it also requires a detailed knowledge of the subject matter and the people involved. This thankless task is best left to lawyers, usually ones with thick glasses…

When contemplating a commercial contract, joint-venture or agreement of any sort, clients can greatly reduce their legal costs by following the below checklist:

The above will provide an excellent brief to your lawyers, enabling them to save a lot of time in obtaining basic details and instructions from you and to promptly identify important aspects of the contract or transaction to focus on.

“In the end my lawyers stepped in and sorted it all out. It's amazing how many things I had not considered. The impact of some of these issues could have been huge down the line. It was money well spent and I can focus on what’s really important: keeping my clients happy.”