POPP Professional People and Quality Practices

POPP's Full-Service Implementation
All of POPP implementations are performed by POPP professionals and in our 40+ year history we have performed thousands of installations. POPP will design, configure, and install your new system for you and ensure it is set up correctly the first time and as you want it.

At POPP, we're different from many other providers, as we never expect our clients to have to be involved in the behind-the-scenes configuration/set up, physical installation, or the process of porting phone numbers. We're the experts and take care of this for you.

POPP only uses POPP professionals and we never use agents or subcontractors to complete our system installations. 

Your POPP Sales & Design Consultant always meets with your assigned Project Manager to perform a handover to ensure your important system information is passed along to configure your system correctly the first time. 

Project Manager Responsibilities
The Project Manager will quarterback your project to its completion and performs a vital role, ensuring you have a smooth, efficient, and timely installation. They perform many duties including (but not limited to):

• Discuss, schedule, and provide an expected installation timeline
• Detail your system requirements during the scheduled configuration meeting(s) to design a system that can help you save your employees time and money
• Coordinate the equipment installation, port requests, and cutover to your new phone system
• Be a resource for any questions or concerns that come up during the installation process
• Provide training resources that have been determined during the configuration meeting

Client Responsibilities
The Project Manager will collect the following information from you:

• Invoice for old phone service (for telephone number info, etc.)
• List of user names, extension numbers, direct inward dial numbers, and email addresses
• Auto attendant script and call routing options (if known)
• Floorplan map noting where each user's desk phone should be placed (if available)
• Public IP address details
• Network Equipment (firewall, switch) configuration settings, if ordered

Equipment Installation and Testing
Your assigned Project Manager will schedule a date and time for your phone numbers to transfer, aka port, from your old carrier to POPP. This typically takes only moments, with downtime under 5 minutes. If your telephone numbers are already hosted by POPP, no porting is necessary.

Service Activation
The POPP service is activated on the date and at the time that you choose with your Project Manager. This will be the date that you may begin to use the new phones and softphone apps, and POPP will begin billing for the service.

User Training
POPP has several ways to get your team up to speed:

• Project Manager or Technician-led training in-person or via video (Zoom for example)
• Online video tutorials allow users to watch short videos when it's convenient for them.
• You'll find these videos to be helpful going forward anytime you hire new team members.
• Simple user guides can be printed or emailed to users
• POPP Technicians can give basic phone instructions following the service activation

Removal/Recycling of Old Phone Equipment
The POPP Technician will remove any client-owned phone equipment, including any old desk phones as well as any KSU/server/processors. You may choose to keep this equipment to sell or donate, or the POPP Technician can take the equipment to electronics recycling for you.

POPP Working to Make Change a Positive
POPP Implementation Professionals' practices and processes help make change easier for all involved.

We know that for some people, the thought of change can bring hope for a better future, whereas for others, change can create fear, uncertainty and doubt.

We also know the action of change can cause friction, frustration and errors.

We have a lot of change experience and are sensitive to the difficulties of change. That's why we proactively work to make the change experience a positive for you and your employees.

A Free Service for Clients with a POPP Agreement

In today’s business world, everyone has experienced an internet outage of some kind.

No matter which internet provider you choose, you are susceptible to outages varying from carrier outages to physical cable cuts and more.

With today’s VoIP phone service, these internet outages affect your business’s ability to communicate with your team and customers.

POPP’s VoIP Phone System Backup Service is like a POPP-provided insurance policy, designed to provide peace of mind in the event you experience a prolonged internet outage (such as when your internet carrier estimates that it will take 5-7 days to repair). Within 24 hours, an experienced POPP technician will be dispatched to temporarily install a wireless 5G internet connection and re-route your business VoIP traffic so that your business phone communications can resume as normal while you await resolution/repair from your internet carrier. This strategy requires an adequate wireless 5G signal at your business office, which most Twin Cities area businesses have.

This service assurance plan provides POPP clients with a needed business continuity plan for their VoIP connectivity, at no additional charge.

• POPP people are client-centered and love telecom and helping people
• Their attitudes, knowledge, and communication skills build trust, confidence, and relationships every day!
• We’ve been improving our telecom skills knowledge and proven processes since 1981
• Serving and learning from over 4000 small business clients has provided the experience to know their telecom needs and develop the service tools and techniques to fulfill them
• We know it’s the dedication to service after the sale and saving client time and money is what builds a winning reputation and culture, so that’s what we do!

• A Minnesota company incorporated in 1981, headquartered in Golden Valley and locally owned and operated
• Licensed by the FCC and MN PUC
• Financially sound - no debt, profitable, fully-insured
• POPP business practices are task, process, and checklist-driven
• POPP is privately-owned and operated by Bill Popp since 1981. POPP has provided good technology, good service, and good prices for small businesses. Bill's focus is on helping small business people because small businesses employ our family and friends. When a small business succeeds, our entire community benefits. We consider serving you a privilege and an honor - THANK YOU!

POPP people genuinely care about the clients we serve. We understand that small and medium-sized businesses create an overwhelming percentage of the jobs here in the Twin Cities, and that our services play a critical role in their success. We are constantly designing win-win solutions, because when small business thrives, so does our community. 

• We serve hundreds of non-profit organizations in the Twin Cities.

• POPP has donated several telephone systems to local non-profit organizations.

• We sponsor several events each year to raise money and awareness for local non-profit organizations. 

• POPP employees are provided with paid volunteer time off (VTO) and are encouraged to use it!

• POPP employees have enabled POPP to donate millions of dollars and thousands of volunteer hours since 1981.

• Bill Popp is the founder of the Minnesota Military Family Foundation.  The MMFF is a community-supported fund founded in November 2004. Contributions are made by people who understand that there are many sacrifices that military families make and want to help soften the financial hardships that may occur, especially when a family member is deployed, by providing a financial safety net. As of July, 2023, over 2,500 military families have been helped. 
• Bill and Teri Popp led the way to have the Military Family Tribute constructed. The Military Family Tribute, located on the State Capitol Mall in St. Paul, Minnesota, stands forever as a personal thank you to each spouse, significant other, child, parent, grandparent, sibling, and any other person a member or former member of our U.S. military defines as family, who provides the true foundation of support to our military personnel.