SYRACUSE — Wireless Business Group, LLC, a cellular-consulting firm, has relocated its office to a 2,000-square-foot space at 1620 Burnet Ave. in Syracuse. The Wireless Business Group (WBG) provides wireless-management services for business customers with a minimum of 25 cellular devices, according to its website. It previously operated in a space of about 500 square […]
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SYRACUSE — Wireless Business Group, LLC, a cellular-consulting firm, has relocated its office to a 2,000-square-foot space at 1620 Burnet Ave. in Syracuse.
The Wireless Business Group (WBG) provides wireless-management services for business customers with a minimum of 25 cellular devices, according to its website.
It previously operated in a space of about 500 square feet at 106 S. Main St. in North Syracuse, says Sam Serianni, a senior partner at WBG.
Both Serianni and Thomas Huegel co-own the company, which they launched in 2006.
They spoke with the Business Journal News Network on Aug. 7.
The move was actually “necessary,” says Serianni. “We were running out of space at the [North Syracuse] location. At the beginning of the year, there were three of us and we moved to four total employees and it really got a little tight.”
WBG started “actively” looking for a new space at the beginning of the year, says Serianni.
The Syracuse Realty Group served as WBG’s landlord in North Syracuse.
“We took our time and the [real-estate firm was] very flexible,” says Serianni.
The WBG partners looked at several different properties, based on budget, square footage, and what was available at the time, says Huegel.
As their search continued, their membership in a local organization led to an opportunity they pursued and seized.
Both Serianni and Huegel are members of the Syracuse Executives Association, a networking group of area business leaders.
David Foor, president and CEO of Visual Technologies, is also a member and had announced that the Burnet Avenue building that houses his company had available space.
“The space was really … perfect for what our needs are,” says Huegel.
The WBG partners looked at the space at the end of May and targeted Aug. 1 as the date to make the office move, says Huegel.
WBG currently has four employees, including Serianni and Huegel and one part-time employee.
The company has plans to add another part-time employee by the end of the year and perhaps additional staffers in 2015, adds Serianni.
About the company
WBG provides advice on cellular services, much the way an attorney would offer legal advice, says Huegel.
“Any time [a company] needed a professional expert opinion on something related to cellular [devices], that’s what we do,” says Huegel.
Serianni refers to the cellular industry as “ever changing,” WBG works with clients to provide advice about new rate plans, new handsets, new smartphone platforms, new charges that can show up on a bill, data services, text messages, subscription services, and 4-1-1 services.
“All sorts of thing that can show up on your bill and not necessarily knowing how to prevent that or how do you manage to that, or how do you make sure that they’re on the right rate plan,” says Serianni.
Huegel and Seranni both previously worked at Cellular One, which eventually became Cingular, in the corporate-markets group with corporate accounts, or in the business-to-business space, says Huegel.
They started seeing what Huegel called an “erosion of customer support.”
“The carriers were telling folks … now we’ve got web portals to help manage your own services. Now we’ve got [1-800] numbers that you can call to help … manage these things yourself,” he added.
Huegel and Serianni say they never really thought that was fair to the customer.
They began thinking about pursuing the company they co-own in 2004, says Huegel.
WBG doesn’t have “an agenda,” Serianni adds. “We speak on behalf of our customers to the wireless carrier because we speak their language and we understand their industry.”
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
