IF THERE is one thing that can make the difference between a good small business, and a truly great one, it is probably located in the extent of the leader’s knowledge and efficient application of ways to save money.
“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.” – Benjamin Franklin
One of the many fantastic things about modern office telephony—the kind of technology that the likes of Benjamin Franklin could only have dreamed of—is that it truly empowers the business’s owner about cost savings, and permits a vivid understanding about where unnecessary costs can be minimised and eliminated.
We have seen previously how Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony—the general convergence of computers, telephones, and video into an integrated information environment—has enabled businesses to make huge savings in communications.
However, the advantages for small businesses of Voice Over IP (VoIP) systems are not limited to the huge savings in costs compared with traditional telephone exchange network-relayed phone and fax communications.
The systems are facilitators for additional dramatic savings in costs, far beyond the simple toll incurred for a physical voice call, voicemail or fax message. They make your entire operation run more efficiently, whether your team that is based mainly at a single headquarters, or dispersed across multiple remote-working operations.
They’re also incredibly simple to use. The modern business telephony that drives the business phone systems manufactured by brands such as Panasonic, Siemens, and Gigaset, makes the phones so easy to use that any time your team spends in learning about them will almost immediately effect an upswing in the productivity and efficiency of your operations.
Their flexibility and email-like IDs enables the phone to organise contact lists, and share them across multiple accounts. Some systems offer the option of checking voice messages fro mail, either on a PC or a mobile device. And as your business gathers in momentum, you are more likely to be able to keep pace with its development if you have a modern VoIP or Cloud-based phone system than a traditional one. Calls can be swiftly rerouted or forwarded to the most appropriate team member, and there are a number of time-consuming administrative responsibilities, such as messaging, appointments diaries, to name but two, that can be automated, meaning that time-wasting is minimised and you can get on with doing the important work of growing your business.
Here are just 4 of the ways in which modern phone systems can enable small business managers more conscious about ways to save money, and to plan and execute significant cost savings.
1. Allow You to Take Time on New Hires
IF ONE of your team decides that it’s time to move on from your company, the knee-jerk impulse can tend towards panic, and a desperate bid to fill the pair of shoes that will be departing. Even before modern office phone systems had evolved to their current hi-tech status, many HR advisers and consultants often cautioned against the headlong rush to hire new staff.
The reality is that your most ambitious and industrious team members may look to close the gap themselves, even temporarily, to enable you to find the best person. The administrative power of VoIP and Cloud phones makes it possible to take a forensic look at where your team is expending hours of labour in processes that could be relatively easily automated. This breathing space could turn out to be one of the most significant ways to save money for your business that a modern office phone system might facilitate!
2. Save Money on Stationery and Postal Costs
Because of the incredible team-integration capabilities of modern VoIP or Cloud phone systems, you will find a dramatic decrease in the need for hard copy communications with your team.
The systems have the capability of tracking quality and duration and calls, and which employees make and receive the most calls, enabling a fluid and ongoing documentation of your team efficiency.
Calls can also be recorded and rerouted to specific and available employees, filtered for importance or significance to specific projects. Single messages can be sent to multiple handsets and, as we’ve seen, checked either on a handset or on a desktop pC. Modern phones can utterly transform the way you do business, and for the better.
3. Savings on Contact with All Employees
ORGANISATION-wide contact with employees can entail considerable disruption to the schedule of your team members—and hence their efficiency and ultimately productivity—if your business uses a traditional phone system. With VoIP or Cloud solutions, employees can take calls anywhere. At an individual level, this opens up possibilities of offering remote/home-working arrangements for staff, enable you to downsize the physical size of your base. Collectively, VoIP can offer such features as conference calling, and instant video calling, which enable staff not only to communicate but also collaborate, regardless of their location. Travel expenses and travel downtime are no longer an issue.
4. A Future-Proof Business Communications Solution
ONE OF the most attractive cost-saving aspects of a VoIP or Cloud phone is its sheer open-endedness. Again, this is not limited to the duration or distance of calls. It means that if you are a small business in a growth phase, there are no headaches or worries about additional outlay for new phone lines if you take on new staff, either in the office or on the road. VoIP services hook directly into your existing broadband network, and everything is handled by your IT department or a designated member of staff. The chances of downtime are minimised, and if you do decide to move your business to a new headquarters, you simply take your handsets and go.