It’s crucial to understand how VoIP works if you are to grasp fully the extent to which it can actually transform your business.
A key aspect of any business is communication, and communication costs money.
For many small businesses running on tight budgets, the possibilities of such low-cost communications as electronic mail, social media, and e-commerce, must create a significant temptation to go phoneless as well as paperless.
Some tech commentators insist that this is the way to go. Computerworld writer Mike Elgan, for instance, argues that “the ability to talk to someone using a phone is just another app”.
But the traditional phone system has hung in there, especially for business, probably due to the uniqueness of phone numbers, which even many mobile apps, email providers and websites use to verify the identity of their users.
Certainly as a means of communication, a direct way of getting business done, the telephone handset is not going to disappear overnight, regardless of advances in technology.
So the two key factors for a business to consider are cost and efficiency, and that is where Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and how VoIP works, has the most potential for businesses, in particular, small firms. But what is VoIP? Let’s take a look.
How VoIP works
Circuit Switching, on which traditional phone communication is built has been in use for more than a century. It is a connection between phone users, in both directions. Originally, this connection was made physically via copper wire links between your phone and that of the person or the business you were calling. That is why long-distance calls used to cost so much. A leap forward occurred when Fibre Optic Cabling enabled digitally-converted analog signals of numerous calls, not just one, to be transmitted via a single fibre optic cable.
However, fibre optics did not distinguish between talking and silence—the silence from one side of the conversation that occurs when the person on the other side of the communication is talking. This inefficient waste of circuit space was tackled initially with the advent of Packet-Switching, the live transmission of only the essential parts of the telephone conversation: the chat, not the silence.
This system worked in the same manner as websites use the Internet. When you view a website, your computer or mobile device will not be constantly connected to the site. Connections are only made to send or receive information when required. This enables swifter, more efficient transmission of information over the Internet.
This essentially at the heart of the question, What is VoIP, and the underlying principle of how VoIP works. The circuit switching of traditional phone systems involve the maintenance of a constant, open connection between phones, packet-switching makes connections for just long enough to transmit packets of data from one device to another.
But VoIP does not work by packet-switching. A Voice IP phone service works via the Internet Protocol used by computers to communicate over the Internet. The Internet’s protocol TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)/IP is much superior to packet-switching. As the name implies, TCP and IP work together, with TCP establishing a session between computers on a network, and assembling the packets of data in the correct order. Essentially, this means that the Internet is the exchange for a Voice IP phone service, in the blink of an eye breaking down a caller’s voice data and reassembling it again at the recipient’s end, and vice versa.
VoIP & The Internet
TCP/IP was introduced in the Internet’s formative early 1980s, and it was Tim Berners-Lee’s work with TCP/IP a decade later that gave rise to the Internet as we know it, the World Wide Web.
While VoIP has been with us for some time, a big turn-off for business, initially, was voice quality and connectivity. It’s only with the relatively recent explosion of business and domestic access to high-speed internet that the question of What is VoIP has been taken seriously by the business world.
The efficiencies of speed have enabled not only superior voice quality in person to person phone calls, but also the much more efficient use of communication data space.
VoIP and Business
For businesses, VoIP has ushered in a whole range of possibilities, for a fraction of the costs of maintaining a traditional business phone system. For one thing, logistically, having a managed Voice IP phone service requires no specific hardware in business premises; simply a high-speed broadband connection.
The available data space freed by the massive efficiencies in voice transmission also opens an enormous vista of possibilities and solutions that have been created to meet that potential.
Businesses and all users are suddenly granted the ability to transmit voice and huge volumes of data, such as video and imagery in addition to text, via the Internet. And if you have a hosted service provider, which can add or subtract lines from your service at the push of a button, then you’re in a dream position, whether you are upsizing or downsizing.
Conclusion – An Ideal Compromise
VoIP usage is forecast to reach one-billion people worldwide by the end of this year, and for businesses who are increasingly called upon to engage with their markets on a multiplicity of levels, this is a dream proposition.
The client benefits from all of the underlying certainties that underpin our use of traditional phone communications, and none of the constraints. This overview of how VoIP works demonstrate that it is a win-win for businesses, who gain all of the multi-media possibilities of the ongoing digital communications revolution.
Why VoIP phone systems? As you will see, the more pertinent question for lean startups and SMEs is not Why VoIP, but Why Not VoIP? The question is particularly pertinent if you have a small business with a static office running on a traditional phone system for inter-personnel and customer communication.
The costs of traditional telephone systems can be hefty, yet you certainly can’t countenance getting rid of your phones, and you may even believe that you cannot afford to upgrade your system. So you may feel pinioned on the particularly sharp horns of a business dilemma.
While traditional phone costs can indeed be quite alarming for small businesses, not only will making the leap to more modern small business phone systems drastically reduce these running costs, but the transfer will entail the absolute minimum of fuss and cost and entail significantly less outlay than you might imagine.
One solution and an ideal one is a Voice over Internet Protocol VoIP system. Why VoIP? For starters, it gives you enhanced sound quality on your calls, and, whether self-hosted or run through a cloud provider, requires only a broadband connection to activate. In addition, the question of maintenance is minimised almost to non-existence. VoIP also enables remote personnel to connect with the system through their mobiles, and it facilitates scaling, with a host of features that were available previously only to large corporations.
If you are thinking of changing your business phone system, here is a little more detail on the two primary reasons why VoIP is an ideal solution for most small businesses.
Why VoIP? 1: Money Talks
The cost savings associated with VoIP stem from the way that Voice over Internet Protocol VoIP phone systems work.
VoIP unshackles telephone communication from the static, traditional Public Switched Telephone Network and transplants it to the open range of the Internet.
Instantly, the user has the ability to transmit voice and huge volumes of data, such as video and imagery in addition to text, via the Internet.
Whether you choose to host your VoIP phone system in-house or through a service provider on the ‘Cloud’, the hassle for the owner is minimal—particularly in the case of hosted service providers, which can add or subtract lines from your service at the push of a button, depending on your requirements.
The immediate benefits are a quality of call that is much clearer and for a fraction of the cost of traditional landline system calls.
In many cases, an existing business phone system can be connected to a VoIP network, meaning that the only requirement is to purchase new handsets. And whatever outlay may be required at the outset will be more than offset by ongoing cost savings.
Why VoIP? 2: Efficiency & Flexibility
Even in these relatively uncertain economic times, VoIP has prospered. Last year in the US alone, IBISWorld estimated that the VoIP industry’s contribution to the global economy would increase at a rate of 15 percent per year until 2017. A study by Infonetics Research showed that VoIP subscribership grew by approximately 14 percent year on year since 2009, while the Juniper Research company anticipated last year that the number of mobile VoIP users alone would be 1 billion by 2017.
The reason for this is partly the costs, but also the efficiency and flexibility that VoIP offers. It is telling that one of the key areas in this type of phone system has been in the mobile VoIP end. The reason for this is because mobile users can enjoy all of the features and facilities that would have at one time been available only to large multinational corporations.
VoIP just makes so much sense for a lean SME or a startup business, especially one entering a growth phase. If you choose to have a VoIP phone system that is hosted on the cloud by a provider, you do not need to purchase any equipment or even employ staff to install and maintain it. No wiring. No installation. All you require is a broadband connection.
Parting thought… Will it work for all businesses?
In theory, it should… but in reality, VoIP phone systems, for all their flexibility and low costs will depend entirely upon your Internet connection. So if you have a small business located or headquartered in an area with fitfully erratic or weak broadband, the VoIP system will not work. But for all other businesses, it will, and handsomely.
While some of the ingredients for startup growth are taken as a given, the sheer range of affordable technology solutions available to business nowadays through the Internet and the Cloud makes it essential for startup and small businesses to consider these as more than a bonus.
Many business commentators suggest that to the list of traditional core ingredients for a successful business—such as a strong core purpose; passion and business sense; and funding, for instance, in addition to the bottom-line prerequisites such as Internet connectivity and an online presence—entrepreneurs should now add the Cloud and modern business telephone systems due to the host of low- to no-cost options that make scaling and growth much simpler and more affordable than would have been imaginable even five years ago.
Here are just four modern telephone system and other affordable technology solutions available to entrepreneurs at the helm of SMEs or startup businesses.
1. Softphone for Laptops
A SOFTPHONE is a piece of software which is necessary for placing VoIP (Voice over IP) calls and video links, allowing you to turn a laptop into a telephone, which enables you to make, receive and manage voice calls over the Internet. Softphones range from the simplest smartphone and chat apps, with ultra basic interfaces, right up to the rich menus and layered options available on those designed for business purposes.
The attractiveness of this option to small or fast-growing businesses, which may already be supplying laptops to mobile team members, is clear. It turns the laptop into a combined voice and data communications interfaces. And the savings that the softphone option offers against traditional multi-line traditional telephone units are the icing on the cake.
2. Automated Call Attendant
MOBILE phones are so ubiquitous nowadays that standard features such as voicemail are no longer sufficient for a business that is eager to make the best impression with customers.
Many modern office telephone systems offer an automated call attendant option, which makes it possible to provide customers with an interactive voice response that offers a menu of options for the caller.
As an affordable technology byproduct of the best modern business phone systems, the automated call attendant is one of the most compelling for small to medium enterprises.
3. Skype for Business
IF VIDEO conferencing is a frequent mode of communication for your business, then Skype for Business should definitely be on your consideration list. It’s one of the best low-cost video options available for businesses, and it has the advantage of familiarity—most people having been introduced to its functionality by the free basic Microsoft Skype app.
As a Microsoft product, Skype for Business has great unified communications features to, as it is fully integrated with the Microsoft Office suite, in addition to Outlook email. When you set up a video conference on Skype for Business, all recipients will receive a hyperlink freighted with all the necessary functionality and sharing for the virtual meeting to take place.
4. Freephone Dialling to Mobile
MODERN telephone systems have made it easy to not only offer your customers a freephone number for contacting your business, but also one that connects directly to your mobile phone.
According to providers of 1800 numbers, using such a freephone number will give you a marketing edge by heightening the chances of your advertising directly resulting in customer enquiries.
The majority of people now know that 1800 numbers can be called free of charge from anywhere in Ireland, including mobiles. Providing customers with the first point of contact that costs them nothing is a great first impression that deserves serious consideration by all small to medium businesses entering a growth phase.
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.
The Cloud phone system is steadily and quietly revolutionising how business is done worldwide. It has been estimated that at least three-quarters of businesses in the world have already transitioned from their traditional phone systems to Cloud-based services.
In the UK alone, according to the latest data from Insight UK — see Infographic at the end of this post — 70 percent of businesses surveyed expect to increase their adoption of Cloud services over the next 12 months, and 12 percent of those not already using the Cloud expect to do within a year.
With Cloud service providers offering telephony systems for businesses of all sizes and kinds of operation, and features that will help them to excel in the modern era, the reasons for moving your firm’s phone systems to the Cloud are becoming ever more compelling.
7 Cloud Phone System Business Benefits
HERE are 7 fundamental reasons why the majority of businesses have already made the leap, and so many are preparing to migrate to the Cloud.
1. Lower Costs & Efficiency
COST-savings are probably the most immediately attractive inducement to go for a Cloud phone system. There is no need to invest in bulky physical on-site equipment, nor to fork out regularly for its maintenance. The outlay for IT resources is significantly reduced, even when you’re taking on new hires. There is no need for an IT specialist to handle this: your new team member’s phone functionality can be set up instantly with only a call to your Cloud system provider.
Payment based on usage is a dream for business owners. It keeps costs low, and more accountable. Hosting space and bandwidth are your only concerns, and the Cloud is an open door to the kinds of sophisticated features that previously would have been all but unimaginable.
2. A Plethora of Features
The Cloud is a gateway to a plethora of unified features in voice-mail, email, and automatic attendants. A number of providers also offer privately-managed network functionality on the cloud, meaning your communications never travels on the public internet.
3. Flexibility
IMPROVEMENTS to the voice features of a Cloud phone system require no hardware updates, meaning that you’re constantly connected to the best services, for you and your clients. And whether you a business in growth or in downside mode, there are benefits for your transition. Moving premises can be a costly, cumbersome business. A Cloud phone system requires only the cables and handsets to be moved—job done, back to business.
4. Mobility & Uniformity
IN THE modern business environment, no-one wants physical, bulky or static equipment to inhibit their ability to communicate and interface with their clients. This is an era of personnel on the move and a much less static customer base than ever before. A Cloud phone service provides the necessary fluidity to enable businesses to communicate with all its personnel, co-workers and clients.
Cloud systems are also a great means of ensuring uniformity and consistency in the event of a reconfiguration of your business operations, allowing for the efficient provision of phone systems for a diversity of remote operations. The same call quality and features will be available to all users.
5. Reliability
NOT only are Cloud-based phone systems less prone to ‘going down’ than traditional phone systems—ensuring that your business communications are open 24/7—but it also provides great peace of mind in the event of a disaster. In any event, the Cloud is a great safeguard for continual ‘business voice’ presence even in those unforeseen circumstances.
6. Fewer IT Difficulties
WITH Cloud phones, your system will be managed by the provider, off-site, meaning that your business’s IT personnel or specialist will be able to delete ‘phone system maintenance’ from their to-do list and concentrate on business goal-related IT issues.
7. Enhanced Data Security
The prospect of putting company data outside the business’s firewall can be daunting, but the Cloud removes such concerns. In fact, data protection is reinforced by the Cloud, due to the rigorous ISO security standards that service providers abide by.
The late Steve Jobs once said: “Get closer than ever to your customers… so close that you tell them what they need well before they realise it themselves.”
Jobs intuitively grasped that customer service is so much more than providing assistance and advice to people who buy or use our products.
It is also an opportunity for up-selling (persuading them to buy something extra, or a more expensive variant of what they were initially seeking), and cross-selling (selling a different product or service to an existing customer).
Businesses that want to grow ignore this opportunity at their peril. Properly motivated customer service representatives are agents of sales closure; of increasing the loyalty and lifecycle of clients; and of business growth.
1. Minimise ‘Hold’ Times
Waiting for customer service is the bane of the contemporary consumer. It is enough to put them off entirely and form a negative opinion about your business without ever having engaged with you.
A modern office phone system that is tailored to the needs of your business can help immensely in efficiently connecting the client with a customer service representative.
PBX and VOIP systems can facilitate the creation of inbound calling systems that redirect calls to an available employee if the primary customer service agent is busy on a call.
This in itself is reason enough to invest in a modern business phone system, and with all their other benefits, including significant call cost reductions, they are the ultimate win-win that keeps on winning for 21st-century businesses.
2. Know When to Make Your Move
Not every engagement with a customer is an opportunity for cross-selling and/or up-selling. There are times when to paraphrase the words of network marketing guru Dr. Ivan Misner, it’s more about farming and cultivation than about hunting.
The most obvious rule to adhere to is that you don’t try to up-sell or cross-sell to a client who is angry or upset. Trying to sell to a customer who is aggrieved with your product or service will only exacerbate their mood, and not only will you have damaged an individual customer relationship, but also the reputation of your company.
3. Mind Your Language
The language your customer service reps use when providing assistance to customers will go a long way to creating a lasting impression, for good or ill, about your business.
That is why it is vital that your reps adopt a professional, consistent and uniform mode when addressing customers. It’s generally best to adopt the collective “We” when referring to your business, rather than “I”, which indicates that you are personally taking responsibility for a situation.
Of course, the latter should only be done when it is indeed the case that you are taking personal responsibility. Language is nuanced, and customers do not appreciate it when it is used incorrectly: this confounds the customer experience.
The rep should also work hard to convey a sense that the customer is valued and appreciated. Use of the word “value” in conversations with clients really does go far in creating a positive impression in the customer’s mind.
4. Handwritten Appreciation
Positive business-client experiences can be effectively copper-fasted through adhering to bygone traditions, such as sending a handwritten thank-you or follow-up note or card via the post to your customers. These cannot but succeed in impressing the client, and they are also a great opportunity to send them, perhaps, a promotional voucher that they can use against a purchase on their next visit to your store or business.
5. Automate Ongoing Client Communications
The workload of a busy customer service representative can be considerably alleviated through automated processes which will periodically keep all of your customers up to speed with your organisation and notified about any offers on products or services.
For instance, the customer who purchases a specific product can be provided with a suite of timed emails that will educate the client on the product and familiarise them with all the various aspects of the product or service.
Come back to the blog for more customer service tips
When you’ve made the decision to upgrade your traditional office phone system, the next important step is to plan for a smooth tradition to VoIP.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is an amazing communications and administrations tool for the modern small to medium business operation.
Unshackled from the static traditional Public Switched Telephone Network, a VoIP system results in significant call-charge savings, and tremendous capabilities in call management including call-routing, voicemail to email/text message alerts, and on-the-move flexibility.
This ability to have clearer conversations, and for longer, is a particularly big plus for an SMB that is in a growth phase, creating the possibility of opening new regional markets without opening a new physical office location.
It is also easy to install and maintain. In some cases, an existing phone system can be connected to a VoIP network, meaning that the only requirement is to purchase new handsets.
1. Schedule the Big Switch for Down-Time
Choose a public holiday or an after-office time to switch your phones from the traditional system to VoIP.
A certain amount of ‘down time’ can be anticipated for the transfer. The impact of this will be minimised at times when there are no employees likely to be using your phones, and only the bare minimum of incoming calls expected.
Public holidays, office holidays, evenings or weekends are the best times to make the switch so that your employees and your customers will not experience any disruption.
2. Get a Back-Up ISP
When organising an installation of VoIP for business, perhaps the most important thing to consider is what happens in the event of a ‘drop’ in Internet connection. If you don’t have a back-up, your business can grind to a halt—the very last thing you need.
That is why VoIP providers will recommend a secondary ISP (internet service provider) which will be used in the event of any problems with your primary ISP. The cost of an additional ISP will be more than offset by the significant cost savings to your firm of switching to VoIP.
3. Consider the PBX option
If your company relies mainly on inbound clls, and doesn’t require every member of your team to have a dedicated telephone number, a useful option to consider is a PBX (private branch exchange). PBXs are closed-network telephone systems for companies using either enterprise-level servers or legacy switchboards to route calls. They can be managed via hosted servers or the cloud, for a huge increase in efficiency and performance.
4. Know Your VoIP Admin Potential
If you’ve chosen to invest in VoIP it really pays to familiarise yourself with the administration potential of the system for managers. These systems have the potential to track the quality and duration of calls, and which employees make and receive the most calls, enabling managers to easily chart their team members’ performance.
They also enable calls to be recorded, rerouted to specific or any available employees, and also filter calls that may not be urgent to specific projects. They also facilitate the organisation of contact lists, and sharing contacts over multiple accounts.
The more familiarised that you are with these various aspects of your VoIP package, the more swiftly you will see a significant return in investment, which penetrates far beyond mere savings on calls. It could literally transform the way business is done by your company, for the better.
The modern business environment demands a communication business phone system that is able to withstand the rigours and fluidity of the modern economic and business environment.
Workspaces are less static, mobile comms has steadily blurred the traditional distinctions between ‘work’ and ‘home’, and business has swiftly transcended regional and geographic boundaries.
In such a world, you’ll need to plan a business phone system that is up to the challenges, and one which will help you to administer the flow of information.
Thankfully, modern business phone systems embody many of the solutions to these challenges. Here are just five things to think about when reviewing the efficiency of the phone system for your business.
1. Upgrade From Traditional Systems
Your business’s telephone system is a key interface between your firm and the outside world, os it’s vital that you have a system that functions efficiently, in line with what your customers expect from your brand.
In the increasingly fluid and mobile modern business world, a traditional business phone system will not be able to cope if you and your team are conducting business outside of the office: an increasing reality for companies of all sizes and sectors.
Many modern business phone systems employ Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony, meaning that the technology uses the internet to exchange voice and other forms of information, such as fax, that was traditionally relayed via the Public Switched Telephone Network.
IP Telephony is part of a general convergence of computers, telephones and television/video into an integrated information environment. It enables your team to function as effectively on the move as they do from their office workspace, and it is fluid enough to cater for a variety of staffing configurations and workforce sizes.
VoIP (Voice over IP) phones alone have numerous advantages over traditional phone systems. Once connected to the internet, they have email-like Ids that enables the managing and organising of contact lists and sharing contacts over multiple accounts. Most importantly, they offer significant call savings for your business.
2. Focus on Effective Voice Solutions
As we’ve seen, VoIP is an ideal solution for businesses that want to communicate effectively while minimising the administrative hassle of traditional telephone contact lists. But when you get into VoIP it opens up a whole host of possibilities, with some systems offering the option of checking voice messages from their email, either on a PC or a mobile device.
In terms of business administration, technology can be a double-edged sword because a business can grow in line with the opportunities opened up by the IT. In the frenetic pace of a busy, growing office, it’s sometimes easy for customer service to take second place.
However, the modern technology offers services that can swiftly re-route or forward calls to a project manager or team member on the road, improving your accessibility to clients. Other modern solutions include broadcast messaging, whereby a single message can be delivered to as many of your contacts as you require.
3. Think ‘Organisation’
Modern business phone systems can perform an integral role in the organisation of your firm’s day to day administration. The voice and messaging solutions we’ve discussed above are the tip of the iceberg.
When you are drawing up a list of reasons why you need to upgrade your business phone system, it’s important to think of time-consuming administrative communications that can be automated. The chances are that a new phone system will have a solution and one that will significantly boost the productivity of your organisation.
4. Consider Automated Calendar Assistants
Appointments with clients are the very lifeblood of a growing business, and they can come in twos or threes, particularly at the early stage of negotiations. Using traditional administration systems it can be a headache to keep track of all the meetings you’ve arranged, as well as taking care of all the to-dos and follow-ups that arise at each meeting. Modern business phone systems can utilise automated calendar assistant to auto-send calls to anyone who has scheduled appointments and confirmed or canceled appointments are integrated, real-time, with your calendar. A fantastic resource for a busy office of multi-tasking employees.
5. Learn How to Use Your Business Phone System
It May sound like the most obvious point of all, but business communications tools are a considerable financial investment, and you won’t get any decent return on that outlay if you do not invest appropriate time in learning how to fully utilise the system.
Fortunately, modern business phone systems such as those offered by Panasonic, Siemens, and Gigaset, are so user-friendly and intuitive that any time spent in learning about and training in a new system will soon unleash an upswing in the productivity and efficiency of your operation.
