What You Need to Know
Running a successful business is about communication, both with your customers and with your team. If you can communicate, you can adjust, troubleshoot problems, and help give your customers a satisfactory experience that will keep them coming back. For customers, communication is usually their first impression of how professional your business is, so you want a telephone system that conveys just that. Is your office telephone system up to date, or is it time for an upgrade?
Signs that an Upgrade is Necessary
Of course, upgrading your office telephone system can be—in the short term—costly, but it’s necessary to weigh your options and see how your poor telephone system is disrupting the workflow of your space and making work difficult to perform:
Mixed Up Calls
If your company’s telephone system is rerouting calls to the wrong numbers, you know you have a problem with your telephone system. Such a mistake can not only turn off customers for the day, they might never call back. 60% of Millennials don’t like to make calls, even in situations where they have no other option. So you need to make sure you are giving your potential customers the optimal experience.
Difficult-to-Use Systems
You’ve seen it on sitcoms and you’ve watched a friend roll their eyes at it: a bad telephone system can be a tedious journey for customers and is an easy way to push potential business away, but a difficult-to-use system can also be a bad experience for your employees. Many telephone systems are not only difficult to use but almost Byzantium, with different features and information depending on where your employees are working from. In the modern world, where most of our information can be put online, streamlining your business’s information is both doable and better in the grand scheme of running your business.
Dropped Calls
Losing a call can mean losing another customer. As mentioned before, we live in a world where most young people prefer to text or email over calling a business, so if they have to call your business, you want them to have the best experience possible. But your customers aren’t the only ones that can be affected by dropped calls. If your calls are dropping during business meetings, you are wasting both your valuable time and the time of your employees, time that should be spent working together as a team.
Mixed Bills
Unlike a personal mobile plan, you aren’t charged with a data plan, and in doing so a company should be paying the same amount every month. If you’re running a business, being in charge of your budget is always a hassle, so you want to minimize your unexpected charges. Knowing what your bill will be every month can help keep control over your business and your budget.
Inflexible Phone Systems
Anybody who runs a business knows the importance of flexibility because running a successful business is all about being flexible. You never know what type of disaster (god forbid) can strike your business. All you can do is prepare for the worst, and having a business that can adjust where and when you can make a phone call will help in the long run.
VoIP Perks
If your telephone system has had any of these problems, it might be a sign that you need to upgrade to VoIP. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is quickly becoming a popular telephone system in businesses, using cloud-based telecommunications. This means you can easily communicate with clients or colleagues over a simple internet connection. The perks of upgrading to VoIP are numerous, but there are a few primary ones to talk about:
Cheaper
The price will be cheaper and is usually driven lower because of the elimination of single phone lines.
Easy Integration
Because of the cloud’s wireless plugin, it’s very easy to integrate. As long as you have a stable internet connection, you can integrate a VoIP telephone system into your business model.
Flexibility
When your team can be flexible, you can work as a proper team that isn’t distracted by day-to-day problems. VoIP can help you get that control over your office telephone system. With VoIP, you can make a company call from not just a phone, but tablets, computers, and modern smartphones as well.
Higher Audio Quality
Due to the ability to compress and decompress audio over the internet, your phone calls can have a higher audio quality.
Get Connected with the Cloud
If we follow trends in business and technology, the importance and singularity of the cloud’s implementation cannot be ignored. Storing your company’s data on the cloud is slowly becoming a standard practice for many businesses. The Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) industry is expected to grow to at least USD 55 billion by 2025, for good reason. The cloud allows you to be connected and gives you and your company the flexibility needed to run your company.
Author bio:
Aaron Smith is a content strategist and consultant in support of STEM firms and medical practices. He covers industry developments and helps companies connect with clients. In his free time, Aaron enjoys swimming, swing dancing, and sci-fi novels.
