Telecommunications technology has advanced rapidly in the last few years. If you haven’t upgraded your system within the last 5 years, the chances are it’s pretty out of date. But it’s not always clear when the right time to change your system is, so here are some obvious signs your business could benefit from an upgrade.
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You’re paying expensive call charges, maintenance and support fees
With advancing technology, the cost of business telecoms has actually come down. Making calls over the internet has saved businesses huge amounts in call charges. And through increased competition in the market, maintenance contracts are now more cost effective. You may be surprised to find out how much you could save by upgrading.
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Your system doesn’t easily support remote working
Flexibility is a real buzzword in the business world today. It’s becoming more common for people to work from home, or across multiple locations using hot-desks and meeting rooms. We need to be able to access networks, emails and to be contactable wherever we are. Cloud hosted systems provide much more flexibility with less fragmentation, ensuring that your remote workers are connected no matter where they are.
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Your system doesn’t integrate with other office applications
Talking on the phone is just one element of business communications. Businesses need to be able to communicate via video conference, instant messaging and online meetings. Does your existing system allow integration between these systems? Does it integrate with your CRM? Are you able to easily see data and reports for your communications activity? A new system will help you to cut-down on administrative tasks through systems integration as well as improving productivity with the ability to hold remote meetings.
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You don’t have the latest telecoms features
Here are some of the features you may be missing out on:
- Call queuing functionality
- Automated call routing
- Call recording
- Access to voicemails from anywhere
- Call conferencing
- Video conferencing
- CRM integration
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You’re expanding or relocating
If you are planning an office relocation or you are expanding then it’s the perfect opportunity to upgrade your phone system to the latest technology.
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You often receive complaints from customers who can’t easily contact you
You regularly receive feedback from customers or suppliers that they have not been able to get in touch with you. The phone was not answered, they got an engaged tone, they were cut-off or they were unable to leave a message. These are obvious signs that your phone system is not up to scratch.
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You have no back-up plan in place if your system goes down
Have you considered what you would do if your phone system fails? What if you have a power cut or the phone line is damaged? If your existing system doesn’t come with a back-up plan to re-route calls in an emergency, your critical business operations could be at risk.