Since early 2020 we’ve seen a major increase in enquiries from businesses that don’t have a physical office, they can operate entirely from home without their clients being aware.
As lockdown restrictions have meant millions of us have had to work from home, one positive side-effect among the host of negatives has been the ability of firms to increase their efficiency, lower costs and remain in constant communication thanks to cloud phone systems.
A new phenomenon
I’ve been working in the communications sector for 25 years and have never experienced anything like it.
We’re now selling office phone systems to people who don’t have an office.
The home working revolution has until now been more of an evolution, with small numbers migrating away from the office every year.
But I’m convinced that the large-scale move to working from home has simply been speeded up – it’s where we would have been in three or four years.
Before the pandemic, a lot of our work came as a result of businesses expanding and moving to larger premises – that’s the key time when phone systems are upgraded.
However, we’re seeing a lot of companies that were planning an expansion or a move have put those plans on ice because home working is working so well for them.
They may have even taken on extra employees but with so many of them working from home and using cloud phone systems, larger premises are no longer needed.
The saved costs of moving have been ploughed back into IT and cloud telephony upgrades to enable this transition.
We’ve seen a slowdown in the number of clients who are moving offices and an increase in the number of organisations who are embracing and utilising technology so that they don’t have to move.
Downsizing and still growing thanks to cloud telephony
Even when a company is growing, thanks to cloud-based office phone systems they can downsize their physical premises or get rid of them altogether, employ more people and work more efficiently. And they’re generating enough savings to pay for their cloud telephony upgrades
One good example is a firm of local accountants – a team of eight who have worked from an office for years.
During the first nationwide Coronavirus lockdown, they all began working from home. The company bought a new cloud-based phone system from Time Communications to facilitate the change, and it works perfectly.
Clients and colleagues ring the original office phone number and a member of the team answers the call in their own home and transfers them to whoever they need to speak to.
When staff ring out, the long-standing office number is presented as if they are working from the original office.
It’s been a seamless transition to home working, and the management has decided that the system has worked so well that the company have served notice on their office and intends to work remotely full time.
When the need arises they will simply rent a room or a small office for meetings, and they’ve saved so much money that they’ve been able to pay for an IT system upgrade.
Their cloud-based phone system has paid for itself and they’re still better off financially and working more efficiently.
You’d never know they’re working from home
Another financial services client has recently worked with Time Communications to set up a new cloud-based phone system.
After several years working as part of a larger firm the eight-strong team have branched out on their own as a standalone venture and are now working from their respective homes using a mixture of phones on desks, apps on mobile phones and laptops.
You can ring their original number and the team will answer and transfer from wherever they are in the world.
They don’t have an office – but you wouldn’t know by speaking to them.
One team member travels regularly and they take their app with them to remain in constant communication wherever in the world they are.
They can make a call and it will be presented to the recipient as coming from the UK office number.
There’s no need for people to give out mobile numbers any more, they simply carry the phone system app with them wherever they go.
We’re starting to see a real rise in the number of enquiries from businesses like these.
Cloud phone systems make it so simple
It’s such a simple process to set up your new office phone system.
Time Communications can now send an engineer around to the home of every team member to deliver a wi-fi-enabled desktop telephone.
Due to the pandemic, they don’t physically enter the premises, the phone is pre-programmed and set up by us ahead of time with the home Wi-Fi password already entered.
The engineer drops the box at the door and stands outside to talk the team members through the simple process of connecting everything.
Our website also features training videos that show in more detail how to make and answer calls with their particular new model.
If the client is using a mobile app, Time Communications will send the team member a QR code which, when clicked on, loads it automatically on their phone, pre-populated with all their details.
Desktop PC apps are installed by Time Communications safely and securely by taking over the computer remotely and quickly doing the necessary work to set it up.
The whole process of creating the new system takes just hours.
There’s nothing to ‘install’ in a team member’s house – it’s just a phone to quickly set up and turn on, or an app to start using.
So, in the midst of one of the most challenging times in recent history, cloud phone systems are helping many businesses to not only survive but thrive.
If you would like to learn more about how cloud-based office phone systems can help launch your business dream or make your existing organisation more agile, Time Communications would be happy to talk you through the options available to you. Contact Time Communications’ by clicking here
February 2022
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