When a business experiences growth it can be difficult for your phone system to keep pace, particularly if that growth happens quickly.
Increased call volumes can overload the network, resulting in dropped and missed calls, or callers being put through to the wrong person or department. All this ultimately results in poor customer service and, potentially, loss of revenue.
In this article we’ll take a look at why having the right phone system in place benefits a growing business.
Flexibility
Having a phone network that can move with you is a must for any growing organisation. With many people splitting their time between home and the office, the system needs to be flexible enough to accommodate remote working. Equally, employees can be required to work from customer locations, so the phone line needs to move with them.
There is also the issue of traditional phone systems not taking modern working practices into account. Lockdown saw an explosion in video calls and they are now an everyday practice, but the old legacy networks don’t have the capability to host them, whereas modern cloud-based systems do.
Around-the-clock answer service
We live in a 24/7 society. People expect to be able to make contact with you outside office hours. If your business can’t meet this expectation, you could be losing customers. In fact, figures show that around 85% of people whose calls aren’t answered will not call back.
Having an auto assistant – sometimes referred to as a virtual receptionist – in place promotes a professional ‘always-on’ image. It can redirect calls or provide a variety of options for callers to choose from out of hours, making sure you never lose a sale.
Cost benefits
A traditional phone system is made up of hardware and works off a network that has to be physically maintained.
All this costs money. Its pricing structure is also based on minutes spent on the phone and where you are calling.
A modern cloud-based network, on the other hand, is powered by the internet. This means you are not charged for the length of calls or the location you are calling, making it an affordable solution.
Because a modern cloud phone system can be integrated into any device, as long as it has an internet connection, there is no need to purchase additional hardware for your growing staff numbers.
Employees can plug the line straight in to their computers, for example, and get on with their working day.
Time is running out
Time is ticking on the old telephone network; everything is moving to the cloud. Back in 2015 BT announced that it was switching off the analogue service.
Although ISDN lines can still be purchased up to 2023, it doesn’t make sense for a growing business to buy them because BT will migrate every phone line in the country to a cloud phone line service in 2025.
Any organisation that doesn’t already have a phone system that runs via Internet Protocol should certainly be looking into it now. Switching from ISDN to VoIP is a straightforward process that can be done with the help of a telecoms provider.
Talk to an expert
Today’s business environment is competitive enough without having to maintain costly, outdated phone networks that are no longer fit for purpose.
Finding a phone system provider that can work with you to identify the most suitable solution for your business will make all the difference to providing your customers with a great service and keeping your lines of communication open.
If you would like to learn more about replacing your legacy phone system, Time Communications would be happy to talk you through the options available to you.
Contact our expert team on 0113 2059640, you can request a callback on our home page, email at [email protected] or message us here.