Following our previous blog posts about utilizing WAN, LAN, and VPN technologies to connect your office computers, the next step is connecting your office telephone system. Selecting the right phone system for your business is very important because it’s one of your main connections to customers, prospects, and fellow employees. To help you in your search for the right provider, we’ve compiled a list of 3 mistakes you should avoid.
- Basing Your Decision Solely on Price: Trying to save your company money where ever possible is only natural, but the best deal isn’t always the best service for your business. Although traditional phone systems may appear cheaper, there are additional upfront costs that you may not be aware of. A traditional land line system requires hardware, intrusive installation, and ongoing maintenance for each office location. As I’m sure you can image, this can really add up if your company has multiple locations or expands in size. Additionally, your call quality may be degraded if you choose to obtain a cheaper service, resulting in a poor connection or dropped calls.
- Wrongfully Estimating Your Company’s Growth: This can be a costly mistake, whether you over or under estimate your company’s potential growth. If your company does not grow as large as expected, you’re stuck paying for phone lines that aren’t in use. Conversely, if your company expands quicker than anticipated, you may need to pay an expedited cost to speed up installation. If you choose a cloud-based or VoIP phone system over a traditional wire line service, scaling your phone system to meet your needs is much easier. Since cloud-based and VoIP phone systems are operated through your internet connection, adjustments to your service can be done quickly and with little to no impact on your daily business operations.
- Not Considering Your Customers: Obviously, it’s important that your employees are able to communicate easily and efficiently with each other by phone, but what about your customers? You need to examine the type of experience your customers have when they dial your number. Starting from the moment they pick up the phone; what number will they dial? Is it a toll free number? Is there only one number to call for all inquiries? Once you have made a decision on what your company’s phone number will be, you will need to start examining the internal structure of your phone system. Will you provide them with a dial by name or department directory? Do you want certain customers to take priority over others when calling in? Would you like to be able to reroute your calls seamlessly from any location? Cloud-based or VoIP phone systems are capable of offering a wide range of features, such as one number to dial for all inquiries, no matter what part of the country customers are calling from. Additionally, internet based phone services can be easily configured to provide simple call routing, while a traditional phone system requires an IT manager to come out to the necessary changes.
It is important to choose the right phone system for your business because it can impact your company’s performance and productivity. Interrupting the work day to install or repair a traditional phone line can impact your office efficiency, as well as result in a loss of revenue. Finding a phone service that can be easily scaled too meet your company’s needs while also providing a positive customer experience is essential.
To learn about VoIP services offered by TeraGo Networks, click here.
