Ask yourself: What do I need from my next Business telephone system?

The easy option when it’s time to move to a new telephone system, is to simply go out and buy a like for like replacement. No one wants the hassle of learning how new telephone systems works but in not doing so, it could mean you are missing a golden opportunity to bring a range of powerful new capabilities into your business.

The average business telephone system lasts anywhere between six and eight years. However, the constantly changing and expanding market of business phone systems means that long before their sell by dates are up, they’re often out of maintenance or lagging in features to the extent that it is hurting the performance of the business. This has resulted in shorter lifespans and the need for newer products.

Before you start looking at different telephone system options, think carefully about what you need in your next phone system.

Here are a few questions to think about before buying a business telephone system:

Missed Calls

• How many calls does your business miss because the call goes to someone who is out of office or the lines are busy?

Disparate Systems

Do you have different systems in different offices resulting in features that don’t work the same, causing staff confusion?

Infrastructure Maintenance

• Is your telephone system a vital organ in your business and, if it goes down, so do you?
• Have you suffered a network or equipment failure that has stopped inbound and outbound calls?
• Are you worrying about having to fix elements of the phone system yourself if something goes wrong?

Do you need a flexible working environment?

Do you or your employees need to work from different locations or spend time travelling to lots of meetings and events and need to stay connected when out of the office? If this resonates with you then it’s definitely worth considering a phone system which allows remote working such as a hosted platform. This way you can deliver business phone extensions to any employee anywhere that acts as one seamless system.

Fluctuating/Fraudulent Expenses

• Are you worried about unexpected bills with domestic tiered minutes pricing or high International calling costs?
• When you bought your last telephone system, do you think you got a good deal – or did you find out a lot of hidden costs after you bought the basic system?
• Do you want to avoid hidden costs with maintenance of the system this time around?

Enterprise Usage

• Do your remote workers struggle with calling people in the business simply because they are remote?
• Are your staff struggling with those endless sets of buttons on the handset and end up dropping customer calls?
• Do your mobile workers feel detached from the business when they are out of the office?
• Are you unsure your younger staff are using their own mobiles whilst in the office?
• Does the phone system deliver the professional image that you want to portray of your business?

What to do 

Buying the right phone system can make a huge difference to the success of your business in the next 5-10 years. The correct phone system could be the difference between hiring less staff, winning more contracts and saving you money, to having a severe impact on your bottom line if you get it wrong.

To ensure that you select the phone system that best fits your needs, we always advise that you prioritise the questions that are most important for your business. By determining what features you need the system to have now, and what features you might need down the road as your business grows the easier it will be to select the right business phone system for your business.