To support healthy, continued growth, every business needs to operate effectively. From IT to human resources, telecoms to finance, every function needs to work efficiently to maximise profitability and to free up funds for investment back into the business.
Unified Communications play a major part in modern business operations, and although you might believe that your current telecoms system is up to the job, there are key factors that need to be considered:
The on-site PBX is limited in capacity – as your company grows you will need to purchase additional expansion cards until the maximum limit is reached
Adding capacity to the PBX means installing and renting additional ISDN lines
Operating a unified telecoms system across multiple sites is complex and costly, and each office will need its own on-site PBX
Business growth is not impossible with an on-site system, but it is slow and will eventually reach an upper limit:
There is a lead time associated with the purchase and installation of new ISDN lines
There is a similar delay in purchasing and installing the necessary hardware upgrades for the PBX
Configuration of new calling groups, extensions and voicemail may require professional assistance, again attracting more delays waiting for engineer availability
These delays may be short, but any disruption comes at a cost. Similarly:
Costly or complex on-site solutions offer poor value for money
Delays and capacity problems negatively affect customer service, and limit business growth
Money spent maintaining an on-site, traditional system could be better invested in improving the customer’s experience or expanding operations
On-site, ISDN-based systems have obvious failings, but these can be avoided with a hosted telephony solution. When it comes to telecoms, there are three major hurdles that a hosted phone system can help SMEs overcome:
Difficulties in selecting and implementing a telecoms system that grows with the business
Justifying any investment or expenditure in a new comms system
Ensuring a consistent level of customer service across the business
Plan for growth
Unified Communications can improve the way your organisation communicates internally and externally with customers, prospects, partners, investors, etc. Business and IT managers should work together to identify the tangible and intangible benefits of UC that yield the most value for your specific environment.
Unified communications is the future of technology the result is significantly faster and more timely communications – making immediacy the norm.
