Can Your Current Phone System Limit the Success of Your Business?

Most businesses take their phone system for granted. After all, it requires very little attention most of the time. You can usually just set it up and then forget about it. But more and more companies are realizing that this “set it and forget it” mindset can cost them in more ways than one.

Your phone system gives you the ability to interact with your customers. But has it kept pace with the times? Is it capable of helping you meet tomorrow’s challenges?

This eBook outlines five important considerations to think about when evaluating your current phone system or a new communications solution.

Mobility

Can your phone system support today’s “anywhere, anytime, from any device” manner of doing business? Today’s workforce is more mobile than ever. Employees are expected to work on the go. Tech-savvy workers expect their business communications to be just as sophisticated and easy to use as their personal apps.

Does your current phone system provide the same easy features and functionality to all staff members, no matter their location or device? Although many people use their own personal device on the job, they may be hesitant to share their personal number in a professional setting. In addition, use of personal devices further complicates tracking and reimbursement of call costs.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs allow employees to stay connected everywhere and collaborate on important projects. But they can also open you up to hackers and cybercrime. A great BYOD program delivers ultimate security so that your data is not at risk.

The Budget

Does the cost of your phone system fit well into your overall budget? Though it’s important to find a platform that suits how your business works, the budget is also important. Think about whether CapEx or OpEx is the right budgeting approach for your business.

1. Capital Expenses: Pay one upfront price for all hardware, software and standard services.
2. Operational Costs: Pay a smaller fee on a subscription basis, taking advantage of frequent updates.

Total Cost of Ownerships

Some phone systems are overly complex and require lots of time-consuming management, resulting in greater costs over time. A business phone provider that offers robust, productivity-boosting services delivered in a streamlined, easy-to-manage way will free up IT resources and save money. Many businesses are moving to the cloud due to all the benefits. It’s cheaper to add new lines and updates are free.

Productivity

Can your employees collaborate on-the-go? Does your phone system help or hamper employee productivity? A connected workforce can get more done each day. But some phone systems make it hard to connect and collaborate. Reduce employee frustration and increase productive work time with these features:

• Application Integration: Boost the power of your CRM by seamlessly integrating calling features, call histories and customer data.
• Presence: Enable employees to see when other co-workers are available, in a meeting, on a call or out of the office.
• Find Me: Follow employees so they can get the call the first time around, regardless of the device they are using.
• Collaboration Tools: Make it easier to exchange ideas and get work done with video, instant messaging and desktop sharing

Ability to Add Features and Functionality

Does your phone system support future and emerging technologies? Modern times call for modern solutions. Make sure your phone system can keep pace with technological change and has the ability to embrace cloud-based and customized solutions as required.

Plan for the Future

A phone system needs to have the flexibility to accommodate changes to your business over time. Look for these great features:

• Flexible Service Plans: Change service plans and permissions in real time as business needs change
• Easy & Intuitive: Users will be quicker to adopt communications tools that are simple to use and work as easily as the consumer apps they’ve come to love
• Third-Party Integrations: Integrating with third-party software allows you to take advantage of cloud-based business process applications
• Admin Portal: Make real-time changes to your users, preferences, permissions and groups

Scalability

Can your phone system scale to support changing business dynamics? To stay competitive in today’s fast-moving business environment, companies must be agile. An outdated phone system will slow you down if your communications technology cannot keep up with business demands. If you need to open new office locations, how hard will it be to install a new phone system? Nearly every organization could benefit from the agility that comes from aligning its phone system with its business needs.

The global consumer expects more. Look for these features:

• Intuitive: Supports easy deployment by administrators and enables users to quickly be productive
• Plug-and-Play: Provides phones that are easy to install without costly upgrades
• Flexibility: Easily scales to support both the office and your mobile workforce
• Flexible Licensing: Delivers simple, flexible licensing so businesses can scale up or down as their needs change
• Reduced Complexity: Avoids complications that add costs and hinder your ability to scale

Why Wait?

If your current phone system is holding you back, it’s time to explore new options. Good strong communications are important to your business success. Mitel delivers more than 2 billion connections every day and offers solutions that will support your business both now and in the future.

ICS is a valued partner with Mitel. We can consult to learn exactly what your company needs in terms of communications and then recommend a system that will more than meet your needs. We set everything up so that it best suits the way your employees work. If you need to add users along the way, it’s fast and easy.

Mitel offers a full range of high-quality cost-effective business communication solutions for small single location businesses to large organizations with multiple nationwide offices. The right phone system can increase mobility, utilizing unified communications within the organization.

ICS is very careful in selecting the communication products and services we offer to our clients. All products and services must meet the highest of standards. ICS is proud to sell, install and support products and solutions manufactured by Mitel. For more information about Mitel products or service and how they can benefit your organization, please call us at (866)-427-4722 or Contact us! We serve Houston, San Antonio and Austin with best-in-class managed IT services including unified communications systems.

Jason Simons

ICS is a Texas-based 40-year-old technology company specializing in Managed IT, VoIP, Video Conferencing and Video Surveillance solutions for US and International businesses. ICS has over 4000 regional installations and specializes in multi-site businesses between 25 and 2500 employees. ICS’s customers enjoy the experience of ICS’s Total Care program which provides clients flat fee services with obsolescence and growth protection. Whether a customer elects to deploy their IT, Video Conferencing or VoIP in the cloud or on the customer’s premise, ICS can provide a full turn-key solution for our clients under one flat monthly fee.