Businesses need to communicate voice, text and data both internally to be as efficient as they can and externally to be effective with their customers and suppliers. If you add the increasing trend to integrate telephony with IT , then the importance of getting this right for both current and future needs is essential.
For a smooth operation, the number of people, where they work, how and when they need to communicate with each other and the amount of external contact will determine the outline scope of telephone (and IT) needs for a business.
There is however a danger to be wary of and that is letting the technology dictate how you operate (efficient) and not regularly reviewing whether it is achieving its purpose (effective). Many businesses have reasonable technology but forget to check whether it is appropriate for their needs. A recent survey showed that 1 in 3 calls are not answered ; 80 % of callers will not use voicemail ; and if a message is left 70 % of businesses do not call them back !
Improving service always means balancing people’s availability with telephony capability so that businesses can respond to customers as and when needed. This is unlikely to remain in a steady state and will change with seasonal demand or as businesses grow for example. It also means that robust disaster recovery and contingency solutions need to be put in place for when your technology is disrupted or unexpectedly unavailable.
The good news is that there is a wide range of telephony technology available to enable businesses to operate whether from fixed locations or on the move ; using fixed or mobile telephone lines and broadband and with either in house or hosted services. It does however require a detailed review to determine the most appropriate solution from the number of options available.
In addition, the increasing use of virtual or non geographic numbers also means that calls can be routed and answered anywhere enabling businesses to target far larger markets than they traditionally were able to. And that means that it is even more important to understand and receive call data in real time so you can always respond accordingly.
Improving service through effective telecoms therefore means being able to monitor real time call handling success ; having a flexible and adaptive telephony approach to cater for changing demand and when disaster strikes ; but always so you can improve your response to your customers.
For further details and advice for business owners on smart business telecommunications to both reduce your costs and operate more effectively, contact Roger Whittaker of Pink Connect
