7 Sure Signs That It’s Time to Upgrade Your Business Phone System
Opportunities Missed or Gained
With so much business being done online, very little thought is given to business phone systems unless you run a call center. This can be unfortunate, however, because telephones are still an essential part of communication.
Your upgrading your business phone system can provide new opportunities, while old systems can make you miss them. If you haven’t updated your current business phone system in a while, it may be time for a much needed upgrade.
Here are seven tell-tale signs you should watch for:
1. The phones are always going ‘down’ and someone has to call someone to service the problem.
Dealing with an outdated phone system can be a drain on time, energy, and your bottom line. You need to know your phone is there when you need it most. Often, emergencies are dealt with by telephone, not computer.
2. Employees avoid using the phone system whenever possible.
Like a high performance sports car, it should be a pleasure to drive. This means easy to use ‘cool’ features that simplify the calling process, and make them more likely to pick up the phone and make that important phone call.
Is your team putting their phone tasks at the bottom of their daily task list or sending emails instead of calling?
3. Use of the company phone system decreases employee productivity.
Your business phone system should enhance employee performance. It should provide them an extra level of information and awareness, that enables them to be more efficient with their time and more productive with their work. When it isn’t allowing for quick and efficient use, time is wasted, frustration increases and progress stalls.
4. Your business phone system is not integrated with your core business applications, such as CRM, ERP, ATS, or others.
If you’re not logging your phone calls into your project management or CRM database, then you’re missing key data points to drive your internal business process.
Every application should have the ability to integrate with every other one. And if you are logging your phone calls, but doing so by hand, you’re wasting time. Your phone system should be logging these calls for you with full integration with your core business applications.
5. Adding new phones or locations is such a hassle it is avoided at all costs.
Upgrading your business phone system will make adding lines, and even additional locations, a relatively quick and painless experience. Your phone system should be able to easily grow with your business.
6. You would never consider training or coaching employees over the phone.
Upgraded business phone systems offer lots of features, such as video chat and video conferencing, that can make employee training, coaching, and even conference calls a very positive experience. Not being able to conference by phone makes multi-location operations nearly impossible.
7. You cannot tell which employee is on the phone with which client or how long they’ve been on the phone.
Asking your frontline receptionist to screen, forward and transfer calls without being able to see the big picture is like asking her to deliver memos blind-folded.
Being able to assess the effectiveness of both phone calls and individual employee performance is necessary in order to know what is working and what isn’t. Digital, touch-screen innovations allow your call center to fully integrate to the needs of your business.
Does Your Business Phone System Need an Upgrade?
If any of the above signs are familiar to you. You are not utilizing the full capabilities a phone system should be providing. Contact Amtel IP Phone Systems for a free onsite demo and quote on upgrading your business phone system today. Call us today at 713-977-1000 or contact us online.
You can also check out the great features available from today’s biggest manufacturers by following the links below:
7 Sure Signs That It’s Time to Upgrade Your Business Phone System | Amtel Phone Systems
