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6 Reasons Old Business Phone Systems Are Costing You a Fortune
By: Scott Resnick
The NEC phone systems companies install most are giving those companies a tremendous advantage over companies running older enterprise phone systems. Digital phone systems provide so many advantages that reduce costs and improve efficiency that it makes no sense to continue running a company with an outdated business phone system.
1. Maintenance
Your enterprise phone system is an important asset, so you most likely have a maintenance contract to ensure that it stays up and running or that the vendor fixes it quickly when it goes down. Maintenance fees rise as your business phone system gets older because it’s more expensive for the supplier to maintain. They have to stock old parts and keep people trained on old systems, and they pass those costs on to companies that use older enterprise phone systems. In many cases, with the difference in maintenance fees between older systems and new NEC phone systems, companies end up paying the same or less when they opt to install a new digital phone system. Not only does the new business system cost less, it will have more advanced features that improve operations and increase efficiency.
2. Integration
Business phone systems are often integrated with a company’s business software to improve efficiency. Many call centers, for example, integrate the enterprise phone system with the company’s ERP or CRM system so that the software displays a customer’s record immediately when they call in.
Sales force automation is another area where integration with a digital phone system offers huge cost savings. Instead of forcing your sales reps to keep track of scheduled calls, and then dial the calls and record that the conversation took place, the integrated business phone system pulls the daily call list from the software and automatically dials the calls, recording the date and time automatically. Your sales force can spend their time selling instead of keeping records, so your revenue increases as your costs go down.
3. Speed and reliability
The new NEC phone systems companies rely on have improved hardware and software that is more reliable and user friendly. The overall improved system speed means customers don’t sit waiting for the call to ring through or listening to a ringing phone when they call in, and newer digital phone systems are so reliable that they rarely go down or have quality issues.
4. Lack of features
Modern business phone systems have advanced features such as the ability to ring calls through to another line when people are away from their desk. How much does it cost if you miss out on a big sale because your sales team was on the road somewhere? You won’t have to find out with an advanced enterprise phone system.
Newer digital phone systems have the ability to send alerts via email to a user’s PC or mobile device when they have a new voicemail message. The user can listen to the message remotely and return the call right away. This leads to improved customer satisfaction and more sales.
Most business phone systems have a long list of possible features that your technical support team can configure to match your specific requirements. You can have exactly the features you need without paying for features you don’t need or want, so you can set the digital phone system up to support your business cost effectively.
5. Connect multiple facilities inexpensively
Business phone systems often have to connect multiple facilities with a single phone system that allows users to transfer calls easily between all locations and to contact remote employees without making expensive outside calls. It’s much less expensive to call employees by dialing an extension on the same phone system than it is to make an outside call or a call to a cellphone.
6. Sound quality
New digital phone systems offer improved sound quality over older enterprise phone systems. Better voice quality means that conversations with customers and suppliers go more smoothly and there is less chance of misunderstanding. Your team won’t have to call back to get a better line, because the line will already be good.
You may be surprised at the many ways to save money with business phone systems. You will find that a new enterprise phone system improves your efficiency, saves money and provides superior reliability and advanced features.
This article was originally published by TTI Houston
Published: September 26, 2013
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