Marcus Richards
Once upon a time, all businesses would source their phone systems in the same way: by installing a fixed-line telephone system before paying monthly rental and call charges in order to use it.
Today, however, many businesses have cloud-based phone systems that run over the internet. In the UK, the traditional PSTN and ISDN telecoms networks are being phased out — but, according to one estimate cited by Bdaily, 60% of UK firms still need to switch to cloud-based phones.
How is your company’s current phone system faring?
That phone system might be a traditional PBX affair, with fixed lines connected to physical handsets (the ‘PBX’, by the way, stands for ‘private branch exchange’).
However, while PBX phone systems can work without an internet connection, Start Up Donut warns that they incur higher ongoing costs compared to virtual phone systems.
To help future-proof your phone system while keeping many of its existing features, you could switch to a cloud PBX solution like Gamma’s Horizon hosted phone system.
Test your workplace’s internet connection
As digitising your company’s phone system will require the presence of a fast and secure online connection at your office, you naturally need to make sure that it indeed has one.
Fortunately, Tech Donut provides access to an internet speed checker that you would be able to use to measure your download and upload speeds.
Through testing your online connection at various stages of a working day, you can ascertain a realistic average speed for you to report to a telecoms system supplier.
How do you expect the phone system to be used?
Of course, the future can be hard to predict — especially when it comes to the business landscape. Hopefully, your business will continue to grow; it might even open a few extra offices along the way. However, you can’t be certain that any of this will actually happen.
That’s why you could do with opting for a business phone system that you would be able to easily scale up or down as your corporate journey unfolds.
Determine your biggest priorities in a phone system
A business phone system can come with a long list of features, but how many of those would you really need? Ideally, you don’t want to end up paying for functionality that proves redundant.
So, before you start shopping around for a new business phone system, it would be a good idea for you to list both ‘must-have’ and ‘nice-to-have’ features. That way, you can help yourself in narrowing down the range of options for you to consider.
Ask your own staff what they want
They could well end up using the phone system a lot more often than you do, after all. So, you have an interest in making sure that any new phone system implemented at the premises will genuinely satisfy these workers’ requirements and preferences.
You could let your employees know which business phone systems you are most considering — and describe the features that are included with each, all without running riot with bewildering jargon.
