mistakes to avoid - computerworlduk mistakes people make when selecting a business phone ... 2...
TRANSCRIPT
RingCentral Whitepaper
The phone allows your business to flourish. It’s your lifeline to the
outside world and is critical to the image you project to customers.
It’s your connection to your customers and millions of prospective
customers who will reach out to you. That is why selecting the right
phone system is important. You need to be sure that the system you
choose is reliable and adaptable to the changing needs of your growing
business. There’s no need to waste time with trial and error when you
can learn from other businesses like yours. To help, we’ve compiled five
common mistakes people make when selecting a business phone system;
and, more importantly, how you can avoid making these mistakes.
Mistakes to AvoidWhen Selecting a Business Phone System
RingCentral Whitepaper | 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Business Phone System
2
1 Going with your home provider
Mistake
We get it. You often go with a company you’ve used before. It’s an easy place to start.
But, just because they can meet your personal needs, doesn’t mean their service is the right
solution for your business. You need a system that makes you look professional and gives you
the tools to manage your business communications.
How to Avoid
Explore your options beyond the standard service providers and costly on-premise systems.
Consider cloud phone solutions that give you many easy-to-use features to run your business
without requiring huge start-up costs or hardware.
2 Buying based solely on price
Mistake
Be careful to consider the total cost of owning a phone system, and not just the monthly fee.
If you go with a traditional solution, you have to consider the initial investment in the hardware
PBX, the installation of the phone system, the on-going maintenance and enhancement to it if
your business expands, as well as the monthly fees.
How to Avoid
Consider cloud based solutions that do not require you to purchase hardware upfront,
allow you to avoid maintenance fees, and often have one all-inclusive monthly price for both
the phone system and monthly service. Whatever option you choose, ensure to calculate
the total cost of ownership and consider the on-going costs you would incur to make
changes to your phone system (if you choose the traditional route).
RingCentral Whitepaper | 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Business Phone System
3
3 Discounting the customer experience
Mistake
Your phone system isn’t just about how you connect to others. Your phone system is about
how others connect with you. When selecting a phone system, you must consider what your
customers will experience when they call. Do you want to provide them with a dial by name
or department directory? Do you want to give priority for certain customers? Do you want
to be able to re-route your customer calls instantly from anywhere to ensure that they always
get the best service, even if one of your offices is closed or your customer service manager
is out sick?
How to Avoid
Put yourself in all users’ shoes – including your customers. Test the system from every
perspective. Make a call and try navigating your phone directory from their point of view.
Be sure to test this during business hours and after hours. Consider the differences in how
you would be able to service customers from a traditional phone solution (that requires
an IT manager to come out to make changes to how your customer calls are routed),
vs. a cloud based solution that allows the business owner to instantly change how
customer calls are answered.
4 Over/under-estimating growth
Mistake
Sometimes even the best plans can go awry. Growth is unpredictable. It’s easy to under-estimate
or overestimate how quickly your business will grow. With the wrong system, this can be a
costly mistake.
How to Avoid
Select a phone system that can easily scale up with your business. Don’t get stuck with
massive investments in hardware. Also, avoid long-term contracts that are inflexible and
lock you into services you might not need.
RingCentral Whitepaper | 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Business Phone System
4
5 Forcing a square peg into a round hole
Mistake
And lastly, probably the biggest mistake most make is picking a solution that does not work
the way you work. Are you on the road often? Do demands from your personal life come up
at times, forcing you to work remotely? How you work must be considered when selecting a
phone system for your business, but is often overlooked when just going down a features/
functionality selection checklist.
How to Avoid
Get a system that works for you, not against you. Choose a system that is flexible, dynamic
and works the way you do. If you’re often on the road, for example, don’t purchase a phone
service that only works in your office. Select a phone system that can work in multiple
locations, connecting you with your customers when you’re in the car, office or at an
off-site meeting. Pick a solution that not only meets your needs today, but also has a
focus on innovation, so as your business grows and your needs change, it can too.
As a business, you want customers to be able to reach you. The correct phone service allows customers, current and future, to reach you. The solution you choose should be flexible, grow with your company and allow you to work from anywhere.
One possible solution is RingCentral, an easy-to-use, flexible business phone system designed for small and medium businesses that works the way you do. RingCentral offers a complete phone and fax solution with big business features and mobility for a small business price. Business class Polycom and Cisco desk and conference phones arrive Plug & Ring ready, and you get implementation advisors and free 24x7 support.
For more information, please contact a sales representative, visit http://www.ringcentral.co.uk or call 0800 098 8136.
RingCentral, Inc. Siena Court, The Broadway, Maidenhead SL6 1NJ, United Kingdom www.ringcentral.co.uk
©2013 RingCentral, Inc. All rights reserved. RingCentral, RingCentral logo and RingCentral Office are registered trademark of RingCentral, Inc. Other third party marks and logos displayed on this document are trademarks of such respective third parties.