Today’s new IP-based telephone systems are designed with capabilities small businesses can use to attract more customers, expand operations, streamline routine customer transactions and so much more. Here we look at four key ways any growing business can benefit from today’s new IP-based communications solutions, including taking advantage of built-in cost savings.
The New IP-Based Telephone Solutions
When most small businesses think about acquiring a new phone system, they usually consider factors such as:
- Does the system have the features that we need?
- Is it reliable?
- Is it the right size system?
- Can it expand as we grow?
- Will it fit within our budget?
All of these questions are important, but unfortunately the most important question is often overlooked: How will the phone system deliver real results for our business?
Most small or medium businesses don’t think of their telephone system as something that can help attract new customers, increase revenues, develop more repeat business, keep overhead in check—all of the ways that a business grows. But, in fact, that’s exactly what today’s new office communications system can help you accomplish.
Why? What is it about today’s new phone systems that makes them suited to the task of business development? In a nutshell, it’s the technology: communications systems today are based on the Internet Protocol (IP). These new communications systems are often referred to as VoIP or Voice over IP systems. The voice signals are digitized and transported as packets, in the same way e-mails and data files are transmitted over the Internet. (Learn more about VoIP here.)
What does that mean in terms of practical, every day business realities? It means that today’s phone systems are really more like computers than traditional communications systems. They are more versatile, able to accept applications, ready to become integrated into everyday business operations, becoming a “go-to” resource for
- Managing and administering all your business communications—not just voice, but also video, e-mail and instant messaging (IM)
- Communication-enabling every day sales and service functions
- Simplifying and speeding office or mobile interactions among employees, partners, customers, etc.
- Reducing the cost of existing expenses
- Lowering the risk of down time or lost productivity
No telephone system will ever replace all the other important ingredients needed for business success. You still need to offer a great product or service, price it right, market it effectively and maintain quality and competitive differentiation.
What the right telecommunications system can do is take your existing strengths and transform how you deliver them—by helping make your business operate more efficiently, by reducing expenses, by enabling your staff to be more responsive to customers and each other, and by giving you an added measure of flexibility in managing the peaks and valleys of business expansion and contraction.
Today, there are small businesses just like yours that are benefiting from their IP based systems in exactly these ways. The PDF white paper below will look at four key ways you can use phone systems to deliver real results for your small business and cite some actual examples of businesses just like yours that are doing it today.
For a more in-depth look at How Effective Communications Delivers Real Results for Your Small Business download this pdf.
