Reviewing your phone system

In recognition of the start of a fresh university year, Ofcom have produced a guide to choosing the right telephone package for students. Whilst some of the areas covered in the guide apply mainly to student issues, many others could apply equally to any business which is looking to review its existing phone packages. These include call cost, line rental and whether a package of services might be the best option.

Whilst businesses have generally embraced the benefits of technological change in their day to day processes and accounting functions, many firms have been slow to embrace the benefits that technology and the internet could bring to their phone systems.

So, taking a leaf out of the Ofcom book, what should a business look for when changing their phone systems? Firstly, check your broadband availability and speed. Unless these are robust enough, a business may not be able to take full advantage of internet phone systems. Provided the first hurdle has been cleared then the next area to look at is volume and geography of calls. VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) is a way of making phone calls over the internet. VoIP to VoIP calls are generally free and VoIP to landline calls tend to be considerably cheaper than calls made over landlines. This particularly applies for calls made overseas.

Having identified the savings that can be made in calls, the next area to look at is call answering and the transfer of calls around the business. Virtual switchboards score here as they can provide the same service as a complex physical switchboard but at a fraction of the cost. Even the smallest business can benefit from features such as the switchboard recognising the number of the incoming call and either responding with a personalised message for that caller or automatically diverting the call to an answering service or business employee as required.

Having sorted out cheaper calls and a cost effective switchboard, the final area to look at is the business phone number. With a range of UK phone numbers and International phone numbers to choose from, businesses can select memorable numbers, premium rate numbers or a variety of regional numbers. These can be integrated into the virtual switchboard without the need to pay separate line rental. So for example a business located on the edge of two phone areas could advertise separate local phone numbers for each area without having to pay two line rentals.

Cheaper calls, better cost effective systems and marketing possibilities via phone numbers. Let’s take a leaf out of the student book and celebrate the start of the new school and university year with a brand new business phone system.