For most businesses, the number of remote workers increased considerably, almost overnight, when the Coronavirus pandemic hit. In many cases, when it was announced that those that could work from home should do so, “work-from-home” policies were thrown together so employees could continue to work with little disruption to business operations.
Even though restrictions are starting to ease, some employees may not be able to return to the office for some time. Future waves are also predicted and could lead to tighter restrictions being enforced once again.
While many have been perfectly satisfied with the communications solution they have strung together at such short notice, it’s important to take a step back and evaluate how well it is actually working, especially considering that this way of working could be the new normal for quite some time. You may find that you need something more robust and that you no longer just want to “make do” and need a communications system that will support your business and help you continue to grow.
Sometimes businesses suffer from problems that they don’t even know they have. The good news is, we are here to help you spot some of the signs and help you decide if your communications system needs some attention.
6 Signs It’s Time To Upgrade Your Communications
- High volumes of traffic are affecting the quality of your communications.
- With fewer people being in the office, businesses must rely on remote communication. They need a consistent and reliable network that can cope with the increased demand. Slowdowns, dropped calls and low-quality video all disrupt communications, leaving both employees and customers frustrated.
- A cloud communication package, from a reliable provider, can help you to stay in constant and consistent communication. Pick someone who has a proven track record for delivering guaranteed uptime with several layers of redundancy and multiple connectivity options with automatic failover.
- You are worried about security.
- Security has been at the forefront of many conversations recently. With more people working from home, protecting sensitive information can be difficult. Is your voice, web and signalling traffic encrypted? What platform does your provider use to ensure that the highest security standards are met? Speak to your provider and make sure they have suitable answers to your questions.
- You operate in a regulated industry.
- In certain industries, compliance is extremely important. Violations can ruin a reputation and be extremely expensive. Businesses providing “telehealth” services or virtual financial advice become more at risk of non-compliance.
- A good cloud telecoms provider that is committed to ensuring high-levels of security and protecting sensitive information can help you to make sure you remain compliant, even when your teams are working remotely.
- You need to adapt – quickly and constantly.
- It seems that every day, COVID-19 brings a new challenge to businesses. Organisations are finding themselves having to rapidly respond to changing demands and requirements in order to avoid a break in service. How easy is it for you to add a new phone line or user? Can you do it yourself or do you need to put in a request with your provider? Can you remove that user just as easily or are you tied into a contract?
- With a cloud communications system, you can adapt to new conditions very quickly. You can add or remove seats and upgrade permissions in real-time, making your business more agile while staying within your budget.
- It’s becoming harder to meet client expectations.
- This recent pandemic has created a unique marketplace in which many of us are almost completely reliant on technology to conduct business. Customer experience is now more important than ever, but it can be hard to deliver when remote working makes sharing documents and holding discussions more difficult.
- Hosted telephony systems include collaboration tools to make this easier. Employees can chat via instant messaging, host virtual meetings, share documents and more in real-time. This means they can deliver a quick and seamless service and exceed your customer’s expectations.
- Managing multiple licences takes up all of your time.
- Keeping track of a remote workforce can be a big enough challenge, without having to manage multiple licences for your communications system. With a cloud phone solution, you can mix and match license types on a single plan. Whether you need contact centres or collaboration tools, licenses can simply be added on-demand for each user via their own profile. Furthermore, as your cloud provider is responsible for infrastructure, you don’t have to worry about maintenance or carry the cost of unused lines or equipment.
All Signs Point To Phone Technology
If any of the above situations sound familiar to you, then it’s time to consider updating your communications system. It’s unlikely that things will return to normal anytime soon and, even when we do, the ability to adapt quickly will ensure that we stay ahead of the curve.
Kane Communications are here to help. We provide free, impartial advice, every step of the way to help you find the best solution and can deliver the perfect cloud-based telephony and collaboration system with all the features necessary to foster a collaborative work environment.
Furthermore, many of the systems we offer can be deployed remotely. This means we can get you up and running quickly without needing to meet face-to-face or come into direct contact with anyone.
We understand that no two businesses are the same and use our knowledge and experience to deliver secure and reliable phone systems to help you provide your customers with an experience that is second to none, even when your circumstances can change in an instant.
Please feel free to drop us a line to discuss your needs in more detail.
