The Desk Phone is No Longer the Only Option

Just as there is more to life than what one wears or what one owns, so too is there more to business than an office and a desk phone. A new report from Nextiva.makes the case clearly; a combination of factors, perhaps most notably the rise of a mobile workforce, is decreasing the need for the desk phone and increasing in turn the need for mobile solutions that can work from anywhere.

Indeed, the Nextiva report points out that, these days, being mobile is now more important than ever. Being able to be connected anytime and from anywhere provides an incredible new potential advantage for businesses from small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) to the full enterprise. Being able to access that company information regardless of location can open up new opportunities, ranging from new sales to new contacts and beyond.

More specifically, going mobile can improve productivity, allowing employees to make and receive calls via the business lines without having to actually be at the desk. That also allows for better collaboration between employees with better communication on the inside. Plus, there are even options from there; a call can be started at a desk but completed elsewhere, and the reverse is likewise true.

This improved productivity can have a positive effect on customer satisfaction as well. Being able to quickly respond to customer calls regardless of location certainly helps, and the ability to route calls to those best equipped to respond to the customer is likewise helpful. Plus, mobile conferencing systems can drop the amount of travel time required to carry out a normal day, and makes it easier for customers to reach the business as fewer numbers are required to potentially make contact with the business. Mobile technologies make managing basic tasks like calendar tasks and alert reception easier, and the value of mobile communications on a mobile workforce approaches incalculable.

Some of these points are a bit double-edged, and require a specific kind of corporate culture to be fully realized. For instance, some companies aren't ready to establish a mobile workforce fully, so the benefits of a mobile communications system really won't be felt in such firms. By like token, some of these come with some downsides; for instance, yes, mobile communications systems allow employees to answer calls at nearly any time of the day or night from any location, but if there isn't a clear limit or some kind of compensation accordingly, it can increase the likelihood of employee burnout. However, the benefits of such a strategy are hard to ignore; customers want to be able to contact a business on their own terms, so to speak, and that means the need to be ready for such a move is important.

Mobile communications methods have a lot to offer, and though sometimes there are downsides to be addressed, there's certainly more than enough potential upside to make mobile communications worth considering anywhere. A business is no longer its desk phone, and being able to take full advantage of these new technologies can be extremely valuable.