Network equipment, like anything, could use a little spring cleaning, and with Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer right around the corner, now is as good a time as any to give your company’s infrastructure a bit of sprucing. But where do you start? Hosted phone system provider BroadConnect has outlined a useful checklist in a recent blog post, designed to help you get your hardware in proper working order by staying conscious of some common pitfalls.
1. Your Reach
For one, your reach as a company is important. Most have incorporated bring your own device (BYOD) policies into their business plans, allowing employees to use their mobile devices of choice, but simply letting them use their own smartphones and tablets isn’t necessarily enough. Employees may not be making the most out of their mobile work experience.
“Your staff needs access to the full functionality of their desk phones from any location, including capabilities like access one-click dialing and managing multiple call options,” the BroadConnect blog explains. “Your on-the-go or remote employees should feel as though they are right down the hall from your office. If your existing IT solutions fall short on this end, then it’s time to do an evaluation.”
2. Scalability
Another issue to consider as you revamp your infrastructure is scalability. Ideally, businesses want to grow, but regardless of whether the company is expanding or shrinking, you want a system that can scale to meet those needs appropriately. This is especially important in terms of customer service. If the company begins to grow, with higher customer demands, it’s crucial that business keep up. Investing in a hosted VoIP solution can help ensure that your network will be ready to handle whatever demands are thrown its way. This is because hosted phone solutions are provided by companies with ample capacity lying in wait to expand your services should you need it, rather than putting you in the position of having to install costly upgrades yourself onsite.
3. Reliability
The third and final key to keep in mind is reliability. While this may seem like a no-brainer, if you’re still using onsite hardware that requires ongoing maintenance, reliable service may be an issue. If your network crashes with onsite equipment, repairing it will be at the cost of your own time and money. With a hosted solution, however, any repairs are handled by the service provider, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.
“System downtime is extremely expensive and hard to recover from, as your reputation will be hit as well as your bottom line,” BroadConnect explains. “But with a cloud-based PBX (News - Alert) solution — free from physical constraints — your business will gain first-class call handling, call center, business phone and VoIP capabilities.”
Communication is vital to doing good business, so perhaps it’s time your company thought about making the switch to a hosted phone system.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson