'Tis the Season for Vacations: Business VoIP Can Help

The old saying the show must go on aptly applies to the 24/7 nature of 21st century business. But, even small business owners and managers sometimes need to take a break, and the holidays are a logical time to do so.

If you fall into this camp, but fear that leaving the helm for even a few days would spell disaster, take a deep breath and read on.

It is possible to take a vacation and not risk damaging customer relationships or missing out on sales opportunities. How? Well, for one thing, your business VoIP system (you do have one, don’t you?) is a vital tool to keep communication channels open among team members and with customers, even if they are traveling too.   

Or, to put it another way: with a business VoIP system, work is an activity, not a place.

And, worst case scenario that a fire erupts you have to put out before returning to the office, a VoIP phone system’s cloud capabilities allow you to be available remotely without missing a beat. Plan for the best, prepare for the worst.

Knowing that the tools are in place to keep things running smoothly while you’re away is very reassuring. In a recent blog post, Melinda Emerson of Nextiva suggested the following other tips to plan your holiday vacation without negatively impacting business activity.

Plan ahead – Notify clients of your upcoming absence, let them know who to contact while you’re away, and get in-progress projects done or to a logical pause-point.  This won’t prevent the inevitable email inbox dig-out when you return, but will make easier other aspects of the transition into and out of vacation.

Delegate responsibilities that can’t hold – Assign someone to be a point of contact for urgent matters while you’re gone, and include their contact details in your vacation email autoresponder and voicemail message. Empower this person to make decisions on your behalf. Then, rest easy knowing anything that can’t wait will be handled promptly.

Schedule marketing releases – Before you head out the door, set social media updates and blog posts to publish automatically while you’re gone. This does mean preparing content in advance, but it’s worth it because it means no gap in your company’s social media presence.

Take care of time-sensitive matters in advance – Square away any tasks that can’t wait till you get back, like paying bills or rescheduling meetings on the calendar during your vacation. With these details out of the way, you can relax and enjoy the break.

Relax – really! With planning, your business can and will survive your absence. Remember that many of your clients will be on vacation at this time of year too, so it’s unlikely any crises will crop up, anyway. 

Edited by Alisen Downey