Why businesses need to consider updating their telephone systems

According to a study by Google, 61% of mobile users call a business when they’re in the purchase phase of the buying cycle. Whilst other studies show that 65% of clients prefer to speak to a business they’re working with over the phone rather than any other communication method.

For most businesses then phone lines can be the most important tool in both generating and retaining business. Despite this, upgrading telephony is often something which falls under the radar for many companies due to a ‘’if it’s not broke don’t fix it” outlook or fear of any high capital costs which often come with updating technology.

What a lot of businesses don’t know however, is that upgrading to a modern, feature rich telephone system is often cheaper than the cost of maintaining and running their current system.

When you consider that faults occurring with dated business phones can result in downtime totaling weeks without clients being able to get in contact, being proactive in ensuring you’re not cut off is an essential business strategy. This is especially true when you consider that some of the components associated with older telephone systems (such as Samsung DSC, 816 or Compact 2 systems) once popular with businesses are no longer in production, making it extremely difficult and time consuming to fix any occurring fault.

The modern business telephone system is hosted

When contemplating which kind of telephone system to upgrade to, the low costs and increased functionality of a hosted system make it the most attractive option for many businesses. 3 million UK businesses have in fact already upgraded to a hosted business telephone system because of the savings available and abundance of features.

One of the best things about a hosted telephone system is the lack of any upfront or capital costs making it an affordable solution available immediately. Calls are free within the UK and can be made at a significantly reduced rate to numbers outside of the UK. Businesses rather pay on a per-user-per-month basis (which is often less than their current line rental) covering the cost of installation, use and maintenance the phone system for a fixed duration of time (usually between 2-5 years).

In terms of feature set, hosted telephony offers everything you would expect from a modern phone system, but with some extra bells and whistles.

Call queuing, call recording, auto-attendants etc. are all standard features a modern business telephone system requires. A hosted telephone system will also allow businesses to connect across multiple sites with calls being diverted to any device with an internet connection. This also makes working from home possible as calls coming into the office number can be transferred to a mobile phone connected to the internet.

To find out more about the fantastic cost saving potential and increased telephony feature set available to your business, get in touch with GHM Communications today.