I like my current phone system. What is all this about VoIP and why is it such a huge deal?
Do you remember GeoCities? What about your first Myspace page? If like me you do, I’m willing to bet you’d rather forget. If you’re (un)lucky enough to stumble across one of these relics of the web I have no doubt at all that it would shock you; it’s like looking back through embarrassing childhood photo albums you wish your parents would stop bringing out at family dinners.
As a business your web presence has evolved since the heady days of Clipart and GIFs of dancing babies. Of course it has – you wouldn’t survive otherwise. Ancient sites like these would scare off even the most loyal customer. So, let me ask you this; when was the last time you updated your phone system? ISDN systems have been around longer than the Internet itself, and many haven’t been updated since before Tom sold Myspace.
Every few years ‘under construction’ pages go up like scaffolding around the internet as the next evolution of HTML or CSS comes along and companies scramble to modernise their websites to attract business and look like the next big thing again. I don’t mean to minimise the importance of your website here – it’s essential to keep abreast of new advances in technology and show your customers you’re a modern, forward-thinking company after all.
However, business phone systems don’t ever seem to get the same attention. Phone technology is advancing at the same pace as the web, but most of the developments seem to have passed people by. Almost everyone except the largest corporate businesses seem to have been using the same phone system for years. Why is this? Is it because businesses are scared to move away from the biggest telecom suppliers? Maybe you think upgrading your phone system will cause too much disruption to the business to be worthwhile? Or perhaps it’s because phone systems have always been expensive and unwieldy beasts that are just a nightmare to work on?
You shouldn’t be scared; we know what we’re doing.
5G Communications have been bringing the latest enterprise-level communications technology to UK businesses for more than 20 years. We’d like to think we’ve learned a thing or two in that time. We work only with the most reliable suppliers to ensure we provide the best service possible to you, our clients. Unlike many other companies, we don’t like leaving you in the dark to figure things out for yourself. Our job doesn’t stop when you’ve signed up – it’s only when we’re happy that you understand how to get the best out of your phone system that we will take a step back.
Disruption only means poor planning.
Ok, so there may be something to this one – without careful planning, deploying a new phone system can be hugely disruptive to both your staff and your customers. Every phone system we deploy is tested well ahead of time. We will help you build a system to your own unique requirements – whether that means replicating exactly the same setup you have now or building the latest voice-recognition tech into your system, we’ll always make sure that every element of your new system is fully documented. We’re happy to train your staff as well – after all, we’re the experts and this might be completely new to you.
Invest in your business’s future.
We won’t lie, there are some upfront costs when installing a new VoIP system. This doesn’t mean it’s not a good investment for your business though. Because VoIP doesn’t rely on a traditional phone line to deliver calls to you, there’s no line rental to pay. Similarly, the per-minute cost of calls is negligible compared to what you’re probably paying now, so any setup costs you pay will be re-paid multiple times over the course of the contract.
It’s not as easy to quantify the benefits that a Unified Communications (UC) deployment will give you. As the name suggests, UC brings all the communications tools you currently use into one app available on all desktop and mobile platforms. Not only will you be able to get rid of a lot of these costly supplementary services but putting them all in one place means your staff will get more use out of all of them, making your money go even further.
Our UC platform gives all users access to file and screen sharing, instant messaging, voice and video calls and a lot more. It will truly revolutionise the way your staff collaborate and improve efficiency, which are both great for your bottom line.
Web dashboards have tamed the beast.
ISDN systems are a nightmare to manage and re-configure. This alone will have put a lot of businesses off the idea of migrating away – they put so much time and money into setting up their current system that they can’t face going through it all again. Perfectly understandable; there’s a reason old-school analogue phone engineers make a lot of money. VoIP and UC make this a thing of the past – you no longer need a degree in engineering to understand all the functions of your system and how to get them working. Our systems are all managed through one web portal that’s simple and intuitive to use.
Hopefully I’ve answered a few questions you might have, and hopefully VoIP doesn’t seem as scary as it did before. Some of you might even be excited about changing telecom supplier – great! Our friendly team are always available to answer any questions you might have, and would love to get the ball rolling on moving you to the latest and greatest in communications technology.