8 ways upgrading your phone system can save you money

If the thought of upgrading your phone system fills you with dread, you’re not alone! But like hundreds of other small businesses, you could be spending too much on an outdated phone system that no longer supports needs of your business – up to 30% too much.

In the UK 88% of businesses have already begun the move to the cloud, and these clever businesses know that cloud telephony can actually save them money. Here’s how:

1. Reduce call costs

Cloud phone systems use VoIP (voice over IP) technology – making calls over the internet rather than using fixed ISDN or PSTN phone lines – to reduce costs and offer greater features and flexibility. Switching to VoIP technology can save small businesses as much as 45% each month over a traditional phone solution. How? By drastically reducing costs for long distance calls and eliminating the maintenance fees and costs associated with moving, adding or changing employee phone lines.

With savings like that to be had, it’s already possible to see how a cloud solution can be a more cost-effective option.

3. Reduce security risks

One of the greatest concerns for many small businesses considering a move to the cloud is security. However a Microsoft report revealed that 94% of small businesses actually reported security benefits since moving to the cloud.

Cloud phone systems store your important information in a virtual space meaning it’s safe from physical disasters like fire or flood. Downtime can be costly to a business; with a cloud solution, if any device fails your whole system will continue to function, saving you the cost of expensive downtime and the toll it can take on your reputation.

As a managed cloud provider, all our cloud products are stored in secure data centres with information being replicated between multiple servers and hard drives to give you the peace of mind that your valuable data is in safe hands.

4. Improve customer service

We all know that happy customers equal a happy business. The ability to quickly respond to customer complaints and queries, resolving issues in minimal time and ensuring callers can always get through to the right person the first time round, all play a huge role in your customer satisfaction.

A new phone system can integrate with call centre technology to provide tools such as call reporting and recording, wallboard and auto-attendant that help to improve your daily customer interactions. Call reporting gives you the power to analyse the peak times for incoming customer calls so you can make sure adequate staff are available, then reduce your staff during quiet periods to save on costs. Call recording offers easy playback of customer calls that can be used to evaluate what makes a successful call, helping you to identify where staff need further training and empowering you to provide a better service to callers.

Research from BT revealed that missing a call from just one customer can cost a business £1200. What’s more, 85% of missed callers won’t call back and 61% will switch to a competitor if they don’t get a response the first time round! These shocking statistics highlight the need for a call management solution that will help your small business to get on top of it’s inbound and outbound calls.

Find out how cloud telephony and contact centre technology helped GB Vehicle Leasing improve their customer service.

5. Offer remote working

It’s been proven that a company culture that supports and encourages remote working (often referred to as “telecommuting” or “teleworking”) can see an increase in employee happiness and productivity. Additionally, by allowing staff to work remotely, your business can save on overhead costs such as utilities, office supplies and office space. Computer technology company Dell saved $39.5 million and reduced their energy emissions by allowing their workers to telecommute.

Cloud phone systems help support remote working practices by offering:

• Mobile apps that allow workers to take their phone extension with them wherever they go.
• The ability to make calls over the internet to save on mobile phone bills.
• Video and voice conferencing tools to host virtual meetings, rather than requiring staff to travel to the office.
• BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) technology allowing employees to work from their own devices, thus saving you the cost of purchasing and maintaining equipment.

6. Only pay for what you need

With a traditional phone system, you guess at the number of lines you need and pay accordingly. When new staff join or you set up a new branch, you need to renegotiate the cost of your contract and it can take weeks to get the new users set up.

Cloud telephony is ideal for growing businesses who need a flexible system that will grow with them. You only pay for the lines you need and it’s quick and easy to add new extensions to scale your business as and when you need to.

7. Reduce hardware costs

With a cloud solution there’s no need to pay for any physical hardware, so there’s no hefty up-front costs – only a predictable, manageable monthly bill that’s easy for your finance team to budget around. Plus with no expensive hardware you’ll also save on ongoing maintenance costs.

8. Get ready for the future

Cloud and SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions are completely future-proofed, constantly evolving and updating to ensure the product is always up to date with the latest features and trends – saving you money on expensive upgrades in the future.