AS we start a New Year, we're edging ever closer to the demise of Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) networks which BT previously announced they intended to stop selling in 2020 and switching them off in 2025.
Despite this, a surprising number of smaller businesses are still using ISDN and PSTN systems and have yet to take advantage of the modern connected phone systems available, which in turn means they are not tapping in to the benefits that such systems provide.
Until recent years, phone systems were used by businesses to connect the caller to the phone network. However, technology has developed hugely and can provide more than just a simple phone service.
Most businesses will have a Private Branch Exchange (PBX), a telephone system within their enterprise that switches calls between enterprise users on local lines while allowing all users to share a certain number of external phone lines. This enables organisations to save on the cost of requiring a line for each user to the telephone company’s central office.
In addition to making and receiving phone calls, a modern system allows you to do so much more. While voicemail has been around for many years, a modern system enables businesses to receive an email with the transcribed voicemail or have the voicemail time stamped and sent to an inbox which can be easily forwarded to other employees to listen to. Phone calls can be recorded for means of quality control and assessment and are also useful for training purposes.
Some people may be hesitant in using a business which has a mobile number as its point of contact which may be the case for smaller businesses. A modern phone system eliminates this problem as it enables businesses using a mobile phone to use a local number that directly forwards all calls to the mobile.
With a lot of businesses requiring employees to work remotely or on the go, the modern business telephone system enables staff to use their device to make the most of their time out of the office by using apps and mobility features that will give them full functionality of their desk phones at all times and access to their CRM and files.
Now that we are in 2017, businesses still to upgrade to a modern phone system should make it their New Year's resolution to do so now. Don’t leave it too late or you will continue to miss out on all the benefits your company could be taking advantage of which will ultimately save you time and money. So maybe now is the time to ‘hang up’ on your old system!
:: Eric Carson is director of Rainbow Communications and can be contacted via www.rainbowcomms.com. Rainbow Communications can also be followed on Twitter @Rainbow_ Comms.
