Regardless of the size of your company, having a strong business communication system is important; it gives you ready access to your customers, suppliers, and anyone else you might need to stay connected with.
However, there are so many different features and types of plans that choosing the perfect one can be a challenge. Things to consider are price, coverage, and if you need mobile options, things like a data plan and overall data usage.
Here are four tips to help you choose the right system for your business.
Take Meetings Off The Phone
For a great communication and collaboration solution for small or medium sized businesses, look no further than Blue Jeans, a videoconferencing leader offering best practices for SMBs to communicate more effectively and use video to their advantage. According to Blue Jeans’ co-founder and CEO Krish Ramakrishnan, in today’s age it’s vital to use video-conferencing to conduct meetings—if you don’t have video capability, your system simply isn’t optimized for business in the 21st century.
“Live video allows participants to see body language and facial expressions making meetings feel more personal (and eliminate email multitasking),” he says. “Video also cuts down on the cost and toll of travel. While it would be ideal to meet with every customer, vendor, or partner in person, it’s not always imperative. By using video conferencing, you can do away with the there-and-back flight or a two-hour lunch meeting.”
Have Good Support
A communication system is only as good as the people behind it. You may have the greatest system in the world, but if there’s no customer support available when something goes wrong, it could really damage your business. Make sure you know if there is 24/7 support, the way to contact for support (is it live, by email, phone), and check on-line reviews to see what others have experienced in terms of support.
Use The Cloud
According to James Quinn, senior director of content & C-Suite communities for CDM, cloud-based business communication solutions allow you to enjoy enterprise-level Unified Communication capabilities without investing in expensive hardware and equipment, and without worrying about maintaining on premise systems. “The top reasons the majority of companies are investigating cloud adoption are flexibility and cost savings,” he says. “In many ways IT infrastructure can be compared to the early days of electricity generation. There was a time when organizations generated their own electricity, but when electrical utilities were formed, in-house generation faded away. In a similar way IT infrastructure can often be done less expensively and better when aggregated in the cloud.”
Think Security
A recent study by Information Age showed security is one of the top three priorities for companies when choosing any new tech for business. When it comes to a communications system, having a proper IP PBX system will protect your business from attack, while keeping you compliant with any regulatory requirements you might face.
Look for video capability, great support, cloud utilization and be serious about security to ensure you choose the right business communication system for your organization.
