top 5 question asked by business owners

My name is Greg Eicke and I’ve been working at the leading edge of voice communications for the past 35 years. In that time I’ve found that most companies are interested in five things when it comes to their phone technology. Firstly, the most commonly asked question is “Do I really need a VoIP phone system?” closely followed by, “How to reduce the phone bill?” Well I bring great news for the business owner who is looking for impressive productivity increases and equally enjoyable cost savings.

Another key frustration for businesses is the sheer complexity of many phone and data solutions. The good news is that communications complexity ends with Phones Now Pty Ltd (formerly Phone Systems Brisbane)! As do all of its painful implications. Three plus decades in this industry has enabled me to develop what I call ‘brilliantly simple’ phone solutions. These solutions will make communications and collaboration second nature for your workforce. And of course they save you big dollars in ongoing phone costs… another reason why they are brilliant!

Now onto the ’Top 5 Questions’…’ I put this document together to help people better understand the techno babble used by slick sales people so they can make a quick informed decision on whether to purchase a traditional Digital Key Telephone system or explore further the options IP Telephony and Unified Communications would bring to their business.

I’ve been able to piece all of this together because for the better part of my career I’ve installed, maintained and sold Telephone Systems. This has also allowed me to provide sound advice from ‘Feet on the Street and Hands on Technical Experience’ so that our clients get the best solution and value for money.

1. How can I reduce my telephone bill?

This special report is focused on saving your company the money and pain of making a poor purchasing decision when it comes to telecommunications. And that certainly is great place to start. I want to help you plug the leaks so that you are not needlessly sending your hard earned profits over to your phone company.

However I really want to go one step further. What if your telecommunications could be a profit centre to your business rather than just an expense item? What if I could find ways and strategies of actually bringing in more business to you and adding extra profit to your bottom line?

Saving our clients’ money is something we really love to do. But being able to help our clients MAKE more sales and profit is what really ‘cranks our handle’ and gets us excited!

2. Should I “Bundle” calls with my new telephone system?

To bundle or Not to bundle?

The rule of thumb is “bundle & beware”. Here are some important points to consider when it comes to bundling – they could save you thousands…

What are the call rates?
How do those rates compare with what you are paying at the moment? You don’t want your phone bill to go up do you?
How long are you locked into those rates for (rates are constantly changing, good rates today are bad rates tomorrow).
Do you own the phone system at the end of the term?

3. Do I really need a High Tech Unified Communications telephone system?

If you need some of these features ….

Advanced Call Management
Multiple Branch Offices – so you can appear as ‘one’ to your customers.
Central Telephone Operator / Reception means you can potentially save thousands on staff wages.
Web Collaborative Conferencing – so you can easily create conference calls and share your desk top screen saving thousands on travel expenses.
Video conferencing – So users can easily take advantage of the power of video, perfect for support sessions and when you need a face to face meeting with a colleague in another state or city.
Conference calls so you can avoid the hefty cost incurred by carrier supplied conference bridges.
Increased staff efficiencies and productivity – Many tiny improvements make quite a difference to the overall result. “A lot of a small amount is a lot”.
Access to key staff regardless of location – Teleworking
Staff Mobility – So you be sure customers can reach staff with a single call no matter where they are.
Roaming staff between branch offices – simply log into your phone just like you do for your PC.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software Integration / email / voice mail
Fast accurate access to contacts – means you can use familiar CRM contact software to launch calls.
Desktop Telephony Software for enhanced telephony features
In house administration which means lower cost of ownership.
User Presence Information – know whether a person is busy before you call.
Desktop Fax – Means you can send direct from your desk top and receive direct to your inbox. Perfect for sales orders, support requests and personal fax’s.
Instant Message across your enterprise
Call Recording – So you can maintain best practices and enhance customer service.

You need to purchase a Unified Communications / IP Telephony solution

What is Unified Communications? Unified Communications is not a single product, but a set of products that provides a consistent unified user interface and user experience across multiple devices and media types.

Unified communications bridges the gap between IP Telephony and other computer related communication technologies.

What is IP Telephony? IP (Internet protocol) telephony is a technology that supports telephone calls on your computer network. In the office you will see that your telephone can now plug into the same cable as your computer bringing both devices and their full potential closer together.

4. Will VoIP save my business money?

First of all – What is VoIP? – VoIP means Voice over Internet Protocol, not Voice over the Internet.

Still confused about what VoIP is? – VoIP is termed very loosely today. VoIP is often confused with “Low Cost Calls” and “Telephone Systems”. Let me explain, VoIP best describes “Voice over a data network” whereas IP Telephony or Unified communications refers to the Software Application and Hardware of an IP phone system.

VoIP – Low Cost Calls – Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) converts voice calls to packets that travel over data networks. In this way, a single, robust network can carry all of an organisation’s data and voice traffic in a converged system.

VoIP involves trade-offs surrounding factors such as cost, flexibility, reliability, and user expectations, but evidence continues to mount that improvements in technology are tilting such evaluations in favour of VoIP.

So onto “Will VoIP save my business money”, the short answer is yes it certainly does save money.

5. Are your phones easy to use?

A key frustration for businesses is the sheer complexity of many phone and data solutions. The good news is that communications complexity ends with Phones Now Pty Ltd (previously Phone Systems Brisbane)! As do all of its painful implications. Almost four decades in this industry has enabled me to develop what I call ‘brilliantly simple’ phone solutions. These solutions will make communications and collaboration second nature for your workforce. And of course they save you big dollars in ongoing phone costs… another reason why they are brilliant!