Being around the telecommunications industry for long enough you come to understand that at least 80% of the customers we come across are getting ripped off with their telecommunications infrastructure and business phone system set up. Here’s 6 simple ways to tell if you’re being ripped off as well
1. Your Business Phone system is still screwed to the wall or mounted in your comms rack.
Cloud PABX is here (well, it’s been here for a while) but with the introduction of more accessible data options via NBN or one of the other fibre services providers it now become a no brainier.
2. You need to divert calls to your mobile when you’re not in the office.
One number reach is real and it should be a seamless inbuilt function of your new business phone system. If you need to press any buttons or tell recption your popping out for a few hours and will be back after lunch then we have issues.
3. You can’t make changes without contacting a technician.
You should be comfortable and confident enough to make simple changes to your set up without having to log a job or wait for a technician to come to site. A lot of the new platforms have a very user friendly interface, the legacy ones are complex because theyre built for engineers.
4. You can’t easily connect it to your other business applications.
Let’s face it, in this day and age what use is a phone without it integrating to some of the other tools you use to run your business. Would you buy a mobile phone that you couldn’t access the internet on, check your email on or download an app too? Thought so… Times have changed and so to is the way we do business. You’re right to expect more from your business phone system and a lot of the new platforms integrate out of the box with all brands you’re familiar with (Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, Hubspot, Slack etc)
5. You’re still with one of the traditional vendors or carriers.
If your phone system has a logo that is also on your TV and fridge or it was used to fit out offices in the 90s, chances are you aren’t using the best available technology. There are many “born in the cloud” companies that don’t come with the legacy of trying to adapt their on-premise hardware solutions (and the millions of dollars they have invested in them) to try meet the needs of today’s consumers. Do your research before you commit because you may not of heard of the next brand you purchase in but that’s no reason to not take it into consideration. Airbnb, Uber and even Under Armour didn’t exist in there given industry 10 years ago now they’re the disrupters and some of the biggest brands on the planet.
6. They made you sign a contract
I get that you can get a pricing discounts for pledging your allegiance to a company but if the vendor you decided to partner with didn’t have a pay-as-you-go option in its portfolio it probably means it was the wrong decision.