WILL IT HELP OR HAMPER?
The first rule of technology purchases – will it help or hamper your business?
You may be thinking – how can a new system hamper your business?
Believe it or not, the biggest mistake is actually in Voice Telephony and Internet services or VoIP
TEAMS OR ZOOM?
During the pandemic, a lot of companies gravitated towards Teams and Zoom, not just for the one-on-one or one-to-many virtual conferences and meetings, and both entities have tried to capitalise on this by offering standard Telephony functions, starting with ‘break-out’ calls from their networks to the outside of the world.
The world of Teams and Zoom are closed ecosystems and they have had to make technical additions to their respective networks in order to allow call in to and out of their networks.
Large network devices known as Session Border Controllers (SBCs) link with, what we term as SIP Trunks (virtual voice lines, provided by 3rd part suppliers) that back-link with traditional voice networks (landline and mobile numbers).
Whilst this sounds like a great idea and to be honest, there is nothing wrong with the concept, until you consider how calls come back into your organisation.
THE HIGHS & THE LOWS
Teams and Zoom can not match the inbound call routing of any telephone system as they were not designed to be on. They both have some functionality but nowhere near the capability that most customers would require to ensure that an incoming call reaches the right person and the call get answered promptly to increase productivity and customer satisfaction measures.
One of the main functions not available on Teams is the ability to see if a person is already on a call.
Teams uses Outlook to determine if a person is ‘busy’ or available. Now, lets face it, you don’t have time to put your Outlook on ‘busy’ every time you answer a call – or do you? A simple BLF (Busy Lamp Field) on a standard phone system does just that. Calls were being cut off mid-flow and call quality was poor due to technical issues.
THE CHALLENGES FOR SMALL BUSINESS
Internet connections are another area which can cause a problem. Many small businesses still run on an ADSL or FTTC line and, worse, on a residential contract.
Firstly, there are NO Service Level Agreements (SLAs) on any type of public broadband service, be it a residential or business contract, on part fibre (FTTC) or even full fibre, unless in some cases.
Terms and Conditions are of the upmost importance when you are running a business and it is no use moaning afterwards, when a supplier take two or three days to repair a fault to say – ‘I’m running a business and need my internet connection!!’ By that time, it’s often too late (unless you have a 4/5G mobile network back up service) or pick up all the company emails (very often customer orders) from home.
Think as a business, not as a consumer and be price-driven, it could seriously cost you your reputation!
MAXIMUM NETWORKS
Don’t get caught out, get in touch with the Maximum Networks team team today on 0330 102 7444 or using our contact form