The start of every new year is filled with hope, optimism and is often heralded as the time of when we all set ourselves new goals that we hope to achieve throughout the course of the next twelve months.
From a business perspective, many of us will be planning for the next financial year probably in Q4 of the current year to ensure there is a continuity and clear focus on what the business needs to achieve in the year ahead.
For some business owners and company directors this can often look like:
- Hire new staff
- Enhance the sales team to drive new business
- With an increase in staff numbers this could mean a new office is required
- Acquiring a competitor or a complimentary business to boost sales revenues and expertise
To achieve nearly every point listed, certain elements will need to change inside the business to ensure that staff remain productive and that the office infrastructure can cope with the new numbers.
The office phone system
- Can it cope with the increased staff numbers?
- Do you have any spare handsets for them to use?
- If your system if of a certain age, can you even buy handsets for it?
In our experience, a change in business direction or a recruitment drive has led many of our customers to use that criteria as an opportunity to replace the aging PBX using ISDN2 or ISDN30 lines with a modern, more resilient VoIP solution that sets the business up for future growth.
ISDN is being phased out by Openreach with the final date to stop using this service set for 2025 so UK businesses have five years in which to determine which SIP or VoIP based solution is going to be the best fit for their day to day needs.
A new system with a handset refresh provides a good feel for staff, especially if they have been using the same phone for the last few years and gives the impression that the business is investing itself. The advantage of a VoIP is that it can scale with any sized business, there will be no phone system capacity issues anymore, the only restrictions to consider relate to our next point on network infrastructure.
Network Infrastructure
Moving office is always a fantastic opportunity to start afresh and get the business ready with a future-proof network strategy and there are several ways in which this can be achieved.
- Network Cabling-does the new office have CAT5e or CAT6 cabling?
- Build new communications cabinet in the comms room if nothing in place.
- PoE network switches will be required for all networked computers and PC’s
- Depending on the size of the premises and the types of devices used onsite a Wireless Network may be required in the form of Access Points in the main working areas
What should our business consider a VoIP system?
Firstly, its important to find a communications partner in your local area that will listen to the needs of your business and then make a recommendation on that basis, not what they think you need.
Only the business owners and company directors know how they want the business to operate and function and the role the office phone system must play in that. Many businesses are now looking to boost productivity, enable flexible working and provide a better interface for their customers to communicate with them. We can help you achieve that.
If your business still has the 15-year-old PBX with ISDN lines and your staff have problems with making outbound calls because you haven’t got enough lines, now is the time to consider a VoIP solution. It could dramatically change your business.
Our role as a communications provider, is to help your business succeed by providing the right tools to achieve the goals you share with us.
When moving office what else do we need to ensure our staff can receive emails/ make phones from day one in the new office?
Planning is key here. Depending on the size of your organisation you may require direct internet access, also known as a leased line, which is an uncontended fibre Ethernet connection providing the same upload and download speeds.
The industry standard ‘lead-time’ is around 60-90 days and is subject to site surveys, way leave agreements along with many other factors. Whilst there can be a little pain to get the process moving, it will be worth it in the long run when the business is enjoying lightning fast speeds day in, day out.
We have recruited a new member of staff to join our team in Horsham, but they live in Reading and will be working remotely, how can we get them added to our phone system?
With an ISDN based phone system that will be a challenge.
With a VoIP system that becomes a more straightforward process providing they have a good broadband service at home. Our customers use a variety of ways in which to utilise the home-working features within the Horizon VoIP system.
- Mobile Application
- Desktop Softclient
- Horizon Collaborate, our Unified Communications offering which encompasses all of these elements with the added benefit of Instant Message, Presence and Video Calling.
If your business is planning on making some changes over the course of the next 12 months, our team of consultants have extensive experience in guiding businesses across Sussex and Surrey with all manner of telecoms and network needs.
Please contact us on 01403 620600 or by email: info@keytechnetworks.co.uk to find out how we can help your business meet its needs in 2020 and beyond.
