You probably heard a lot about various cloud based systems recently. This is a hot topic because various businesses have realised how beneficial cloud systems can actually be. On-site software solutions and systems are a thing of the past and the cloud is the new must have.
In the past, businesses relied on base telephone systems for their telecommunication needs, but the introduction of cloud-based systems quickly threw them off the market. Even the vendors who offer these systems have recognised this and now, less and less of them offer on-site telephone systems because the demand is simply falling down. Everyone is upgrading their phone systems and you should too.
The cloud is definitely the future, no matter if we are talking about telephone systems, project management systems, or any other business solution companies rely on to improve their daily operations. In this post, I will talk about the clear advantage cloud based telephone systems offer and why all businesses should choose them over traditional telephone systems.
So, let’s start from the top.
Which BUSINESSES need cloud telephone systems?
No matter if your business is small, midsize or a large corporation, the fact that cloud telephone systems save on IT resources is beneficial to any organisation. All businesses are looking to improve their efficiency and invest the extra money into business incentives that can bring more revenue.
The reasons why cloud based telephone systems are less expensive is because of the sheer fact that they are managed and hosted by a third party – the provider. Although all businesses can benefit from the cloud, these systems are most popular with small businesses with limited resources that cannot afford a separate IT department to take care of their needs.
On the other hand, both mid sized businesses and corporations use these solutions not just because they cut costs, but because they can help them improve their efficiency, reduce downtime, improve processes, and they can fit in better into their whole business strategies.
Improved mobility and usability
Modern businesses need to be flexible. Businesses are not tied to one location and they need to be able to operate from multiple locations and that’s what cloud telephones allow them to do.
Cloud based telephone systems are very mobile and an organisation that implements them offers their employees the ability to access and use all of its features no matter where they are located. Employees can simply log into the system while they are on the go and reach other co workers, or make themselves reachable.
This is how a business will have greater control of customer, collaboration, and production related issues. It is always better to tackle all problems immediately as they arise and with zero downtime. Simply put, the communication channel will always be open and available to everyone within the system.
Better customer service
All cloud based telephone systems have features called auto attendant and virtual receptionist and they allow businesses to quickly redirect all calls to designated departments. Organisations can also customise greeting messages specific to designated departments and respond to the right people the right way.
A cloud system has the power to improve the customer experience and help a business engage with its customers to the fullest by addressing various key points. For example, this kind of system can send automated messages to people to remind them of their payment obligations.
An advanced method of using this kind of system is to integrate it with a customer relationship management system where managers can get valuable insights, notice trends, and improve their approach towards customers. They can then advise salespeople and customer support departments to adjust the way they do their work.
Scalability
Given the fact that cloud based telephone systems are managed and maintained by the vendor, the services a business pays for are the ones it actually uses. So what does this mean? For example, if you have 5 employees using this system, you will get have to pay for those 5 users and nothing more. The issue with traditional systems is that it was very difficult to add an additional user or two.
This issue has been completely removed, given the fact that cloud systems allow organisations to quickly and easily add more users according to their needs. This means that these clouds based telephone systems can easily keep up with the growth of the whole business and its needs.
This is why small businesses that grow rapidly and change things constantly love cloud systems. The process is quite simple and there is no need to wait for your IT department staff to work for weeks on adding phone lines, phones, or transferring data. Everything remains the same, while the number of users can change.
Greater reliability
Businesses as a whole need to be reliable in every way. This means that they have to deliver what they promise, always, period. This is how they stay competitive and get ahead of their competition. Customers know to appreciate when they get what they were promised.
For example, in case of a power outage, no messages or communication will come through and people will assume that your website or mail are dead. Employees will not be able to communicate with each other. You might appear like you are out of business and this is something no organisation can afford.
With cloud based phones, this is not a problem, as they will always remain operational. On top of that, your provider will maintain your server and make sure that everything is working 24/7; however, it’s a good idea to do some research and find a reliable vendor.
Conclusion
Always remember that a phone system is a very important cog in your whole business and its operations, both internally and externally. It allows communication among employees and with customers. Both of these things matter and that’s why you need to seek good solutions that can make communication flawless.
Starting a company is one of the most difficult things you can do. It seems to be the fashionable thing to do these days, there are success stories all over the internet, of startups being sold for millions of dollars, or creating an App that changes the world.
Very few people mention how hard it is and how many of them fail.
Fortunately, Amazon can provide tools to help small business compete with billion dollar corporations.
Amazon Web Services, or AWS, provide a range of products that move all aspects of computing into the cloud. This removes that massive initial costs of setting up IT infrastructure for a small business or start up.
There are 7 key reasons that all start-ups should use AWS.
There are no initial investments
The cost of setting up servers and networking infrastructure can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars. The specialised equipment is expensive and requires professional installation. Maintaining the equipment requires dedicated staff resources and time.By using AWS, companies are bypassing the need for physical servers in their offices altogether. AWS gives these companies the same service, with no upfront cost. Users simply subscribe and pay for the specific services they need.
AWS allows start-ups to compete with big business
Big businesses have the spending power to create massive datacentres and use the best development tools available. Start-ups can’t compete with them in this regard. Unless they use AWS.Amazon uses some of the most advanced hardware on Earth to manage their servers. They also provide some of the best development tools available anywhere. They provide these services on pay per use plans. That means that a start-up can use the exact same tools as a market giant.
Flexible pricing
If a company needs a small server, they still have to pay the minimum price for the hardware, which can be thousands of dollars.AWS provides pricing that gives users extreme flexibility. Your company could use a few gigabytes of storage for a few dollars, or thousands of terabytes at a higher cost.
Easy scaling
If a start-up rapidly grows, the growth itself can kill it. Let’s say your company has an App with a few thousand users that your server can handle. If your App becomes popular very quickly, the userbase would grow to the point that your server can’t manage any longer. You would need to spend weeks building a new server setup to manage the new users.Using AWS, you would simply log into your account and purchase additional capacity. It would take a few minutes at most.
AWS is secure
Cybercrime is a major threat to any business, not just start-ups. The difference is that most start-ups either don’t have the technical knowledge to keep their network infrastructure secure, or they don’t have the resources to do it.As with their servers, AWS uses some of the most advanced security available. An attacker would find it far more difficult to attack Amazon than they would a small server in your office.
AWS is cloud based
Working in the cloud has a host of benefits. Your files are all saved online, which means you will never lose them if your computer gets lost or stolen. People can work on them from anywhere in the world, not just from your office. Workers can easily collaborate on files in real time.
It’s easy Learning how to use AWS is not nearly as challenging as learning how to install and manage your own infrastructure from scratch. Amazon makes it even easier by providing online learning materials for free.
Amazon Web Services are an excellent alternative to traditional infrastructure. If you are starting a company, you should definitely consider using it. The range of products should be able to give you everything you need to set up and run your business, easily and at a fraction of the cost of setting up your own infrastructure.
Good communication is the most valuable asset in any business. Businesses seek new ways to improve it and bring it to the next level. But, at one point, when it gets perfected, businesses have to turn to technology in order to improve further.
And technology is the only thing that can unravel the secret of staying connected at all times, despite the geolocation of the people communicating. And, most of the technology I am going to write about in this article is already in our hands. When put to proper use, the employees can communicate by using in-house phones or softphones on their PCs, laptops, Android and iOS smartphones and Macs.
Here are the technologies and the preferred mindset, both of which are the root of the “staying connected, wherever you are” secret.
Identify Your Business Needs
There are a lot of technologies that can enable your business communication to be geographically unrestricted. But, before you pick one, you have to identify your business needs. Here are some questions and answering them will significantly narrow your search down.
Are your offices scattered across the country/world?
Is your business growing rapidly?
Is your market local, national, international, or all three?
How often are you and your employees on the go?
Are you selling exclusively online or in physical stores? Maybe both?
Does your company have an in-house customer support call center?
After answering these, you will know to identify the communication system able to meet your business needs. Furthermore, when you know what you need, communicating with vendors will be way easier and they will able to offer you custom tailored solutions.
At this point, you should also start considering software designed to make communication and collaboration streamlined and easy. But, let’s not get into this right now. We will come back to it later in the article.
Web Based Technologies
Voice over IP (VoIP)
A typical conference or small meeting room won’t cut it if your employees and managers are on the go, nor will they help if you are working with a remote team. Also, knowing the number of each employee or office can be a daunting task, especially for large businesses.
Thanks to VoIP technologies, the conference room has been reinvented and placed in the cloud. You won’t be able to see the people participating in the conference call, but you will be able to hear them loud and clear even if they are thousands of miles away.
VoIP powered communication happens through the web. They are established via a local network connection. One of the neat perks of using VoIP is the ability to assign one single office number to an office which routes to cell phones of that department’s manager, workers – everyone.
The system is able to send voicemails via email, route calls to any assigned number, and deliver calls to workers despite their location. One thing is certain, VoIP is capable to keep you connected.
Video Conferencing
Video conferencing technologies are similar to VoIP, except they bring the camera into the picture. This solution is excellent for firms that emphasise on vivid interactions even between remote workers and teams.
With video conferencing, workers don’t need to be physically present in the offices. Whenever they are needed, they can be called to interact with their colleagues in real time. Video conferencing allows for a better connection, as it allows staff to see each other’s facial expressions and hand movements.
PBX Phone System
The PBX Phone system is capable of bringing the much needed competitive advantage to a corporation that installs and starts using it. When it comes to phone systems, the PBX system is a cutting edge cloud based technology available at low
With PBX phone systems, employees can stay as efficient as they were in the offices. All of the communication is established through the Internet, which makes this type of phone system very flexible and efficient. And, upgrading from legacy systems to a PBX is really simple and easy.
If you want to stay connected, you have to start using premium business internet services. If you are basing your communication over the Internet connection, you should really make sure that you get the best one for your company. There are several options on the market:
IP VPN Private Network Solution – if you have scattered offices and a remote data center, this type of network solution will enable your employees to share files instantly and use emails, video and voice communication options. This type of private network solution works on both Fibre and Ethernet connections.
Ethernet and Fibre – this type of Internet service will get your business a high quality, reliable, super-fast Internet connection.
Mobile Internet – if you want to experience communication without any obstacles by using internet over your mobile carrier networks, you should go with a carrier that supports a 4G connection.
ADSL – this type of connection was proven as reliable over the last decade. If you are not in need of high internet speeds, ADSL is a completely viable solution.
Business Software
Software as a service (SaaS) companies have flooded the market with all kinds of business software solutions. There are literally thousands of them, so thread carefully. Here are the tools that can improve your communication and streamline your work process:
Project Management Software – this tool makes project planning, task delegation, and task tracking easier.
Knowledge Base Software – a great tool to start building a knowledge sharing culture in your business. It can also be used to publish a self-service help centre webpage and improve customer support.
Instant Messaging Software – Classy chatting software tailored for business. Some advanced tools even have the GPS feature; quite a neat option if you want to track your sales teams.
The bottom line would be to keep your company’s communications infrastructure updated at all times. But, there is another important side of the story. You also need to identify your business needs and goals so that you can invest smart.
When you are faced with these types of decisions, it is important not to rush them. Take your time, get help from managers, do some research, or ask for a professional consult. Only then you will be able to settle for a reliable and effective communications system that can meet the needs of your business model and your customers.
The digital economy is expanding rapidly and you’re either on board with it, on the course towards spreading it online, or you’re doomed to become extinct very soon. Companies who exist only physically are sustainable only in developing countries that are just discovering the possibilities of the internet, but you can be certain that their transition to being present online will be mandatory sooner or later.
If you are interested in a title like this, you’re probably one of those old souls that prefer the old ways and the simplicity of the times that existed before the digital age (if anyone still remembers that). And although that sounds poetic, it does belong in the past and it’s certainly not a principal you should apply to your business. Therefore, I will list seven very strong reasons why being connected to the world wide web is a precondition to the success of any business.
Internet Business Card
The legitimacy of your business will be checked online – whenever someone hears about your brand, the first thing they will do is ask around about you. Considering the fact that the digital age brought many rogue businesses with it, the average consumer is very cautious and no one is really anxious to give away money and hope for the best.
So, not having a website makes you practically nonexistent on the map. Your page will be the first thing an interesting customer will visit, but that’s only a start, because you can be sure that they will check for reviews and testimonials on other websites and social networks.
Contact with Target Audience
Communicating with your customers in that old-fashioned eye to eye method is truly most efficient if you’re a people person with highly developed social skills. However, people lead very hectic lives and they have less and less time to spend a whole day shopping, walking into stores, and getting physically tired from it.
The thing is that they can do all of that online and it will take a lot less time for finding the perfect product or the most quality service they are in need of. This ease of availability is something you need to use to your advantage – spreading out your business online and making yourself simple to approach will be wildly appreciated from your target audience.
Plugins and Software
If you’re thinking about the lack of personalisation that comes with online stores, agencies and companies, you are completely right. However, you’ll be happy to know that it’s the current problem everyone is trying to fix and is succeeding in it.
A website isn’t anything more than just a textual or visual source of information, but it’s slowly turning into a communication medium. Other than the contact card that’s absolutely mandatory on every online business card that contains emails and a phone line, there’s another big thing that you should definitely consider – live chat.
By introducing various pieces of software such as live chat and making them part of your website, you’re putting an effort to make yourself available 24/7, and that kind of attentiveness won’t go unnoticed. Work hours are a thing of the past – there’s something irreplaceable when knowing that you can order up something at 2am and not be forced to delay that responsibility for tomorrow.
Presence on Social Platforms
Everyone is on social media at this age and the fact is that people enjoy spending time on sharing, linking and posting – it’s even addictive for a significant percentage of platform users. Of course, this is something that every business should use because it’s a cheap way to conduct very efficient advertising methods which you even don’t have to develop by yourself because social networks will just offer you a list to choose from.
Data and Analytics
By tracking purchases, complaints, and interests into a list of products or services that come for visitors on your website, you’ll be able to collect valuable data when it comes to their preferences. Whether or not your business will be successful depends on the satisfaction of your clients – which is something I’m sure you’re aware of – and pieces of information like this that come directly from your target audience will be most useful.
Further Development
Which brings me to my next point – that data you collect and analyse is exactly what should direct your business. In a market saturated as this digital one, you always need to be at least one step in front of your competition, which implies that you need to invest constant work into perfecting your line of products.
The greatest thing about the further development of your business which you base on the opinion of your target audience is that they are more than willing to share it with you. So, by being present online and by creating your website and social network accounts, you’re reaching out to your clients or customers and enabling them with various mediums of communication.
Cost Effective
A new phenomenon is very appearing – many business owners are closing down their physical shops and investing all they have into virtual ones. Although this sounds like a bold decision and a risk, as a matter of fact, it’s basic math – leading an online business is cost efficient.
Running a product store for example requires from you to pay monthly rates to your landlord, constantly invest in interior design, and maintaining all the rooms you have at your disposal on a daily basis. Although building a website and registering the domain name of your business is necessary as well as finding a capable hosting company which is capable of maintaining your website, it comes down to doing double work, doesn’t it?
Being online is absolutely necessary, as we concluded, and the necessity of having a physical space of work really depends on the business niche you’re in. However, if you own a product store, making an ecommerce store that’s fully online may bring a return of investment that can make a huge difference.
Businesses who refuse to make this transition and make their brand available to the world wide web will have the same faith like dinosaurs, and the thing is that they will probably be studied as fossils sometime in the distant future.
A characteristic of a capable business leader is knowing how to defer personal from professional decisions, and the importance of staying connected and developing your business network continuously is truly mandatory if you want your company to survive.
Knowing how to boost or simply maintain good workplace performance is incredibly handy if you want to keep your business afloat and, of course, to advance further. People are not machines, and there is no update that can simply make them better; in fact, very often, their performance gradually drops, and you need to know how to keep them motivated.
Basically, it all boils down to good organisation, a clear overview of responsibilities, and good incentives that boost performance and job satisfaction. Your goal is to have happy workers, who love their workplace and their fully optimised workflow, so that everyone finds their jobs convenient.
Here, we are going to discuss how you can achieve these goals and how you can bolster the level of performance at your office.
Project management tools and knowledge base
Almost any type of business, both small start-ups and large corporations, rely on project management tools. The best thing about them is that you can find the ones that are specifically designed to meet the needs of your type of work. So, you can have a more organised inflow of information, better communication among co-workers and with customers, and neatly archived database of projects.
Moreover, there is a variety of integration tools that can help you improve the UI of your website, and boost the capabilities of the tools you are using. Furthermore, using these tools, you open up a lot of additional possibilities for better workplace performance that are going to be mentioned throughout the article.
Employee training
Increased, competence leads to improved workplace performance and efficiency. However, acquiring experts straight from the get-go is definitely going to put a lot of strain on your budget, whereas training your current employees will get the same results only at the expanse of time.
However, it is not only performance that increases here, but also your employee’s job satisfaction. Knowing your job gives you the opportunity for personal growth and this is definitely going to influence the way you feel about work.
Moreover, the entire training deployment will be far easier if you use the previously mentioned knowledge base tools. You can basically train your staff with online courses and do it on a larger scale; plus, you will achieve greater cost-efficiency than traditional employee specialisation.
Team building exercise
Professional training or skill training is not the only kind of improvement that can contribute to better workplace performance. Interpersonal skill training is also a great approach to boosting efficiency and job satisfaction, and a team building exercise is the right way to go about this issue.
There are various team building exercises you can rely on, but in its core, they need to promote healthy communication, teamwork, trust, coordination, and a fun experience for everyone involved. Bonding with your co-workers can help your employees adopt a more positive attitude towards their workplace, and boost their synergy as well. The most important thing for a successful team are the 4 C’s of the 21st century: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity, and good team building should help fortify these elements.
Safety training
Lastly, your employees need to know that you care about their safety, especially if your workplace contains devices or substances that can potentially endanger their well-being. Any workplace has its potential dangers, and some have occupational hazards, which means your staff needs to undergo some safety drills to always be prepared in the event of an emergency.
Promote flexible working arrangements
In order to truly improve the work performance at your office, you need to switch to more flexible working arrangements that allow your employees to do their job with more convenience. This requires you to have strong networks to support the required bandwidth and a quality online platform that allows your employees to access their work regardless of their location. Moreover, you need to ensure the communication is never obstructed, and that your staff can communicate among themselves and your customers.
You should add some sort of VOIP system that would allow them to contact headquarters, as long as they have a connection to the internet. This also means they will be able to stay in touch with you and their co-workers if they are away on a business trip, and it will allow your clients who are located overseas to contact you with minimal expenses.
Stress the importance of communication
Communication is a vital ingredient for successful project execution, and assumptions can be a primary ingredient for its failure. So do not assume anything, make sure everyone understands their duties and that everybody else has the freedom to check the validity of information they received. If you do as instructed so far, you will ensure your employees have everything they need to adequately collaborate, even if they do not occupy the same space.
Altruism
Lastly, if you implement a more altruistic approach to leadership, you will definitely incentivise your workers to do better. The idea is to allow every employee to build a reputation and develop individually, while working on your projects. In other words, they create their own portfolios and are allowed to sign their work. Considering how their name is behind what they do, it is more likely that they will full heartedly devote themselves to making the product or service even better.
This is one of the techniques that is quite commonly used today, and it is good for marketing purposes, as you also allow your employees to become brand ambassadors for your company. Moreover, do not think of it as an act of relinquishing your authority, as you are still their leader and the one who has the final say in the matter.
These were some of the techniques that you can use to increase the level of performance within your company. They should be used combined, but they can also stand on their own; the question is how much they are applicable for your line of work. Hopefully, the article will help you boost the productivity and efficiency of your employees, and achieve even greater goals.
Technology has always been an important factor in business. It’s always present and can either make or break a business. Some companies are able to get ahead just because they know how to take advantage of a certain technology.
Just to be clear, I’m not talking about developing some new technology and selling it, I’m talking about using tech solutions to improve the overall efficiency of a business. This is something that has been recognised for a while now, and today all businesses, including both small organisations and large corporations, use technology solutions to stay competitive.
In this post I will talk about some technology solutions that are literally a must in modern business and discuss how they help improve business results. If you want to finally give up the old ways and modernise your business, here are some tech solutions that you should acquire and some tips on how to do it.
Mobile technology
Given the fact that mobile technology has evolved incredibly fast in the past dozen years, the amount of mobile users has exploded and this number is constantly growing. There is not a single technology that was adopted so much since the beginning of the 21st century and this means that businesses can utilise it as well to improve their results.
There are at least four ways that business organisations can rely on mobile technology.
First of all, they need to optimise their websites for mobile users, given the fact that a large portion of people who browse the web today do so via mobile devices.
Mobile apps to notify employees of important things, communicate through them, or even manage projects through mobile devices.
Payment terminals that allow mobile users to pay for products online and giving these options to potential clients can improve sales and increase profits of a business organisation.
Mobile marketing is one of the best marketing channels today. There is a large crowd of people you can target through mobile marketing and who knows, there are good chances that you can find your customer base through their mobile phones.
Cloud solutions
If your business relies on various software solutions and IT technology to achieve its goals, it’s important that all of those solutions are cloud-based. So what are cloud solutions? Cloud software solutions are computer programs that don’t need to be installed.
They are SaaS solutions (software as a service) for which a company pays monthly subscription fees, and employees access these programs through the web. They get their usernames and passwords and simply log into the software they use for work. This means less money and time spent on implementing those solutions, various package services, greater scalability, no data loss, software crashes or maintenance costs.
The cloud has enabled small businesses and corporations alike to access resources and information that would be unreachable and costly to obtain otherwise. Simply put, these solutions allow for an easier flow of information and improved collaboration, and they don’t tie your employees to a certain location. They can always access the cloud from anywhere, as long as they have a stable internet connection.
Websites
Probably one of the biggest must haves in 21st century. As you might already know, we are living in the internet age, when everyone is online. Since the massive adoption of the world wide web at the beginning of the 2000s, everyone jumped online and this means that business organisations and marketers alike recognised this opportunity to improve their results as well.
Just as your business organisation needs an HQ in the real world, it also needs to have a presence online. This presence is called a website, and is is where potential customers and customers alike can come to learn more about a business, ask questions, find contact information and check whether that business is reliable.
It’s very simple to build a website today and with a bit of research it’s possible to do this on your own if you know your way with computers. Still, if you want a professional solution, there are countless web developers out there ready to build new business websites.
Digital marketing
Apart from the fact that your online presence can give you a lot of exposure and opportunities to grow your business, you can also create marketing strategies online with the purpose of advertising your business. In the past, marketing options were quite limited and business organisations could advertise through radio, TV, newspapers etc.
These traditional marketing options were very limited and only a small portion of businesses were able to truly utilise on them – those that had a lot of money. This is why turning to digital marketing methods is a much better option. First of all, there are a lot of people online and you can find your target audience easily.
Additionally, the targeting options for advertising online are much better and you can specifically target the people you want. Digital marketing is available to all business organisations, no matter what their budget is, and you can make a monthly strategy according to your resources, so that you get visible results for the money you invested.
Project management solutions
One of the most important topics in business today is efficiency. Companies are investing a lot of effort into making the most out of their resources and optimising their performance. One of the tech solutions that can allow a business organisation to do this is a project management system.
These tools provide you with a single platform where you can see all of the projects you are currently working on. Additionally, managers in charge of project management can update employees, communicate with them, track progress and monitor the whole process for any mistakes.
Project management tools are also cloud-based and people can collaborate on products and share valuable documents remotely. Instead of having to talk to people in person or arrange meetings, all of the important information can be filtered through this kind of software so that the whole business is updated timely, from managers and owners, to workers.
No matter what your opinion is, technology is a very important aspect of business. If you want to achieve growth and become a modern business worthy of the 21st century, you will have to acquire these tech solutions and many other.
