The economy has taken a huge hit since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Lockdown effectively meant that businesses — and life as we know it — ground to a halt for weeks and weeks. Some businesses have been devastated by the financial crisis, while others have managed to navigate the turbulence, while having to radically change the way they work.

In order to stay afloat, it’ll be crucial for many businesses to keep as productive as possible; a large part of that will be to make sure that staff have the systems and equipment in place to make that goal a possibility. Part of keeping your team productive is to keep them communicating as smoothly as possible. A good phone system is integral to that; as well as talking to each other, it keeps you in touch with customers and other organisations.

We have more tools than ever to stay in touch, but nothing beats the immediacy and clarity of a phone call. With times so uncertain and the working environment experiencing some of its biggest ever changes, it might be time to ask yourself whether your current phone system is delivering what you need and if it’s as cost effective as it could be.

It might not seem like the best time to make changes, but with your hand being forced by the pandemic, now might be the best time to consider how changing your phone system could be a benefit to you. Here are a handful of ways that VoIP is helping businesses at the moment and into the long-term future.

Remote working made easy

Now more than ever, businesses are letting their staff working flexibly; predominantly from home during the pandemic. Many experts believe that remote working will become more commonplace in the long term once the coronavirus crisis has passed and a VoIP system can evolve and adapt to your changing workplace.

The phones can be taken anywhere in the world, plugged into the internet and it will instantly be able to make or take calls as it would in the office. It’s still possible to transfer calls and connect to your other office phones in the same way as normal too, making it easy as pie to work from home!

Flexibility and functionality

Have you ever found yourself hamstrung by the limitations of a system at work? Archaic computers, rigid phone systems or an outdated way of working sees many businesses work around those limitations over time, rather than break those routines and try something new!

When you get a VoIP system, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to functionality; virtual answer phones, hunt groups and call forwarding are just some of the functions available on the system straight out of the box. It’s capable of so much that these tools and functions can be implemented as and when you need them to meet the evolving needs of your business.

Removing bulky infrastructure

When staffing levels increase, traditionally you might need new phone lines put in at great expense. With VoIP, all you’d need is a new telephone number and a handset for a new employee, so it’s far more cost effective as staffing levels change. Handsets can also be swapped over easily from leaving staff members to new recruits; just plug the phone into the internet and you’re ready to work!

Reduce those all-important costs!

All new handsets and phone numbers… it sounds expensive on paper, doesn’t it? Yet most businesses see huge savings as a result of switching over; some businesses save as much as 80% of their current costs by switching over. If the business grows, you will no longer be burdened by large line rental costs, with no dramatically escalating costs, so you can focus on the bottom line instead.

For more information on how our VoIP systems could work for your business, give us a call on 01237 420010 and we’ll answer any questions you may have.