In most businesses, employees don’t think too much about the phone system they use. It’s an important tool, but as long as it works — allowing them to make calls, manage messages, and troubleshoot issues — the majority of users are reasonably satisfied.
But CIOs and IT directors know better.
Truly valuable cloud phone systems deliver much more than basic call and voicemail functionality. In fact, the best ones deliver advanced training, support, and business intelligence, and make it incredibly easy for technical leaders to ensure system security and stability.
Is your cloud phone system doing that?
We’ve created a simple 10 question test to help you evaluate exactly how much value your provider is delivering. Any items you can’t check off likely indicate that you aren’t harnessing the power that a world-class cloud phone system can deliver.
- Do you have a clear, secure connection without any voice delays, lag, or call quality issues?
- Does your system provide business intelligence based on call data and elegant integration with other important business applications (CRM, ERP, applicant tracking systems, etc.)?
- Do users have direct access to a live person who can answer their questions and quickly solve their problems — without engaging you?
- Are you confident that your phone system is secure and completely protected against hackers — both via the handset and the cloud data center?
- Do you have access to intuitive, easy-to-use tools for phone routing and find-me/follow-me rules?
- Does your provider leverage geo-redundancy (primary data centers and back-up data centers) to prevent against catastrophic failure?
- Does your phone system offer on-demand training for new users or refreshers for current staff, and enable employees to be as self-sufficient as possible?
- Can you view the status of your cloud provider’s system at all times to assess issues and average wait times?
- Has your cloud provider been in the VoIP business long enough to build out robust data center infrastructure and understand every point in your system?
- Is your phone system so intuitive and easy-to-use (no 2-week lead times to add a new employee, headaches managing changes, etc.) that it frees you up to focus on more important priorities?
How did you do? If you have more than 3 unchecked boxes, you need to take a hard look at what your current phone system is (and isn’t) doing for your business.
While it might seem unrealistic to expect one cloud phone system to provide all of those capabilities, the reality is that the very best systems deliver all of that functionality and reliability — and often much, much more.
At the end of the day, your phone system is a critical tool in driving organizational efficiency, productivity, and security. If it isn’t helping create that value — or, worse yet, its shortcomings are keeping you from performing other aspects of your job — you’d be well-served to look elsewhere.