Moving your Business Phones

This year has been the perfect catalyst for office relocations. Many companies have perhaps only just decided to return back to the office whilst they wrestle with cost–cutting and uncertainty. Hot desking and flexi working might be more appealing to you than ever, but will your existing office technology support it? 

“What are you going to do with the telephone system?” 

One of the biggest challenges is to make a smooth transition to your new way of working so that business can continue to run. With a mobile workforce and client base it is more important than ever to make sure your customers can easily call you and that your staff can effortlessly talk with one another. 

This can be more challenging when some employees are in the office, some are working from home and others are at other remote locations. Nevertheless, there are ways to help your business talk in a way that is faster, more effective, and more affordable.  

1. Decide early. Don’t wait until you move to your new office before you transition your phone system. Porting numbers can take weeks. It is best to get this organised in advance. You can build the new platform and have everything ready before your staff move–in, which can take a lot of stress out of the situation. The sooner you can connect to your office telephone system, the faster you will be able to continue with business as normal. Traditional systems can take a while to get connected. A hosted platform such as Voicelinx ensures that you do not have to rely on connectivity at one single location and is quick to set up. Nevertheless, it is always best to get your new system arranged with plenty of lead time as you may end up forwarding your numbers as they port. 
2. Don’t tie yourself to the serviced office system. Serviced offices will usually offer telephone systems as a service to their tenants, but they will also charge a large premium. If clients want to leave the office and take the telephone number with, many offices are either unable to offer you the number as it’s within a sequential range that they own, or they will charge you an exorbitant premium. A better solution is a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) system with a third-party telecom provider, where you own the phone numbers, and they can be taken with you to any new locations. This way if you move office, you can keep the number that all your clients know, and you won’t even need to reprint your business cards with new numbers (though you might need to change the address!) 
3. Do you need to buy everyone handsets? Businesses often make the mistake of spending more than they need to at the beginning of a telecoms contract rather than waiting to find out what is needed and spend accordingly. Handsets costs can vary widely between £40 and more than £300, but a system like Voicelinx has a ‘softphone’ app which means that your staff have the option to use their business number directly from their mobile phone or computer. Although you can have a traditional functioning desk phone, it is no longer essential.  

Voicelinx is designed to be flexible and grow with your company, whether your teams are working in multiple offices, at their own homes, in other countries or even in a remote offshore office.  

It is perhaps only natural that business owners might wait to see what their new office will look like and how it is set up before they organise their new phone system.  

However, whilst there might be uncertainty over some physical aspects of your new office the telecommunication requirement is already know. In this case the old adage “failing to plan is planning to fail” rings true. 

By leaving the phone system to the last minute, business owners will certainly disrupt business continuity and cost themselves in both lost revenue and working time. The important thing is to act once you know you are potentially going to move to keep everything running smoothly in any eventuality. 

Quadrangle are a research and strategy agency who assist their clients to better understand their market by conducting qualitative research over the telephone. Based in secure and prestigious offices in central London, their researchers contact a sample of their customers market to gather meaningful information and glean incites. This helps clients build engaging brands, improve their customer’s experience and set market strategies.

Challenge

In March 2020 the outbreak of COVID-19 affected business operations for many, and Quadrangle were no exception. The challenge was to enable a team of researchers to continue to make secure outbound calls, whilst working from home. They required all the features of an enterprise class phone system, however, many researchers were home-working in areas with poor and inconsistent internet connections.

As the lockdown eased some workers were allowed to return to the office, but others needed to be able to continue to work from home. They needed a hybrid solution that would allow them to work flexibly, wherever required. 

Solution

Voicelinx rolled out their cloud hosted enterprise phone system within a day, with features that included the ability to use both workstation-based software phones and a mobile phone app.

In this instance the mobile phone app was critical, as many researchers had poor internet connections and an innovative call back feature allowed these users to initiate the call on their mobile and then be called-back immediately to their designated mobile or landline numbers, connecting both legs of the call over traditional telephony and avoiding inconsistent troublesome home Wi-Fi and internet connections.

All outbound telephone calls presented to the recipient as if they were coming from one central number and the professional presentation of the operation was retained. 

Other features Quadrangle utilised included:

• Centralised call monitoring
• Call recording (PCI compliant) 
• Instant call records (for centralised reporting)

What the client said

Telephony is so key to what we do and all the more so in a world where both staff and customers aren’t allowed to meet face to face.

Despite this challenge Voicelinx responded to our new needs so quickly and were able to roll-out their solution to our interviewers without even needing to see their equipment or visit their homes. 

The solution was so flexible, innovative, and cost effective that I would have no hesitation recommending Voicelinx and their team to any company.

Sam Webb, Director of Operations & Associate Partner

Voicelinx has launched an online sign-up wizard to enable clients to join-up, order phones to arrive the next day.
Clients can configure the phones just as they want them online, so that when they are taken out of the box and plugged in they will set themselves up and register to begin making calls immediately.

Essentially any business that has a broadband internet connection can order a fully working office telephone system the very next day.

Stephen Shenkin, Managing Director of Voicelinx, said

“We’re very proud to consistently offer ground-breaking new services to our clients, and the new self-sign up system helps us offer the same great value service to our new and existing clients with fantastic feature-rich offering, but at a speed to deployment that is unrivalled”.

The Voicelinx website now offers businesses an alternative to the often criticised slow and expensive line installations offered by traditional telecoms providers.

A company moving into a brand new office with no telephone system could create a fully functioning office within a day or less of deciding to do so. All that is needed is a good internet connection.

Internet-based telephone service –— also known as VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol — is usually cheaper than using traditional phone lines. If you’re thinking about trying VoIP, here are some things to consider:

Internet connection. Your calls will be going over the Internet, not over the local phone company’s copper wires, so make sure you have reliable broadband service.

Software-based services. The cheapest VoIP offerings — sometimes free — involve downloading software and then making calls from your computer to another computer. Video chat may be included. For a little more money, you can make computer-to-phone calls. Skype, Yahoo Voice and Google Voice are among your choices.

Device-based services. With VoIP services such as Vonage, Ooma and Phone Power, you connect an adapter to your Internet router, and then connect your phone to the adapter. You then can use your phone as usual, and your computer doesn’t have to be on to make calls. Cable companies that offer VoIP will typically send a technician to hook up the adapter.

Other features. Most providers offer a range of packages and prices, depending on how much you use your phone and whether you want features such as voicemail and caller ID. Some offer automated transcription of voice messages to your email. Be sure to check on 911 service — it typically is available with device-based services, but not with software-based ones.

Power outages. Unlike copper phone lines, which still work even when the electricity dies, VoIP relies on using the Internet — so if the power goes off, you may have no phone service. Some Internet providers and VoIP companies offer back-up batteries to provide temporary service.

VoiceLinx exhibited at the Business Show 6–7 June 2013 at London EXCEL conference Centre.

On 6th & 7th June 2013 Excel Played host to several enormous events aimed at meeting the needs of every business.

Whilst VoiceLinx exhibited in a stand as part of  Sales Management and Performance 2013 the same hall plays host to the Great British Business and the Business Start Up shows.

Voicelinx showed Sales Professionals how Voicelinx can help their Call Centres with Automated outbound dialling and fully customisable inbound calling routes.

VoiceLinx is so flexible that Call Centre agents can be sat next to each other or on the other side of the world! It can be fully integrated with many CRM systems.

Were you there? Then tell us about it…
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