Wow, does technology change fast or what? Just when you think you have a handle on that new system, your company is getting ready to roll out the latest and greatest version. As a technology solutions provider, we believe that it is imperative for your business to stay at the forefront of technology but only if the cost justifies the means. Keeping up with technology just for the sake of keeping up is pointless. Many companies upgrade without really knowing the reasons why they should. As a business owner, if you are going to spend the time and money implementing new technology, then do your homework. We suggest doing the following before putting your company and employees through another technology upgrade.
First, talk to your employees. Your employees are the ones that will be using the technology day in and day out, so why wouldn’t you want to get their feedback? Take your telephone system for example – some employees couldn’t do their jobs without a phone and their productivity depends on it. When deciding if it is time to upgrade your telephone system, find those employees and utilize them. Find out what was working for them with the old system and what isn’t. Find out what features could help them be more productive and what features are slowing them down.
Second, do a cost analysis of your company’s carrier services. There are so many companies that upgrade without taking a look at what they are currently spending on certain services. For example, when is the last time you looked at your company’s phone bill? It comes every month but most of the time it is paid for without a second thought. With today’s carrier services and new technology such as VoIP and SIP Trunking, phone bills can be cut drastically, especially when it comes to long distance.
Now you are thinking, this is great, but we don’t have a team in place to do this, which is where your technology solutions partner comes in. As a technology solutions provider, this is a service we offer. Not only does it help us better understand what solutions would be the best fit for your company; it can help us save you money and improve productivity. If there is no added efficiency or improvement in customer services, you are just putting a new telephone on a desk.
