Not too long ago, there were only two ways to communicate; a face-to-face discussion and picking up the phone and dialing. Obviously, then, your business phone system was your lifeline to the outside world.
Today, a lot has changed. Just to name a few, there is video conferencing, texting, and mobile communications. While still important to your livelihood, old fashioned phone calls are becoming less and less the norm for conducting business.
Thus, one of the first things we at ACS examine when helping a new client is their monthly voice and data services bill. Unfortunately we’ve seen some outrageously high bills. There are numerous factors that boost your company’s monthly phone bills. Over the next two blogs, we’ll take a look at how to make the most out of your monthly communications expense.
Several providers…and several bills
Problem: It’s not out of the norm for a business to have one provider for their business phone system and a different provider for their data needs. Needless to say, when a business has more than one service provider sending them bills, they are a lot more likely to spend extra money for the communications costs. A lot of the time this occurs because when new services are tacked onto your plan, old services are not terminated.
Solution: One way to solve this problem is to employ a telecom cost consultant to make recommendations on how to consolidate the various services and providers. A consultant can also help make suggestions on what is outdated and can be completely eliminated from your plan.
Legacy phone lines and circuits
Problem: Legacy business phone systems operate with PRI Circuits and analog lines. These are nothing more than public switch telephone services and are rapidly becoming obsolete.
Solution: SIP Trunks and new PBX lines (or even a Virtual PBX) are other options. These choices all utilize the Internet as the method for outgoing and incoming phone calls. These can be more cost-effective and efficient for businesses in today’s world. Even alarm companies, which traditionally used analog lines, are switching to cell technologies and the Internet. Even faxes can be sent out over the Internet.
Stay tuned for this Wednesday when you will learn two more reasons to switch to a modern voice and data network!
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