8 Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Current Hosted Phone Systems

You may think you have the latest and greatest hosted phone system. But in truth, if the system is more than 2 to 3 years old, the technology has really changed. Today’s business environment is fast-paced and competitive. Today’s phone system technology makes it possible for you to know your customers and your customers to know your business. Most likely, you’re investing in ways to make sure you’re harnessing the power of all of your technological business resources. But what about your phone system, especially if it’s over 5 years old?

If you’re not already considering how to get full value from your phone system, you should be.

Savvy business owners or their IT staff know that a cloud phone system, like the products by ShoreTel partners in California, can multiply business success by integrating mobility, applications and collaboration under one valuable umbrella.

So maybe now is the time to ask these questions about your current hosted phone system:  

1. Does your system provide business intelligence based on call data and elegant integration with other important business applications (CRM, ERP, applicant tracking systems, etc.)?
    
2. Do users have direct access to a live person who can answer their questions and quickly solve their problems — without engaging you?
    
3. Are you confident that your phone system is secure and completely protected against hackers — both via the handset and the cloud data center?
    
4. Do you have access to intuitive, easy-to-use tools for phone routing and find-me/follow-me rules?
    
5. Does your provider leverage redundancy and failover to prevent against catastrophic phone system failure for your business?
    
6. 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?
    
7. Can you view the status of your cloud provider’s system at all times to assess issues and average wait times?
    
8. Is your phone system so intuitive and easy-to-use (no two-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 with the simple test? If you have more than 3 uanswered questions, you should think about what your current phone system is doing to drive value for your business. Your phone system holds a significant opportunity to empower your business and employees with the right kind of tools and technology to drive integration, security and performance. The ShoreTel Cloud platform is a game changer.