For business owners, there are plenty of reasons to love a hosted cloud phone system — and not surprisingly, the most important and compelling have to do with dramatic annual cost savings.As we have highlighted previously, businesses that deploy a hosted cloud phone system typically save anywhere from 25-50% (and sometimes more) compared to a conventional landline phone system. Heck, it’s enough to make even the most stoic and hard-nosed CFO crack a smile — which is pretty hard to do.However, if you ask employees what they love most about a hosted cloud phone system, you probably won’t get much...

The rewards of some business investments are difficult to nail down. They sound like pretty good ideas in theory, but do they really translate into greater efficiency, more competitive advantage, high customer satisfaction, and a healthier bottom-line? Who really knows. Then there are business investments that don’t need a hype machine or spin doctor to convince anyone because the benefits are straightforward, easy to understand, and as down-to-earth as it gets. A cloud business phone system is definitely in this category....

In the past, business agility was primarily viewed as a project management methodology in the software space (e.g. “agile development”). The essential idea that instead of working in a structured way towards a clearly defined objective or outcome, teams would collaborate, self-organize, iterate and adapt to meet emerging needs and developments.However, these days business agility is not just a project management methodology. It is a paradigm and an approach to all kinds of work, because being flexible and adapting to change is not just important for success, but it is critical for survival. And that is where a hosted cloud...

Since we launched our company almost 20 years ago, one of our guiding principles has been to give back to our community. It is very rewarding to know that we are making a positive difference in people’s lives — one that will have a lasting impact on their future, and the future of their family.Recently, we had the opportunity to give back and make a difference by helping the Interactive Resource Center (IRC), which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Greensboro, NC. The IRC provides a wide range of services that help individuals experiencing homelessness reconnect with their lives...

When voicemail first arrived on the mainstream business landscape, it was greeted with massive excitement and enthusiasm. In fact, people used to call their own voicemail to leave reminders and notes. It was glorious.But that was then. Today, voicemail is viewed by some employees as a liability instead of an asset. And the biggest reason for this isn’t the few seconds it takes to pick up a voicemail.  Rather, it’s because most of the time, there is no message to pick up at all.Indeed, CRM.com has found that businesses experience up to 75 percent voicemail abandonment — i.e. callers hang...

Tracking Hurricane Florence The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) upgraded Hurricane Florence to “Category 4” on Monday September 10. As of 2pm Eastern Time on Tuesday September 11, Florence was centered approximately 370 miles south-southwest of Bermuda, and 845 miles east-southeast of Cape Fear, North Carolina. The storm is moving west-northwest at about 17 miles per hour, and is packing maximum sustained winds of around 130 miles per hour. Through Saturday September 15, Florence is expected to produce 15-20 inches of rainfall, with accumulations of up to 30 inches near Florence's track over portions of North Carolina, Virginia, and northern South Carolina...

A growing number of people are choosing to start a franchise — and for several good reasons: instead of launching a startup from scratch they can plug into an established brand, take advantage of training and support, benefit from their chain’s buying power, get financing help, and more.However, ask any hands-on franchise owner — and there are hundreds of thousands of them across the U.S. — whether being at the helm of a franchise is “easy money,” and they’ll burst out laughing. And then they’ll start crying. Possibly after that they’ll do both at the same time.[caption id="attachment_4559" align="aligncenter" width="259"]...

On today’s relentlessly fast-paced and hyper-competitive business landscape, there are only two directions: forward towards growth, or backwards towards…well, we all know how that horror story unfolds. To say the least, it ain’t pretty.It goes without saying that every business — whether it sells jet engines or coffee cup lids — needs to head towards success, and away from failure. This is so blatantly obvious, that they don’t even teach it in business school. (At least, we hope they don’t need to teach this.)Yet despite this truth, many businesses are held back from achieving their full success and profit potential...

One of the most beneficial aspects of a cloud telephone system, is that employees and all other authorized system users (e.g. consultants, contractors, remote workers, etc.) can easily make calls in not just one, but four different ways:IP Phone An IP phone (sometimes called a VoIP phone) is designed for placing and transmitting calls over an IP network, instead of a conventional landline public switched telephone network (PSTN). Among the most popular, trusted and recommended IP phones are those in the Yealink T5 Media Phone series.Installing an IP phone is extremely simple. Simply turn them on, plug them in, and that’s...

What do Apple, Amazon, Disney and Google have in common? Yes, they’re massive multinational enterprises that employ hundreds of thousands of people, including an army of accountants to keep track of their billions in annual revenues and profits. But there’s something else that these companies have in common that is the stuff of entrepreneurial legend: they were all born in a garage.If you’re at the helm of a dynamic new startup, it’s important to dream big. After all, if Apple, Amazon, Disney and Google can go from concept to unicorn, why not your company? Yet at the same time, it’s...