So, your business was humming along nicely. Then, all of a sudden, COVID-19 reared its ugly head and threw the world into a tizzy. Almost overnight, companies were scrambling to find solutions to run their business remotely.
The idea of having your employees work remotely is not a new concept, nor is having your team work from home for various reasons like inclement weather, illness, or lack of daycare. We’ve all been there – your toddler is sick and you need to stay at home with them. Or, you live in the south and there is a light dusting of snow on the ground – where the mere mention of snow can shut down an entire state for a few days.
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But the coronavirus is different. The sheer scope of institutions, schools, government agencies, and retail stores affected is unprecedented. Abruptly, businesses were having to shut down not just one location or make accommodations for one or two staffers. Instead, companies large and small were having to reformulate their day-to-day operations. Almost without notice, they needed a plan to relocate their entire workforce. Imagine someplace like a call center having to move their operation from a packed office to individuals’ homes in less than 48 hours.
Call centers for industries like banks, or hotels have been inundated with calls from customers trying to do their banking remotely or trying to change travel arrangements only to encounter long wait times or no customer service at all. Many call centers were ill-equipped to make a rapid transition to a remote working environment because they had not switched to the cloud.
Had these companies already moved their phone systems to the cloud, they would have needed only to have supplied their workers with laptops and headsets and allowed them to take their phones home and connect to the internet. As part of an integrated cloud-based phone system, those companies would have access to powerful back-end tools not to simply manage calls remotely but to work as a team, as they did in an office.
Carolina Digital Phone’s software allows for call volume tracking, remote management, and a secure channel for team messaging. With over 150 enterprise features, businesses can customize their phone system as needed. The built-in features are available to all customers at no additional cost. Features like call recording and monitoring, call queue management, and analytics means doing business remotely can be every bit as professional and efficient as possible.
Before moving to a remote-based work model, businesses using landlines have some big decisions and even bigger investments to make. Landline telephone systems use old-school phone system connections and infrastructure from local or regional telephone providers. These systems require onsite PBX equipment that an in-house IT team maintains and upgrades. Systems such as this necessitate large upfront capital expenditures for all of the PBX equipment.
Conversely, switching to cloud-based telephones is a much easier and less costly undertaking. Because Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone systems use your internet connection, there is no need to install copper cables. Additionally, using cloud-hosted, instead of on-premise VoIP, means a business would not need to house and maintain the PBX equipment.
In hindsight, if institutions like call centers had already moved their business model to the cloud, they would have been – and will be in the future – prepared to make quick changes as needed. With cloud-based phones in place before calls increased exponentially at the beginning of the crisis, those call centers would have had the flexibility to scale their phone system to accommodate the increase. Adding or removing phones is a relatively simple task accomplished in a matter of days – or sometimes hours.
Now that we have seen how quickly the business environment can change, ensuring your company has the flexibility to adapt is crucial to success. Don’t think this is a one-time blip in the world economy. Do yourself a favor and be prepared for what the future may bring.
To learn how you can transition your business to the cloud, contact us at (336) 544-4000 or chat with us during business hours by clicking the chat icon on the bottom of your screen. We are a local Greensboro, North Carolina-based business with over 100 5-star reviews!