The latest dispatch from the pandemic front brings some good news, and some bad news.
The good news is that despite yet another surge of cases and hospitalizations — this time driven by the Delta variant — there is no official plan to enter into another lockdown. But the bad news is that the White House recently stated that “in all probability” there will be guidelines and restrictions issued in the weeks and months ahead. Unfortunately, we all know from experience that “in all probability” is political-speak for “it’s going to happen.”
This begs a vital question for business owners and leaders across the country: is your office phone system prepared for another lockdown?
If you have an all-in-one VoIP office phone system from Carolina Digital Phone, your answer is a clear and comforting YES! Here are the seven reasons why:
1. Our Office Phone System Supports Your Remote Workforce
Due to physical distancing requirements, you may need to limit the number of employees who work in your office. It is also possible that some of your employees — including key team members — may be required to self-isolate at home after coming into contact with an infected individual(s).
Our office phone system makes it fast, easy, and extremely affordable to keep your remote workers productive — and keep your business moving forward. Remote workers have multiple options:
- They can plug an IP phone into the back of their computer or their Wi-Fi router, and instantly start using the office phone system.
- Remote workers can wear a headset and turn their desktop and/or laptop into a softphone.
- They can use their personally-owned or corporately supplied smartphones.
Notably, even when remote workers use their personally-owned smartphones, their personal information does not display on Caller ID. The business’s information is displayed. This presents a more professional image, and it is also important for privacy, security, and compliance.
2. Carolina Digital Phone System Lets You Rapidly and Easily Add Users
One of the biggest liabilities of a conventional landline office phone system has to do with adding users. Not only is this costly, but depending on where the new user(s) are located in the office, it could mean installing wires — which is disruptive to staff and customers. And on top of this, businesses that have not purchased a premium (read: expensive) maintenance plan can expect to wait for a technician to come on-site and get the job done. And during a lockdown, who knows how long that might take — it could be months!
With our office phone system, adding users is rapid, easy, and very cost-effective. It also does not matter if users are located in the corporate office, or (as discussed earlier) a home office, a digital workspace, or anywhere else. Within minutes, they will have their own unique number/extension and voicemail box.
3. Our Office Phone System Leverages Your Existing Hardware Investment
If your existing phones are compatible with a VoIP adapter — which is a small device that converts analog voice signals into digital IP packets — then you will be able to use them with our office phone system. This is an enhanced level of flexibility and affordability that most conventional phone companies do not provide.
4. Our Office Phone System Lets You Recruit Talent Outside Your Local Labor Pool
The “Great Resignation” is upon us. In April 2021 alone, a staggering four million people decided to leave their job — some because they wanted to explore other opportunities, others because they needed a break, and still others who opted to retire early. This unprecedented volume of turnover is making it hard for many businesses to find the talent they need in their local labor pool — especially if they require workers with highly specialized skills and/or industry certifications and licenses.
Our office phone system empowers you to reach beyond your local labor pool and connect with the talent that you need to succeed now and into the future. Even if they are located on the other side of the state or country, your new employee(s) will be on the same system as everyone else — they can chat through instant messaging, participate in video calls, and more.
5. Our Office Phone System Has Built-In Advanced Features that Drive Flexibility
Some of the most valuable features of our office phone system that drives flexibility include:
- Voicemail-to-email with text: employees can listen to voicemails as audio files that are automatically pushed to their email inbox. Plus, employees can have voicemails automatically transcribed and the text entered into the body of an email.
- Live call transfer: employees can seamlessly transfer a live call from one device to another; for example, they can answer a call on their IP phone and transfer it to their smartphone. They can then transfer it again to their car’s Bluetooth system.
- Presence: instead of calling, texting, or physically walking over to check if a colleague is available employees simply glance at their colleague’s presence indicator to see if they are available, busy, or away. This feature is especially valuable for remote workers. This is because they can instantly see if their colleagues’ are available. Their managers can see if they are working.
- e-Faxing: with our optional e-fax service, employees can send/receive faxes from anywhere, at any time. In addition, e-faxing is more secure than scanning and attaching a document to an email. HIPAA compliant, e-fax and detailed reports are available through a secure web-based portal.
6. Our Office Phone System Expands Your Footprint into New Markets
You can affordably obtain a phone number that is local to another geographic area— which makes your business appear local. That’s a significant advantage. For example, if your business is based in Greensboro, NC where the area code is 336 and you have customers (or you want customers) in Raleigh, NC where the area code is 919, you can get a number with a 919 area code. You can also get a toll-free number to expand your footprint nationwide.
7. Our Phone System Enables You to Assign Unique Numbers to Campaigns
Speaking of adding numbers: let’s say that you are running a special limited-time promotion. You can easily get a unique number and assign it to the campaign. This helps you measure the effectiveness and ROI of your advertising and marketing.
Assigning a unique number also allows you to customize your operational workflow. For example, you may want to have customers who take advantage of the promotion speak with CSRs who are specially-trained or located in a call center.
The Bottom Line
Will there be another lockdown? Nobody can say for sure. However, what we can say with certainty is that we are not out of the woods yet. The Delta variant has really thrown a wrench into what we all hoped was the end of the pandemic.
Regardless of what the future has in store, your business needs to be prepared if — or more likely when — new restrictions are put in place. Our office phone system gives you the flexibility that you need to keep moving forward. And that is not just a matter of profit and loss. It could mean the difference between survival and extinction.
Learn more and schedule your live guided demo of our flexible all-in-one VoIP office phone system by calling us today at (336) 544-4000. We can deliver your demo in person at your location, or over the web.