
1. Do some research, ask questions, take note of other organisations' telecommunications. You use it every day. Can you book, amend and cancel an appointment at your Doctor using just your key-pad? How did they record a conversation, then email it to their boss? Why did the company next door manage the winter-freeze better than we did? The questions are endless – this'll start the ideas flowing, can I do this, can I do that? The next step is to find a company whose imagination and creativity is in tune with yours.
2. You'll find hundreds of companies claiming they'll rock your world given half a chance, but be careful, there's rocking and there's rocking. Remember, this new relationship will span the lifetime of your system – you need a partnership, your business will change dramatically in the next 5-7-10 years, what appears state of the art today, could be obsolete tomorrow. Choose to speak with no more than three or four companies; one might be your incumbent maintainer, if you're still happy with them and of course a recommendation is always good. Beyond that, look for organisations who have associations with big names, BT, Cable & Wireless, O2 etc., companies who can demonstrate awards for innovation and customer satisfaction. Ok, be prepared, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, but no knowledge (in this instance) could be extremely painful.
3. Know what you have – how many lines, how many extensions, diverts, night service, fax machines, modems, door-entry, public address, and so-on and so-forth. If you're not the 'keeper' of the system, ask the person who is to join you in the meetings. The salesperson will make a much better job of the proposal if they have the correct information – only you can give them that. But that's the past, you want to move on, move forward, start a revolution…well not quite, but this investment could revolutionise the way you work. Ask more questions.
4. Ask where's the pain? What's holding the business back, why can't I… Do you want to replace people with technology? (if only). Do you need another member of staff but can't afford one? Do you want to keep better control of people on the road? Do you loose new business because the phone doesn't get answered quickly enough? Are you open to litigation, fraud, uncontrollable costs, people taking the proverbial…. The 'b' word comes next – what's the budget. No point in getting a price for a Lamborghini when you can only afford a Ford.
5. Be honest, explain clearly what you're trying to achieve. If you're looking for a figure to put to the FD for budget, come clean. Any company looking for a 'quick sale' will loose interest & clearly wasn't interested in designing and implementing a solution for you anyway – no 'box-shifters' welcome here. If you need a lease arrangement, are you really eligible? More homework. You should now be ready to receive your visitors. Quick check - done the research, identified the business issues, got an idea about money. The telecoms industry is a very mature market and there are very few unique features to be found anymore. The question is, who can make best use of what they have?
6. Can the company [this person in front of me is representing] forge a successful business relationship with my organisation? Do they truly understand what I'm trying to achieve? Will they work with me to design a solution? Are they innovative enough to revolutionise the way we work? Can they truly deliver on time, in budget? Will they support us for the next however manyyears? So you've got three quotations on your desk. Three companies, proposing three different products, not dissimilar in price and more or less in budget. But, poles apart with their submissions. Digital, IP, hosted…. Have any of these telecoms companies captured your imagination, did they 'wax lyrical' about their product, do they know their stuff, were they genuinely sincere about solving your business issues – be candid, can you work with them?
7. Ask to visit them, see a working demonstration, go armed with numerous questions, take colleagues. Assess the organisation, do they look stable, will they be trading in 12-months, ask for reference sites. Arrange a techy-to-techy conversation, 'my people talking to your people' 'what plugs in where', 'what talks to what', 'who writes the middle-wear' blah blah..
8. Ask your favourite proposer to send a qualified engineer to perform a full & detailed site survey. Insist they inspect every nook & cranny, leave no stone unturned. Show and tell - highlight cabling compromises, working practices, health & safety issues; discuss layout changes, personnel. Be precise, it'll come back to bite you if you're not. You're company of choice should now be in a position to offer a final proposal. Arrange a meeting to discuss their solution. Invite decision makers,technical colleagues, key users etc., and ask them to prepare their questions too. If possible do this at their site, let everyone see who you're proposing to choose.
9. Get everyone's buy in. Change is difficult to manage; the receptionist will probably use this new technology more than the MD & FD will. Not easy to give the seal of approval then renege on it. Happy with your choice? Confident? Ready to go? Hold on a minute….
10. Go back, have you achieved what you set out to achieve? Remember that research, rocking your world, ROI's. Business pain, solutions, benefits, stability, trust, buy-in. The future! Happy, confident = then go sign on the dotted line.
Phone systems are a vital piece of technology within any company, enabling the smooth running of communications between staff and customers. In today's corporate world it is almost impossible to have a successful business without a business telephone system. At Elite, we work alongside some of the world's leading market manufacturers to offer you the best Phone System solution for your business.
We provide bespoke systems to suit your personal needs, whether it's a simple set up for your company and home workers that you need, or a VoIP linked product for a full network of branches; we have the knowledge and expertise to provide you with the right equipment and support for a new solution, overcoming any issues you may have had with your previous telephone systems.
Here are some of the manufacturers we work with:
One of the main benefits when choosing Elite Telecom, is that we continue to work with you after the installation of your new system.
As your company changes and grows, your Phone System needs to adapt to the changes. We will arrange reviews and keep you updated on new features and technologies - helping to protect your investment in the new Phone System.
We offer a wide range of phone system products and manufacturers so your mind can be at rest, knowing that you are investing in the perfect solution for your business and getting the best deal available.
All our staff are experienced in the telecommunications field so whether it is customer support or installation you want, the service we provide is of the highest standard.
There’s no point having and paying for a quality business phone system without necessary maintenance.
It is much like buying a Ferrari without insurance, well maybe that’s a bit extreme, but what we’re trying to say here is that if you're paying for a business phone system, to invest in maintenance or care is just plain stupid.
Supporting the health of your business phone system is just important as supporting your own, without it your business productivity is sent into a whirl spin and could seriously cause down time on your day.
Elite Telecom is a friendly business, which can offer you the biggest range of phone systems that you’ll ever need to expand and benefit your business, along with specialised and trained engineers, we also offer phone system maintanence and the promise that should anything go wrong we’ll be right there for you.
We work with the widest range of phone system suppliers and our engineers are easily reachable to any part of UK mainland.
Technology isn’t perfect, so get in touch with Elite Telecom today to ensure that an unexpected technological glitch doesn’t cost you your business.
Does your current phone system excite you? No? Then you must be seriously undersold.
Between you, your staff and your customers, having a reliable form of communication is probably the most important aspect of a business.
After all, business is built on communication, and although our forsaken phone systems are often seen as the traditional or even ‘out-dated’ communication tool – they are still the first step for any business to conquer in the telecoms realm. Even before your broadband connections.
Phone systems are kind of a big deal, our beloved old-fashioned PBX models have discreetly been vastly evolving along with the rest of technology, and now integrate more than enough modern day features to allow you to sync with your business mobiles or even with your broadband.
Elitetele.com built its business on phone systems, from industry leaders Avaya, Panasonic, Siemens, Toshiba and Swyx, we recognise the importance of offering a variety when it comes to finding reliable phone systems.
With each phone system providing unique attributes, you can benefit from our feature rich services that can be tailor made to fit your business.
Your company could be unnecessarily wasting money simply by not checking regularly to see if they are getting the best deals on their phone systems.
Elitetele.com can provide you with a telephone system whilst also searching for the best package to suit your business needs.
Research carried out by YouGov on behalf of NewVoiceMedia stated that over a third of SME decision makers admitted to not having reviewed their system in the last 12 months, meaning that businesses are potentially missing out on huge savings as the telco market continues to fluctuate.
There is an extensive and exhaustive list of telephone systems that may be beneficial for your company, but there may also be ones detrimental to your business outlook – picking a phone system is much like picking a pair of shoes, you have to find the perfect fit.
The range of phone systems may seem daunting but on a professional level, it is a blessing in disguise as it provides the widest choice to be able to crucially narrow down and tailor the ideal system to your company.
Office phone systems can age just as we do, if you haven’t updated or reviewed your system in the last 12 months then not only could you be playing with your system’s physical health, but you could also be losing money by not properly assessing such a changeable market.
If you don’t have one at all, then the chances are you’re wondering why your business isn’t growing.
Why is it important? The telephone is a common household appliance but business phone systems require more than the ordinary telephone at home.
These phones are specifically geared to handle a large volume of calls from customers, and help your business expand at the same time. So contact Elite Telecom today and see the improvements in your business potential for yourselves.
We’re obviously not referring to the offering of a shoulder to cry on should your phone system be hit with a bout of depression, but more often than not, as much as we hate to admit it through clenched teeth; technology isn’t perfect.
In fact, it can be the total opposite. Through no fault of ours or yours, your phone system may just decide to call it a day. But we won’t let it. We know how important communication is to a business; without communication there is no growth. And if it has lived long past it’s life expectancy then we can also supply you with a brand new phone system.
Businesses may be disrupted at any time, but it’s important to have not only an effective business continuity plan put in place, but as part of this plan, provide a maintance package that covers your office phone system.
Elitetele.com can supply you with a maintenance contract for your phone system, where we will offer not only our soul, but complete back-up and recovery services to ensure minimum loss to your business and avoid the wrath of angry customers.
We work with the widest range of phone system suppliers, our engineers are all fully trained and qualified, and are a friendly bunch easily reachable to any part of UK mainland.
Contact us here to see if we can find a solution for you, and ensure that an unexpected technological glitch doesn’t cost you your business. Is your phone healthy? Well, we’ll see.
Companies currently installed with VoIP hardware across their systems as part of an attempt to boost productivity may find that virtualisation could assist with their operations.
Project director at IT body Intellect, Ian Osborne, explained that virtualisation helps businesses in developing more flexible environments in order to adjust their application services in terms of priority.
“Virtualisation is very popular as a way of [making] more efficient use of resources,” he said.
He continued by explaining that this approach would benefit businesses by improving their energy-saving methods.
“If you switch off servers as a result of consolidating your work onto fewer servers, you’re definitely using less power,” he added.
A recent survey polling 544 organisations across the UK, France, Germany as well as the US found that 39.4 per cent of these businesses had virtualised their servers.
CEO and president of Veeam Software, Ratmir Timashev, stated that more firms will hopefully recognise the potential of virtualisation and adapt their IT and phone systems – as well as their possible VoIP solutions – in a way to benefit the move.
What VoIP services do you currently use? If not, have you considered learning more about the different software and hardware available? For more information on VoIP, call Elite Telecom – we’d be happy to answer your queries.
A recent study has stressed the need for up-to-date knowledge of IT skills in order to manage data more efficiently.
The National Audit Office found that the IT skills of at least 40 per cent of civil servants employed at the Department for Work and Pensions, Education, Farming and Rural Affairs and the Treasury fared as “fairly or very significant”.
Spending per employee in the furthering of IT skills came to £547, with little evidence to confirm whether or not the training made an impact to the productivity of workers.
At least £275 million was spent by the government on training during the 2009/10 tax year, with contributions towards the salaries of both departmental learning and development staff – however, only 48 per cent of those polled noted minor improvements in carrying out their work duties.
“IT is seen as a non-essential cost so traditionally it is an area the government doesn’t invest a lot in. But the pay-off of increasing spend on training would be greater efficiency savings,” said Sid Barnes, executive at employment agency Computer People.
Manage your data more effectively by keeping up-to-date with the latest phone systems and unified communications as well as advancing technology trends – by keeping up with the UK’s leading telecommunications provider, Elite Telecom.
Customers of VoIP hardware are part of a growing number of people realising the benefits linked to recycling their old equipment.
According to creative brand manager for Envirofone, Jon Butler, he acknowledged the increasing demand of advertising campaigns and social media as the fundamental contributing factors behind this growing trend.
Whilst he proposed that interest has “certainly” risen across the UK technology customer spectrum, there is currently still “a long way to go before the recycling message gets through to everyone.”
Butler also further explained that the nation is only recycling “a fraction” of their unused electronic gear, including phone systems and business mobiles, however, he confirmed that steps are being taken to improve their environmentally-friendly approach.
This is following a report produced by IT research outfit Gartner, where they found that worldwide IT spending in 2011 is expected to increase at a much higher rate than originally predicted.
Vice president of the organisation Richard Gordon stated his surprise at the results, highlighting the fact that whilst the Japanese tsunami had caused countless financial and technological damage, this natural disaster still could not put a dent in the rate of expenditure within the industry.
Would you like to learn more about how to make the most of your technology, old and new? Talk to Elite Telecom, where our experts will be happy to talk you through our economically and environmentally friendly methods for all your telecommunications needs.
Many employees could soon reap the benefits of sustainability of working from home thanks to VoIP technology.
Through the patching of voice over Internet protocol phones to the homes of employees within a virtual network, they can be allocated their own office extension number without customers knowing of their remote location.
This type of system can be especially useful for business such as estate agents where workers are often out of the office showing customers various properties, or engineers who will frequently be out on visits. By targeting resource consumption, you can save time and money on unnecessary office space and bulky phone systems, and instead reduce costs such as extra employees as well as the additional gas and water bills that would add up if you had a larger workforce.
Programme coordinator for environmental organisation Groundwork Dominic Wood, explained that these types of resources would be perfect for those looking to improve sustainability.
“Begin with legislative obligations, as these reduce liability and the prospect of prosecution,” he said.
“Then look at other areas of the business where improvements can potentially be made.”
Look at other areas of your business and let Elite Telecom help you make those potential improvements. For a range of bespoke communication solutions, call one of our advisors today.