Communication is vital to business operation, making sales, closing deals, and giving out information and instructions to employees. It is important that the business phone system is always at its best so that these tasks may be performed effectively.
Compatibility
Small business owners should always check if the hardware of their communication system is still compatible with other components in the system including their software. In case that some parts give out, small business owners can check if it is easy to find a replacement of that part. When they cannot find one easily or if a number of new software used for business operations will not work, it is probably time for a phone system upgrade. Small business owners also need other IT equipment and they would need to check if their phone system is also compatible with those.
Complexity
Small business owners should be able to control and manipulate the settings of their communication system. If they cannot do that, they will need to call the technical support team of their service provider every time they have to change something in their phone system settings. This will be a waste of time since they will have to call the service provider, wait for the technicians to arrive, explain the problem to them, wait while they are fixing the problem or modifying the phone system settings, and go through all that again when you need to change something again. Making these changes are unavoidable since these include adding and removing employees, extensions or devices in the network, setting numbers for call forwarding features, and customizing mailbox settings. It is definitely time to upgrade to a phone system that is easy to administer and would allow small business owners to do it themselves.
Mobility
Both small business owners and their employees should be able to stay connected to the phone system even when they have to step out and work in another place or in the field. Having to work outside the office is something inevitable. Employees get sick, small business owners attend meetings, and there are times when they just need to take some time off. In such cases, they should still be able to send and receive messages through the network to make sure that they can be reached whenever something very important comes up.
Capability
The needs of the business should be considered when trying to determine if it is high time for an upgrade or not. There are times when small business owners are left with no other choice but to upgrade their phone system. This is when the traffic or the call volume is more than what their existing phone system can handle. It may also be done in case that a lot more employees or extensions are needed to be able to handle the calls. It happens when the existing phone system has a very limited capability when it comes to the number of communication devices in the network or the number of calls that it can handle efficiently.
Although it will be better to hold on to the existing communication system to avoid spending money, small business owners should also consider the amount of money that they are losing by staying with their old communication system.