The office desk phone has become a complete Business Communication Platform. Now your office phone number can text and call from mobile phones and computers.
You can even take your Office Desk Phone anywhere there is an internet connection, including Wi-Fi.
Can your current phone system do that?
Any Business Phone System is only as good as the people and company behind the service. Which is why we have chosen to partner with Cytracom to offer a Voice over IP [VoIP] business phone system to our clients. The comprehensive Cytracom feature set is easily configured to fulfill a broad range of call management and distribution scenarios. System configuration and management is easily accomplished via the Cytracom cloud console, or by contacting a Cytracom support representative.
CorePoint360 working with Cytracom will provide a demo phone, and work with you through the few simple steps involved in migrating your phone numbers to Cytracom. Let's explore how a Cytracom cloud hosted VoIP Business Phone System can improve communication for your business.
Questions to ask when switching phone systems.
- Is your current network environment (bandwidth, firewall, router, etc.) able to handle a new VoIP system? Our diagnostic process will assess your current computer network, Internet, firewall and systems to ensure a VoIP phone will work flawlessly “as is” and without additional costs or upgrades – and if those are needed, you’ll know in advance so you’re not surprised later with a big, unexpected expense to make it work.
- Is it possible for you to get out of a contract with a phone system you HATE? We’ll review your current contract to see if there are ways to cancel it without paying heavy fines, penalties and early termination fees.
- Can you save money on your phone and Internet bill? It’s very common for us to save our clients between 20% and 40% by finding hidden costs they don’t need and shopping for competitive bids on these services.
- Are you losing sales and opportunities because of how the phones are answered in your office? Are prospects calling and hanging up? Are you missing calls? Would you engage more prospects and clients if they could use text to communicate? Are sales leads being captured and entered into a CRM for follow-up?
Any of these things can cost you thousands of dollars in lost sales, yet most businesses NEVER audit how their phone is being answered. Have you?
The Two Biggest Problems With VoIP Phones And How To Avoid Them
VoIP is an overused term that confuses some people, because they think it’s a phone on your computer. Voice over Internet Protocol is the technology used by a an internet connected telephone.
Those all were the early iterations of VoIP. Today, a “VoIP” phone is more of a SERVICE than a physical phone (although physical phones still play into this). With a VoIP service, you can use any cell phone, your PC or other devices to make calls and send messages, which gives you the ability to make and receive calls from any location with a reasonable Internet connection.
Many people have a fear of moving to a VoIP for two legitimate reasons. The first is call quality and the second is “What if the Internet goes down?” Two very valid concerns, and why with the 'RIGHT phone,' this is not an issue.
Problem #1: Call Quality
It’s true that in the past, VoIP phones have been notorious for garbled, choppy, low-quality sound and dropped calls. However, the technology that operates these phones has come a long way in the last couple of years, and Internet bandwidth (which is a key component to call quality) is faster and cheaper.
So any sound quality issues you might have on a new VoIP system is due to two problems – your bandwidth isn’t sufficient, or your firewall, router and computer network (where the phone now resides) is not set up properly for the phone. That’s it.
This is why it’s critical for your phone vendor to assess your network before selling you a phone to make sure the phone you’re buying will actually work on the network you’re plugging it into.
KEY POINT: Big phone vendors like AT&T or RingCentral will NOT do this assessment before selling you a phone. They will take your money, ship you a phone in a box and leave you to set it up. When the call quality is horrible and you call them for help, they’ll simply point the finger to your Internet provider, bandwidth or computer network and wish you good luck. They WON’T troubleshoot that issue for you, which is why you want to buy a phone system from a local IT company that will own 100% of the setup, problems, and call quality.
Problem #2: What If The Internet Goes Down?
Without a doubt, the internet WILL go down, but that doesn’t you’re your phone system has to. That’s because the “brain” of the phone is not hosted in your office. It’s hosted in a secure and highly-reliable server that has multiple backup systems for Internet connectivity. Therefore, when the internet goes down, you have configured the phone system to automatically set up to do any of a number of things, such as:
- Route to a designated cell phone or other location.
- Go to an auto attendant you set up to allow the person to leave a voice mail, similar to your after hours call system.
- They can leave a voice mail message, and that message can be transcribed e-mailed to you, and/or sent as a sound file attachment.
A good phone system vendor will set this up in advance so calls are automatically handled the way you want and instantly “fail over” without you having to do anything.
The Truth About All VoIP Phone Systems That No Salesperson Will Tell You
The biggest “secret” in the phone system industry is: ALL phone system offer basically the same features and capabilities.
Sure there are a few things some phone systems can do that others can’t, but for the most part, it’s a highly competitive field and every feature offered by one phone system is offered by them all. So all the marketing hype about how their phone system is “the best” or better than the rest is just marketing propaganda that should be taken with a grain of salt.
So how DO you compare, and what IS the most important point of differentiation that you need to look for?
Here it is: The most important “feature” is not in the phone itself but in the after-sale SERVICE – who is setting it up, who will be there to install it, configure it and make sure it works, and who you will call when you need help.
It should not surprise you that most small business owners and office managers do not know how to properly set up a phone system and customize it for their office, nor do they want to learn. They also don’t want to become experts at their phone systems – they simply want an EASY TO USE system that consistently works.
That’s why you want to really investigate the after-sale service. When something goes wrong or when you can’t get the system to do what you want it to do, how easy is it to get fast, easy and helpful support? Further, who will be there to conduct the cut over to the new system and make sure it works?
Here are two critical questions you need to ask the vendor about support BEFORE you buy:
1. Who will set my new phone system up and customize it for my specific needs and situation?
Get specifics here. Some vendors simply ship you a phone and require you to set it up yourself. Sure they’ll tell you all you have to do is “plug it in,” but rarely is anything that easy. Instead of doing it for you, they’ll give you the 100-page instruction manual you’ll need to muddle through and a “customer support” website that will require you to search through hundreds of questions to find the answer to your specific problem, which is time consuming and frustrating. Rarely do these sites provide the answers you need quickly.
Then the day of the cut over, you’re scrambling to make the system work, frantically trying to figure out how to troubleshoot it and set it up.
Worse yet - if you CAN’T get it to work, exactly who will they help you? Do they have techs who will come to your office and set up and troubleshoot possible phone problems? Which leads me to the next question…
2. How do I get help if the phone system isn’t working?
We all know how exasperating it is to try and get an offshore “customer service” person to help, from the big, faceless corporation.
Which is why we recommend you look for a reputable, local phone system reseller who will not only set up the phone system for you and customize it for your specific needs, but also be there to provide personalized support, training and help over the phone AND in-office support should the need arise.
One Final Point: As already mentioned in the “Problems With VoIP,” work with a phone system vendor that is also an IT firm, like ours. Because your phone resides on your computer network, the network must be assessed prior to installing a phone to ensure it can properly handle the added bandwidth and quality of service requirements of a VoIP service, and to ensure the firewall and router are configured properly. Only an IT firm would be qualified to do this.
By doing the assessment BEFORE you buy, you can prepare in advance and be aware of any additional costs you may incur with the phone.
Tell why, because we are local and hands on, we can help in ways Ring Central or Ooma never will.
Provide a comprehensive VoIP Buyers Guide or Truth About VoIP.
Make the offer that we will help through the whole process including network assessment and installation for free.