But how many of your employees got to weigh in on the decision? If you have an older system, most of your employees might not have even been around when you made that choice.
But the end users of your business communication services, including your phones, are some of the most important stakeholders. If your employees can’t use the system to do their jobs better, you don’t have the right phones in place.
The easiest way to find out if your employees are happy with their communication options is to ask them. Do an informal (or formal) survey to determine if people are having problems taking full advantage of their phone features.
Maybe you are pretty sure that people are unhappy, but you’re not quite ready to put out an open-ended question about it. Here are some signs that can help you decide to take the next step.
Complaints from Employees
Complaints, as you might expect, are a good indicator that things are not working exactly as planned.If your employees are complaining about your phone or other business communication services, that’s a pretty good sign they are not happy with them. Often, a receptionist or executive assistant will be the first line of defense against shoddy phone systems, so this is where complaints will start. Whether it is difficult to transfer calls, video conference, or stay on task, if your employees are complaining about it, you are losing money because of it.
Complaints from Customers
Customer complaints are an even more important indicator that your phone system is not up to snuff. Are your customers spending too much time on hold? Or are they being bounced around to the wrong people for 20 minutes before they can even ask their questions? Use your regular customer surveys to find out if your phone system is causing friction in your customer service and you’ll uncover some important information.Diminished Productivity
Business communication services should be helping your productivity, not hindering it. When you sense that employees are struggling, for example, to get their phones to work with your CRM, you could be wasting precious time. Don’t overlook your communication options when evaluating your productivity numbers.Remote Employees Having Trouble Staying Connected
Many companies are finding that their workforces are increasingly spread out. Employees that were once down the hall are now on the other side of the country, but they still need to stay connected. If you have remote employees that are difficult to reach and have problems dialing into meetings or connecting with customers, it may be time to take another look at your phone system.Employees Resorting to Personal Cell Phones
While cell phones can be a useful productivity tool when employees are on the road or out of the office, they should not be the first thing your team reaches for when they need to make a call in the office. Not only can this put your internal data at risk, it means the office phone system you pay for is not doing its job. If you have a cloud phone system that integrates with mobility options, using a desk phone and a cell phone should be interchangeable and thus employees will not need to resort to workarounds.Why Does All This Matter?
Even if you think your phones are not that important because your employees use email or instant messenger, the fact is that all of these systems are part of your business communication services options. Customers and employees rely on your communication choices to get things accomplished, so it is critical that you are choosing the best possible tools to do that. If employees are unhappy with their options, they are not going to invest time in learning those tools, nor will they ever leverage the full functionality that probably influenced you to choose that system.
Topics: Unified Communications, Customer Support
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