In a strong economy, most businesses will enjoy greater prosperity. Disposable income is at a high, consumers are financially confident, which means they’re more likely to increase their purchasing. For SMEs, it can be a double-edged sword. As trading ramps up, SME workforces can feel too stretched to handle all the new business. If the economy slumps, they’re the first to feel the pinch. And unlike their enterprise counterparts, SMEs often lack the steady cashflow and financial resilience needed to survive, what can be, a rollercoaster economy.
While SMEs rarely say no to new customers, when it comes to effective communications they can’t always adequately deal with them. So, while being busy is a nice problem to have – it’s still a problem. In this case, businesses should consider their current communications solution. Traditional technology is inherently inflexible, changes can be slow to make and can the systems can lack features designed to make customer service delivery easier.
Feature rich call management
Fortunately for SMEs, call management solutions have come a long way from the old switchboard – or indeed, the legacy desk-phone with a choice of three lines for callers. Today sees some exceptional feature-rich solutions using IP-based technology, SIP Trunking . These solutions offer intelligent call routing and redirection based on the number dialled, time and location of the caller, efficient call queuing and designated call continuity plans, that the business can control.
This last feature is crucial for SMEs, who can’t afford to miss a call and know that an unanswered phone might mean custom going elsewhere. Email alerts are available for missed calls and automatic call diversions if the desired number is busy or unable to answer
Caller identification has never been easier
We’re living in an age of data and analytics and there’s no reason that the telephone should be excluded from that. After all, the easiest way to make something better is to fully understand how it works.
Inbound call management solutions are data-rich systems, designed to give businesses a greater understanding of who is calling, when and why. With that information, they can adapt staffing schedules to account for busy times and even take on new people if the data tells them it’s the right thing to do.
This, as with every other aspect of a call management system, is hosted in a simple-to-use online portal, which is also supported by an app. Again, this is a huge boost for SMEs. Quick access to key call management tools makes it easy to manage inbound calls with no need to burden staff or for outsourcing.
Keep talking, keep working
We all know that SMEs are integral to national prosperity. Whether that’s because they employ so much of the UK workforce, or because they form the economic heart of the nation. But more and more we’re seeing stories about SMEs being squeezed, or struggling to grow as well as they might.
By replacing traditional ISDN-based telephony with SIP, SMEs are not only able to take on more business but can also save up to 50% on line rental and up to 25% on calls. These savings can free up resources for innovation projects to capitalise on the new sources of income.
Success depends on being able to take every opportunity that opens up. That’s why it’s vital for SMEs to know who’s talking to them and what they want from the conversation. SIP-based communication solutions enable exactly that.
