Moving Your Business? Consider Upgrading Your Business Phone System Instead Of Relocating It
Is it time to shift your business to a new location? For many companies, only a change of premises will do to meet your organization’s changing needs. Moving an office is a complicated process, and one of the most vital parts of it is shifting your phone system from one location to another. While this brings a lot of challenges, the most important may be minimizing downtime. Making it impossible for your customers to reach you is never a good thing. You want to take every step possible to reduce or eliminate the amount of time your organization is out of contact.
A Relocation Checklist For Your Phone System
Make downtime reduction your top priority when you plan out the process of moving your business phone system. Advanced planning is absolutely required if your organization is going to enjoy a smooth transfer from one office to another. Use this handy checklist to make sure you’re making the right decisions when it comes to your phones.
- Consult your current service provider about the moving process.
- Investigate your phone service options at your new location.
- Do the same for your internet options. Does it make sense to go with a bundle, or with separate providers?
- Check the new location’s current phone access. If you need to make extensive wiring or hardware upgrades to accommodate your current system, get the installation process started as early as possible. Remember that you’ll need additional time for software upgrades, number porting, and route provisioning if you are moving a PBX.
- Confirm that your new office has sufficient space for all of the telephone equipment you need to move in.
- Create a comprehensive backup. Equipment can get damaged in the moving process; you don’t want to suffer any losses of important data.
- Move your equipment from one premise to the other, including all the associated cords.
- Cross your fingers and hope your system works when you reconnect it!
Obviously, this list isn’t comprehensive – or, realistically, useful. We just wanted you to take the time to think about how complex a phone move really can be. If you start thinking of your office move as an opportunity instead of a hassle, you might come to the conclusion that this is the perfect time to upgrade your phone system instead of relocating it. What about making a move to cloud communications?
The Simple Solution
An office move gives you the perfect opportunity to shift your organization to cloud communications. Leave your old, over-complicated phone system behind you when you relocate to new premises! With the right arrangements and planning, you can move into a new office with a new, state-of-the-art cloud phone system ready for use over the course of a weekend.
Believe it or not, making the shift to the cloud may actually be cheaper than relocating your existing phone system. It can also unlock a vast and possibly-surprising range of new telephone features for your team. Is this starting to sound like a good deal?
Shifting to cloud communications cuts the cord tethering you to all that bulky, aging phone equipment tying your business down. A cloud system makes it easy to link multiple office locations, consolidate your vendors, automatically upgrade your service, and cut back on maintenance costs. Best of all, cloud communications offer your team a big boost in productivity thanks to big boosts in mobility, integration, and collaboration.
Clod communications can be accessed from any location. This is especially important in a major relocation that’s carried out in multiple stages. Your communications net will remain up and running throughout the move. Stay in complete contact with other branches and your customers even while your move is going on!
Where Are The Savings?
When you shift your business phone system to new premises, the biggest “surprise” expenses come from re-wiring and renegotiating provider contracts. Most businesses of a certain size rely on multiple vendors to deliver their full suite of phone services. For example, you might be receiving local, long-distance, internet, conferencing, PBX maintenance, and disaster recovery services from different companies. Moving to new premises may oblige you to terminate some of these contracts prematurely, and that, in turn, subjects you to termination fees. In extreme cases, you may even have to pay off your contracts in full.
Shifting to a cloud-based system simplifies your communications budget tremendously. Consolidate all your expenses and pay them month-to-month!
Wiring your new premises for a traditional phone system can get very expensive very fast. Every new cable drop you need to have installed can cost up to $200. Tying all of your different electronic devices together also requires a host of connectors (RJ11 and RJ45), which can also put a painful bite on your budget.
You can simplify, streamline, and economize all at once by using your office move as an excuse to move to a full-service cloud communications provider. Working with an experienced provider will give you access to a complete range of industry-leading services, including video and audio conferencing, voicemail, instant messaging, collaboration tools, and much more. Put it all together for one affordable monthly fee that doesn’t require binding long-term contracts and painful upfront fees. Future adjustments to your phone system also get a whole lot easier (not to mention cheaper!) when you move to the cloud. Change numbers and adjust your user lists without incurring added fees or experiencing any frustrating delay in service. Bear in mind that investments you make in mobility solutions – and cloud communications count! – deliver an average ROI of 150%.
Make Your Move A Dream Instead Of A Nightmare
Moving your business is the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate your telephone solutions and discover more affordable ways to enjoy more effective service. You can even hang onto vital pieces of hardware and software and incorporate them into a cloud solution if you need to. Plan out a move to the cloud before you move your business and enjoy a hassle-free upgrade to a much more powerful phone system.