By Steve Mike Levy
Although the cost of your business phone solution should be one consideration, cost of ownership in most cases will be better than 80% of your total telecommunications costs for the lifetime of the system. For this reason it is essential that you choose a phone system that offers ease-of-use as well as least cost routing and other features designed to minimize cost.
A large part of the operational cost of the phone system is the day-to-day maintenance and changes that a business requires. This often involves a lot of time on the part of support staff and can become quite complex dependent on the system and the changes requested. In most cases, the small business owner does not have an internal IT staff dedicated to supporting the communication solution. Although many try to support the system themselves, it often ends up with employees who have no expertise in the area of telecommunications spending many hours supporting this complex technology. Their time would be better spent in their primary role in working to improve and expand the business itself.
This is why most small business owners should consider a support and maintenance option when negotiating the contract to purchase a new business phone solution. This way the vendor provides support as well as performing any moves, adds, or changes when needed. This frees up employees of the business to focus on the business itself and not IT support. Having support by knowledgeable technicians eliminates frustration and downtime for both the customer and the business itself.
If more complex changes are anticipated, such as changes to call routing or circuits then it must be determined how often these changes are likely to occur. For only occasional changes, it might be best to pay for support on a case-by-case basis. For larger and more complex call routing with frequent changes, support for the PBX should be all-inclusive and include higher level administration of the phone system. These types of changes when done frequently can become quite costly when charged for each individual change.
Most of the time, support encompasses making changes to stations, voicemail, or call routing. In a fast-paced environment these changes can occur on a daily basis. With a paid for support plan, the business simply submits a request to the vendor and they are then responsible for all changes to the system. It is essential when negotiating a support contract that a service level agreement be established so that both the business and the vendor know the response time that is required. This is particularly important during system outages where the phone system might not be operational. The longer the phone system is not functioning correctly, the more likely the business will lose revenue and give a negative experience to potential clients. The business owner must determine the time duration that he or she is comfortable with while waiting for the vendor to resolve any issues. In most cases, a critical or down issue must be resolved within four hours.
For those businesses with an on-site PBX, a maintenance agreement should not only include support but should also include coverage for hardware in the event of failure. It is quite common for many PBX vendors to offer maintenance on hardware so that it is replaced with no additional charge to the business owner should a component fail. With the cost of some individual components, this particular type of maintenance agreement can offer significant cost savings in the long term. Additionally, a maintenance agreement provides a fast way for hardware components to be replaced if needed. Without such an agreement, there can often be difficulty in finding replacement parts thus leading to longer down-times the necessary. This is particularly helpful where hardware has reached the end of its life cycle. A maintenance agreement guarantees that replacement hardware for older components will always be available.
Another key component of a maintenance agreement is having a dedicated account representative so that you have one point of contact with the vendor. An account representative should assist the business owner in addressing any issues or problems as well as being available to answer questions. Having one specific person to contact eliminates confusion and prevents the business owner from having to repeat information any time he or she must contact the business phone solution vendor.
A maintenance agreement with an included SLA ensures that down-times due to outages are kept at a minimum. Having this assurance will give you the freedom from the worry of incurring additional charges should an outage occur as well as a guarantee that any failed hardware replacement parts will be available. Before you sign a contract for your business phone solution, discuss support and maintenance options with the vendor to formulate a plan that suits your business and your budget so that you can focus on your business and not your communications solution.
I suggest you take the time to visit the website of Steve Mike levy at http://www.BusinessPhoneSystemsfinder.com and learn more about the changing world of Business Phone Systems. If you're looking to purchase an Office Phone System you may also receive access to instant price quotes at: http://BusinessPhoneSystemsfinder.com/shopping_for_office_phone_systems.php
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Steve_Mike_Levy/1117836
Although the cost of your business phone solution should be one consideration, cost of ownership in most cases will be better than 80% of your total telecommunications costs for the lifetime of the system. For this reason it is essential that you choose a phone system that offers ease-of-use as well as least cost routing and other features designed to minimize cost.
A large part of the operational cost of the phone system is the day-to-day maintenance and changes that a business requires. This often involves a lot of time on the part of support staff and can become quite complex dependent on the system and the changes requested. In most cases, the small business owner does not have an internal IT staff dedicated to supporting the communication solution. Although many try to support the system themselves, it often ends up with employees who have no expertise in the area of telecommunications spending many hours supporting this complex technology. Their time would be better spent in their primary role in working to improve and expand the business itself.
This is why most small business owners should consider a support and maintenance option when negotiating the contract to purchase a new business phone solution. This way the vendor provides support as well as performing any moves, adds, or changes when needed. This frees up employees of the business to focus on the business itself and not IT support. Having support by knowledgeable technicians eliminates frustration and downtime for both the customer and the business itself.
If more complex changes are anticipated, such as changes to call routing or circuits then it must be determined how often these changes are likely to occur. For only occasional changes, it might be best to pay for support on a case-by-case basis. For larger and more complex call routing with frequent changes, support for the PBX should be all-inclusive and include higher level administration of the phone system. These types of changes when done frequently can become quite costly when charged for each individual change.
Most of the time, support encompasses making changes to stations, voicemail, or call routing. In a fast-paced environment these changes can occur on a daily basis. With a paid for support plan, the business simply submits a request to the vendor and they are then responsible for all changes to the system. It is essential when negotiating a support contract that a service level agreement be established so that both the business and the vendor know the response time that is required. This is particularly important during system outages where the phone system might not be operational. The longer the phone system is not functioning correctly, the more likely the business will lose revenue and give a negative experience to potential clients. The business owner must determine the time duration that he or she is comfortable with while waiting for the vendor to resolve any issues. In most cases, a critical or down issue must be resolved within four hours.
For those businesses with an on-site PBX, a maintenance agreement should not only include support but should also include coverage for hardware in the event of failure. It is quite common for many PBX vendors to offer maintenance on hardware so that it is replaced with no additional charge to the business owner should a component fail. With the cost of some individual components, this particular type of maintenance agreement can offer significant cost savings in the long term. Additionally, a maintenance agreement provides a fast way for hardware components to be replaced if needed. Without such an agreement, there can often be difficulty in finding replacement parts thus leading to longer down-times the necessary. This is particularly helpful where hardware has reached the end of its life cycle. A maintenance agreement guarantees that replacement hardware for older components will always be available.
Another key component of a maintenance agreement is having a dedicated account representative so that you have one point of contact with the vendor. An account representative should assist the business owner in addressing any issues or problems as well as being available to answer questions. Having one specific person to contact eliminates confusion and prevents the business owner from having to repeat information any time he or she must contact the business phone solution vendor.
A maintenance agreement with an included SLA ensures that down-times due to outages are kept at a minimum. Having this assurance will give you the freedom from the worry of incurring additional charges should an outage occur as well as a guarantee that any failed hardware replacement parts will be available. Before you sign a contract for your business phone solution, discuss support and maintenance options with the vendor to formulate a plan that suits your business and your budget so that you can focus on your business and not your communications solution.
I suggest you take the time to visit the website of Steve Mike levy at http://www.BusinessPhoneSystemsfinder.com and learn more about the changing world of Business Phone Systems. If you're looking to purchase an Office Phone System you may also receive access to instant price quotes at: http://BusinessPhoneSystemsfinder.com/shopping_for_office_phone_systems.php
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Steve_Mike_Levy/1117836