RingCentral Whitepaper

The phone allows your business to flourish. It’s your lifeline to the

outside world and is critical to the image you project to customers.

It’s your connection to your customers and millions of prospective

customers who will reach out to you. That is why selecting the right

phone system is important. You need to be sure that the system you

choose is reliable and adaptable to the changing needs of your growing

business. There’s no need to waste time with trial and error when you

can learn from other businesses like yours. To help, we’ve compiled five

common mistakes people make when selecting a business phone system;

and, more importantly, how you can avoid making these mistakes.

Mistakes to AvoidWhen Selecting a Business Phone System

RingCentral Whitepaper | 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Business Phone System

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1 Going with your home provider

Mistake

We get it. You often go with a company you’ve used before. It’s an easy place to start.

But, just because they can meet your personal needs, doesn’t mean their service is the right

solution for your business. You need a system that makes you look professional and gives you

the tools to manage your business communications.

How to Avoid

Explore your options beyond the standard service providers and costly on-premise systems.

Consider cloud phone solutions that give you many easy-to-use features to run your business

without requiring huge start-up costs or hardware.

2 Buying based solely on price

Mistake

Be careful to consider the total cost of owning a phone system, and not just the monthly fee.

If you go with a traditional solution, you have to consider the initial investment in the hardware

PBX, the installation of the phone system, the on-going maintenance and enhancement to it if

your business expands, as well as the monthly fees.

How to Avoid

Consider cloud based solutions that do not require you to purchase hardware upfront,

allow you to avoid maintenance fees, and often have one all-inclusive monthly price for both

the phone system and monthly service. Whatever option you choose, ensure to calculate

the total cost of ownership and consider the on-going costs you would incur to make

changes to your phone system (if you choose the traditional route).

RingCentral Whitepaper | 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Business Phone System

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3 Discounting the customer experience

Mistake

Your phone system isn’t just about how you connect to others. Your phone system is about

how others connect with you. When selecting a phone system, you must consider what your

customers will experience when they call. Do you want to provide them with a dial by name

or department directory? Do you want to give priority for certain customers? Do you want

to be able to re-route your customer calls instantly from anywhere to ensure that they always

get the best service, even if one of your offices is closed or your customer service manager

is out sick?

How to Avoid

Put yourself in all users’ shoes – including your customers. Test the system from every

perspective. Make a call and try navigating your phone directory from their point of view.

Be sure to test this during business hours and after hours. Consider the differences in how

you would be able to service customers from a traditional phone solution (that requires

an IT manager to come out to make changes to how your customer calls are routed),

vs. a cloud based solution that allows the business owner to instantly change how

customer calls are answered.

4 Over/under-estimating growth

Mistake

Sometimes even the best plans can go awry. Growth is unpredictable. It’s easy to under-estimate

or overestimate how quickly your business will grow. With the wrong system, this can be a

costly mistake.

How to Avoid

Select a phone system that can easily scale up with your business. Don’t get stuck with

massive investments in hardware. Also, avoid long-term contracts that are inflexible and

lock you into services you might not need.

RingCentral Whitepaper | 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Business Phone System

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5 Forcing a square peg into a round hole

Mistake

And lastly, probably the biggest mistake most make is picking a solution that does not work

the way you work. Are you on the road often? Do demands from your personal life come up

at times, forcing you to work remotely? How you work must be considered when selecting a

phone system for your business, but is often overlooked when just going down a features/

functionality selection checklist.

How to Avoid

Get a system that works for you, not against you. Choose a system that is flexible, dynamic

and works the way you do. If you’re often on the road, for example, don’t purchase a phone

service that only works in your office. Select a phone system that can work in multiple

locations, connecting you with your customers when you’re in the car, office or at an

off-site meeting. Pick a solution that not only meets your needs today, but also has a

focus on innovation, so as your business grows and your needs change, it can too.

As a business, you want customers to be able to reach you. The correct phone service allows customers, current and future, to reach you. The solution you choose should be flexible, grow with your company and allow you to work from anywhere.

One possible solution is RingCentral, an easy-to-use, flexible business phone system designed for small and medium businesses that works the way you do. RingCentral offers a complete phone and fax solution with big business features and mobility for a small business price. Business class Polycom and Cisco desk and conference phones arrive Plug & Ring ready, and you get implementation advisors and free 24x7 support.

For more information, please contact a sales representative, visit http://www.ringcentral.co.uk or call 0800 098 8136.

RingCentral, Inc. Siena Court, The Broadway, Maidenhead SL6 1NJ, United Kingdom www.ringcentral.co.uk

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