BUSINESS PHONE SYSTEM UPGRADES: COST CONCERNS


No investment is ever made without significant thought given to costs. Phone technology for business is no different. In the past, a new phone system upgrade for your business could cost thousands of dollars and required lengthy installation and rollout processes. When assessing phone systems today, you must look at not only the cost of the equipment but also the cost of maintenance and the value of the time you will save with a more efficient workflow.

COST OF EQUIPMENT

Many companies remember the days of spending $20,000 or more up front to have new phones and land lines brought in. Technology and the phone industry have come a long way since then. It is cheaper than ever to manufacture new phones, and many phone service providers would rather have you sign a two year installment agreement than pay for the phones up front. This translates into a lower monthly payment that you can stretch out over several years rather than making a lump sum payment. The benefit is that this service agreement also typically includes regular updates and other perks that were not available with older phones.

It is also wise to remember that you are going to need a thorough assessment done by a qualified phone technology provider. They will be able to tell you which parts of your current system can be salvaged and reused and which parts need to be replaced. You may find that many of your existing lines can be kept in place, minimizing the amount of new equipment you will be paying for.

COST OF MAINTENANCE

The idea of making a monthly payment for a subscription service may be daunting to companies who are used to paying for their phone technology for business up front. However, the lower monthly payments could still be a cost savings year over year if you take a step back and tally up the real costs of keeping your old system in place. Consider the following:

  • How much are you spending annually on repairs to old equipment?
  • Are the cost of repairs getting higher as your old equipment becomes obsolete?
  • What happens if you have a major failure and you need to make an emergency upgrade on short notice? Does the cost multiply due to urgency?

Often, companies become so used to paying for repairs on their equipment that they fail to add up how much they are really spending when compared to the cost of simply having brand-new phone technology for business needs. The total could be shocking.

VALUE OF YOUR TIME

Since today's phone technology for business is so much more advanced than previous generations, it provides a whole new level of integration and communication. Many companies see a huge boost in their productivity when they switch to a modern phone system because of all the new tools at their disposal. How much is that additional work worth when it comes to evaluating a new phone system investment? In addition, if you are no longer having to deal with downtime and repairs on old equipment, how much more productive time do you gain?

When it comes to doing a complete cost analysis on your new phone system upgrade, it is important to look at all aspects of what the phone system will provide. Since today's phone systems include far more functionality than older systems, you may be surprised to see how far your money goes within your organization, even if it seems like an expensive project at first. Don't forget to account for miscellaneous costs when comparing your options.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Outsourcing: an overview

Image
Outsourcing: an overview Outsourcing today simply involves using external entities to handle specific, specialized business functions so that organizations can focus on their core competencies. The idea of seeking outside support for areas that are not core to a business is many decades old. However, seeking support from external providers can make a lot of sense, especially in fields that involve considerable complexity. One example, as human resources becomes increasingly complex practice, especially in areas that involve often complex and arcane laws such as benefits and employment law, many smaller companies are increasingly outsourcing some or all of their HR tasks. IT is another example. Like human resources, IT covers a wide range of specialties, for which no one or two individuals can possibly hope to be fully versed in. As the CEO of a small- to medium-sized firm, or perhaps a line manager, why should you consider outsourcing all or part of the IT function? One immediate rea
Read more

So, what is this “Unified Communications” thing, anyhow?

Image
So, what is this “Unified Communications” thing, anyhow? Have you heard the term unified communications tossed around lately? It seems to be used a lot in IT, telecomm, and work collaboration circles. Unified communications is a newer concept that refers to a conceptual platform where multiple communications channels can join together to increase productivity and facilitate collaboration. Here’s one way to look at it. Imagine that you only own one car. And imagine it is a sporty two seater. And then imagine you decide to invite five of your friends, none of whom are able to drive, out to dinner. This means you would have to pick each one up separately and drive him or her to the restaurant. And of course, one of them lives down an old rough farm road, so you have to drive very slowly so you don’t damage the underside of your expensive little two seater. This scenario is pretty similar to the way we handle business communications today. We aren't able to just throw everyone together
Read more

MSPs save money And you get stuff that matters

Image
MSPs save money. And you get stuff that matters. Outsourcing has become a fairly common element in business processes today. What started off as a means to cut business costs and take advantage of cheaper resources based offshore has now become an essential part of running a business today. (Its definition doesn’t necessarily include offshore outsourcing, of course) This blog looks at two additional areas where IT outsourcing can dramatically improve revenues. In particular, outsourcing can avoid high-fixed costs when you are trying to meet peak demand periods or have 24/7 coverage available. Cost benefits Having an MSP manage your IT infrastructure completely offers tremendous cost savings vis-a-vis having an in-house IT team. When you have FT IT professionals on your payroll, you incur many other HR and training-related costs that come with employing full-time staff. These may include 401(k) expenses, health insurance, paid time-off, etc., which can be avoided by outsourcing your IT
Read more