IT Voice

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  • WHY YOUR COMMUNICATION CHANNELS MATTER


    When you are trying to improve your communication strategy, it’s important for you to know how your customers would like to communicate. Have you done a survey with your existing customers asking them how they communicate? It may be the help you need to better determine your methods you’ll pursue in creating a remarkable customer service experience.

    Once you’ve identified what channels to pursue, it’s important to be accessible whenever and however someone needs to reach you. Only having a website isn’t enough. There are so many communication channels available for you to consider. Don’t get hung up on the technology but more on the service. Ask yourself, are we currently connecting with the customer who doesn’t want to give us their contact information? Maybe someone isn’t that far in the buyer’s journey and they need more information before scheduling a demo.

    Continue to do market research on your buyers and look at how they interact and be innovative. Stay ahead of the curve and don’t be Blockbuster. They claimed their customers loved reading the back of the DVD/VHS and putting it back on the shelf. Now, their customers enjoy reading about their movies from their couch on Netflix. Our communication channels matter.

    To help improve customer service satisfaction, we’ve created a Communication Diagnostic for you to complete. It’s 10 questions asking about your communication strategy, both internally or externally. At the end of the diagnostic, we will email your score and give praise for what you’re doing well, but also offer feedback on areas of improvement. Complete our Communication Diagnostic and receive your Communication Effectiveness Score!

  • Costs Savings and VoIP

    Costs Savings and VoIP

    In the last blog we talked a little bit about some of conveniences and flexibility that Voice over Internet technology can offer your employees. However, flexibility is not the only advantage: VoIP offers several opportunities for cost reductions.

    First of all, VoIP systems may require less capital investment than older PBX technologies because they are reliant less on hardware and more on software. You aren’t spending as much for physical on-site hardware. You also have lower external support costs. Because a PBX needed to be re-configured every time you added or deleted a user or phone number, or moved a phone’s physical location, users had to pay for the PBX manufacturer’s support operation to make a service call. Even if the service could be handled by an in house IT employee, they would have had to go through expensive training and each of the re-configurations would be time consuming. With VoIP, configurations are handled via interfaces accessible on a PC or mobile phone.

    Every organization needs a good business continuity and disaster recovery plan. VoIP can improve your disaster recovery capacity. Due to their flexibility in re-routing communications, your business can still operate even if a physical location becomes inaccessible.

    Lower long distance costs will probably be another advantage of moving to a VoIP system. However, this can be overestimated. You still have to pay for broadband connectivity and per-minute charges may still apply. Also, the entirety of every call may not be carried via broadband. In some cases, the final leg of the call may have to revert to the PSTN because broadband is unavailable. This may be especially true when crossing national boundaries. Some countries have regulations forbidding VoIP. Also, significant sections of the rural United States have no broadband access. Make sure you work very closely with a managed service provider with expertise in configuring your interface with a broadband or telco provider. This is an area where deep knowledge of signaling in interface protocols is critical for the success of your integration of VoIP into your business.


  • SHOULD MY ALABAMA COMPANY CONVERT TO A VIRTUAL PHONE SYSTEM?


    If your Alabama business is considering a move to a virtual phone system, there are really two factors that hang in the balance: cost and reliability. You should be trying to find the phone system that brings you the best reliability for every penny you invest. So let’s break down the virtual phone system and simplify your decision-making process.

    How Much Does a Virtual Phone System Cost?

    You may have heard that a virtual phone system can cost significantly more than a traditional phone system. This is because it requires a dedicated set of hardware and software products that can be very costly at the outset. If you have no other virtual systems or servers in place, this investment will be very steep up front. However, if you already have server space available, setting some of it aside for your virtual phones won’t cost you much at all. Instead, you will only have to worry about the cost of the software itself.
    Furthermore, the cost per line of implementing a virtual phone system will differ depending on the size of your company. Smaller companies will ultimately spend more per line to get the system up and running, while larger companies likely have the ability to consolidate resources and get more out of their investment.

    With all this in mind, your virtual private network could cost twice as much as a traditional phone system, or it could cost half as much. The only way to know is to get a real quote from a professional and look at some hard numbers.

    How Important is Reliability?

    Despite the fact that a virtual phone system can be very costly to implement if you are a small business, or you don’t have the right hardware already in place, it does offer some features that are worth looking at. For instance, if you need to know that your phone system will have a very high reliability along with redundancy in the system to protect you against downtime, a virtual system is the way to go. Even small businesses may find that this investment is well worth the peace of mind. In this case, you can decide how much you want to spend putting fail-safe features in place, but those extra pennies will be well worth spending if the system ever does go down.

    Deciding whether or not to move to a virtual phone system will really depend on the size of your budget and your actual needs. Virtual systems are not for everybody, but as you grow and add more technology to your business, they become more and more cost effective. Even small Alabama companies can appreciate the value of a consistent and dependable phone system if they have struggled with downtime in the past. As you weigh your options, think about how you want to strike a balance between the cost of your phone system and the uptime you need.


  • Multi-Channel communications: are they enough?



    Multi-Channel communications: are they enough?
     
    Do you use the multi-channel communications model? This approach toward communication with customers and prospects is very important, but are you recognizing the limitations that this model has for today’s digital users? This blog will outline what is meant by the term “multi-channel communications” and discuss the limitations of this model for encouraging effective and responsive communications with your customers.
     
    Multi-channel communications means that you have more than one channel available for communications with your customers. At its root, it is a model that creates extra channels for customers to communicate with the organization so that they can meet you on the channel that is most convenient for them. For instance, you may have an 800 number that they can use to ask product questions or place an order. The multi-channel communications model develops when you add an online order form, or perhaps a chat box for questions. Today, the use of multi-communications is standard. Customers can communicate via chat box, text, voice, email, etc. The goal is to meet the customers where they are.
     
    However, as it is commonly defined, that is as far as the multi-channel goes. Customers can meet you on several channels, but that doesn’t mean there is any integration of the data communicated on each of the channels. In this older channel model, each of the channels are silos; it is this lack of integration that is the critical limitation of the multi channel model.
     
    Today, organizations have to take the next step and integrate these different channels. Known as the omni-channel communications model, data is transferred or communicated among all of the channels in real-time. Instead of silos, the users experience a single roadway and it doesn’t matter which lane they choose to use. The goal is that whenever a customer connects on any touchpoint, they pick up right where they left off at the last interaction. Ideally, the channels could be used simultaneously; for example, I talk to customer service while reviewing my order status online, or check my shopping cart for an in-stock size or color.
     
    The multi-channel communication model was a necessary step in reaching customers where they were, but it no longer is sufficient. To learn more, contact a managed services provider to learn how you can fully integrate all of your channels, so you can meet the expectations of today’s customers.

  • Keep Your IT Guy and Outsource IT Services, Too

     
     
    Keep Your IT Guy and Outsource IT Services, Too
     
    Everyone in the office loves Eric. Sporting a different ironic t-shirt everyday, Eric is the one we call when technology spits in our face. Whether it’s a slow system, a bug that needs to be squashed, a website issue, or a crash that results in unexpected downtime and data loss, Eric is right there. Not only does he get to the bottom of any issue but he also rights the ship like he’s some sort of miracle-working captain who just happens to have a pretty wickedly funny Peter Griffinfrom Family Guy impersonation.
     
    But business is growing and Eric is overworked. Eric has certain skills that you’d love to use to develop innovative applications and revenue-generating projects– but he’s too busy running around fixing things that break. Or he’s performing the most mundane and routine tasks day-in-and-day-out just to keep things secure and running smoothly.
     
    You get a sense that Eric’s overburdened and he’s saddled with too many responsibilities. His demeanor has changed from pleasant to moody. He’s listening to angrier metal and punk music and you’re noticing cracks in his work. You fear Eric is being pulled in too many directions and the reliability of your server, network, and applications, as well as the integrity of your data, are all at risk.
     
    Someone who has watched a bit too much of Donald Trump on The Apprentice might think Eric should be fired. We’re not going to fire Eric. But we’re also not going to hire a full-time salaried Robin to his Batman or Cheech to his Chong. We’re going to help Eric by exploiting IT automation and managed services to handle many of the monotonous tasks making Eric hate his job right now.
     
    Let’s help Eric…..
    • Focus Primarily on Cost-Cutting and Revenue Increasing Projects: First things first, Eric has to realize that he can’t do everything himself. Where are his skills best used? Whether it’s processes that help drive down costs or ones with the potential to raise revenue, evaluate the projects in the queue and rank them by what impacts the bottom line the most.
    Once that’s done, look at the day-to-day processes designed to keep things running securely   and efficiently. What can be off-loaded from Eric? Determine which of those tasks can be automated either through the cloud or managed services.
     
    • Take to the Cloud: Some IT people fear the cloud spells the end to their job security. Meanwhile, the cloud can actually help them take on a more prominent contributing role in the company’s success.
      The cloud should be seen as another tool that further eliminates the mundane yet necessary daily drudgery from their workday. Those who work WITH the cloud will find that they have more available time to take on more meaningful cost cutting or revenue generating projects. 

    • Use a Managed Service Provider: Using outsourced managed services not only alleviates much of Eric’s pressure and stress, but also boosts productivity and gives the company a much improved ROI (Return-on-Investment) on their technology investment.
    While technology has gotten easier for the end user, it has become more complex on the backend with the advent of virtualization, cloud computing, and advanced infrastructure.
     
    Using an MSP gives Eric access to a trusted advisor, a 24/7 help desk, remote monitoring and management tools, mobile device management tools, and much better disaster recovery and business continuity solutions. All without the overhead that comes with hiring more help for Eric. MSPs offer a consistency to not just your end-user but also your main IT guy who will certainly appreciate the help.
     
    Contact us at Slappey Communications

  • Best practices for remote desktop access

    Best practices for remote desktop access

    Remote desktop access is an essential in these days when businesses are expected to be responsive to their clients almost 24/7. Moreover, there has been a surge in the remote desktop access practice with coronavirus pandemic. But, did you know that remote desktop access, while almost indispensable now, can threaten your network security? In this post, we discuss a few best practices that you should engage in for safe remote desktop access.

    Have your basics in place

    Make sure your security basics are covered. Your systems should be secured with the latest Firewalls, anti-malware software and up-to-date with all security patches and software upgrades. Another item on this list is passwords. Make sure you are following good password hygiene such as no password sharing, setting secure passwords, not repeating passwords, etc.,

    Train your employees

    Train your employees who will be accessing your network via remote desktop connections to identify cyber security threats and steer clear from them. Educate them to identify phishing links, clone sites, dubious attachments, etc.,

    Use multi-factor authentication

    Multi-factor authentication adds a layer to security and is especially important in case of remote desktop authorization. Multi-factor authentication works by confirming the identity of the user across 3 areas–what they know, what they have and who they are. . User IDs, passwords, secret questions, date of birth, etc., fall in the first category (What they know), while OTPs sent to their smartphone, a physical token or an access card belong to the second category (What they have) and the third category (Who they are) includes biometric authentication such as retina scan, fingerprint or voice recognition.

    Limit access wherever possible by deploying Cloud solutions

    To a certain extent, the Cloud is a good alternative to remote desktops and more secure. So you can opt for the Cloud-based setup wherever possible and limit remote desktop access to those to absolutely need it.

    Remote desktop security strategy formulation and implementation is tedious, but necessary. You can ask your MSP to assist you with remote desktop security strategy implementation. An MSP who is well versed in cybersecurity measures will be able to do this for you. At the same time, don’t forget to inquire about possible Cloud based alternatives to remote desktop access.

  • CAN YOU PREVENT A PHONE SYSTEM FAILURE?


    When your phone system fails, you may ask yourself, “What could I have done differently?”. Preventing a system failure is a little out of your control. Like we’ve said, catastrophic events are inevitable and not preventable, but this isn’t always the cause for a system failure. It would be nice if you could do something instead of waiting on the end. Good news! You actually have more control than you might think.

    Before a system actually fails, there are often many symptoms to consider and acknowledging certain symptoms will become your system failure prevention plan. It’s good to note what fails and when it fails. This will make the technician’s diagnosis more effectiveness because you’ve done your due diligence and have documented all symptoms. When you call for help, you are allowing your business to be serviced faster.


    So you might not be able to prevent the inevitable, but you have the opportunity to win before your problem arrives.

    Our guide, Why phones fail: a guide to getting help faster, teaches you how to prevent a system failure. Download your free copy!

  • The Hidden Cost Of “Cheap” IT

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  • The Compliance Blind Spot That Could Cost You Thousands

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  • Business Interrupted: Is Your IT Provider Ready for Disaster?

    Power outages, cyberattacks, hardware failures and natural disasters rarely arrive with a warning, and when they hit, the impact on small businesses can be devastating. Many assume that having a backup is enough, but the truth is, restoring a file isn’t the same as staying operational. If you can’t access systems, support remote work or keep your team and clients in the loop, even a short disruption can turn into a long-term setback. A reliable IT partner should prepare you for these moments – not just with backups, but with a complete plan to keep your business running no matter what.

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