Almost overnight, the number of remote workers has increased dramatically with mandated “work-from-home” policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s no telling when this situation will change.

If your current phone system wasn’t able to easily handle the office exodus, that’s a glaring sign you’re due for a change. The good news… A cloud phone solution can deliver the latest in mobility and ensure your employees can work and collaborate from anywhere.

If you’ve noticed any of the following warning signs, now is the time to make the switch from outdated technology:

• Traffic – With fewer people working in the office, just about all communications is now handled remotely. Is your current phone system supporting the increased demand? If not, busy signals, dropped calls and low-quality video will impede conversations, frustrating employees and customers.
• Security – With more employees working from home, protecting sensitive information is a top priority. But if you’re not 100% confident in your communications system, you’ll want to ask vendors some hard questions such as: Do they offer Secure Real-Time Transfer Protocol (SRTP), which ensures voice, web and signaling traffic is encrypted? What cloud platform are they using and what levels of security do they offer?
• Regulation – If you operate in a regulated industry like healthcare or finance, compliance looms large. Violations are expensive and can tarnish your reputation. However, when you work with a cloud phone provider committed to ensuring high levels of security and protecting sensitive data, you can ease your compliance worries.
• Rapid Response – The onset of COVID-19 was a classic example of the need to be able to rapidly respond to changing demands and requirements. Ask yourself how difficult it is to add or remove lines, features, and users to your current system. If it requires a call to the vendor every time you need to make a change, then it’s time for a cloud phone solution.
• Client Expectations – A stellar customer experience is more important than ever, but it can be difficult to deliver when employees need to jump through extra hoops to share documents or discuss issues remotely. When collaboration is built into your communications, it’s easier for your people to exceed customer expectations. When employee collaboration is easy and seamless outside the physical office, customers get answers faster and satisfaction soars.
• License Management – When you’re trying to run a remote employee workforce and keep customers engaged, you don’t have time to worry about managing multiple licenses for your communications system. With a cloud phone solution, you can mix and match license types on a single plan. Need a contact center? Collaboration tools? It’s simple to add licenses on-demand and manage each user via their own profile.

If any of the signs discussed above are flashing red or yellow in your organization, it’s time to start exploring what cloud phone technology can do for your business. Contact TCI today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.