New Zealand will enter a recession next year that could be deeper than expected, Bank of New Zealand economists said after a survey showed business sentiment continues to slump.
So how can owners of small businesses manage the economic uncertainty?
It is advised to increase flexibility, reduce expenses, and preserve value. Despite the fact that there are numerous options for each category, we will focus on how switching to VoIP will help you in each of those ways.
Expand Your Flexibility
Making your company more flexible is the best way to deal with uncertainty. Having strategies that let you deal with multiple possibilities is quite helpful if you don't know what is ahead.
How does VoIP improve your company's flexibility?
1) Scalability - It's possible that you don't know exactly how many staff you'll have in the near or far future. An analogue service makes it expensive and difficult to increase or decrease the number of lines or extensions you have as your needs change, but with a VoIP provider, lines are unlimited and extensions may be altered as needed.
2) Geographical adaptability - Your phone number can follow you if your company has to change sites. Unfortunately, numbers in analogue systems are related to specific places, so if your company needs to move, you can lose a crucial link to your past clients.
3. There are no lengthy commitments; VoIP service providers often bill on a monthly basis. You can quickly quit using your service or switch to a different provider if you are dissatisfied. With analogue service, however, you are typically locked into a contract for at least a year.
4) Telecommute - In the worst-case scenario, VoIP gives you the option to do away with rent and allow your staff to work from home. Customers won't be able to tell the difference, and your phone system will continue to work flawlessly.
Cut expenses
Businesses obviously aim to reduce expenses wherever they can while retaining (or at the very least, not significantly reducing) the value they provide. The incentive to reduce expenses, however, increases in hard circumstances.
Particularly for small organisations, hosted VoIP phone systems are frequently significantly less expensive than analogue equivalents. They let businesses leverage their already existing internet connection for phone service needs rather than the expensive infrastructure associated with on-premise phone systems. For instance, when clients transition from analogue carriers, they typically save 30%.
Keep the value
This tactic is supposed to be used in conjunction with cost-cutting, not as a stand-alone measure. When you reduce expenses, you should always check to see that the value you provide doesn't fall too far in comparison to the money you saved.
Is it feasible, using VoIP as an example, that you're getting less use out of your phone system than you are saving money on? Here are some details that managers will find crucial:
1) VoIP is sometimes linked with low quality, although this perception is out of date and untrue nowadays.
2) The end users of equipment are important to the value derived from that equipment. Many of these users are resistant to the switch to softphones (software-phones, which are typically associated with VoIP because of programmes like Skype and Google Voice), but there are also hardphones for VoIP that are available; using these, it is typically simpler to maintain the employees' daily routines. Similar to or even superior to traditional analogue phones in terms of quality are IP hardphones.
3) There are advantages and disadvantages to both hosted VoIP and on-premise analogue reliability. While hosted VoIP is less complicated and provides backups like the option to telecommute when the power or internet goes down, analogue carriers typically have connections to the PSTN that are more reliable.
As we've seen, small business owners may deal with uncertainty by being more flexible and decreasing expenses without sacrificing quality. While the business owner should evaluate several applications for each tactic, a VoIP phone system is unquestionably one to take into account.
Looking for a VoIP phone provider? Simplyfree is the answer.
As one of New Zealand’s leading and most mature VOIP Network providers, Simplyfree is confident that our phone systems and solutions will improve your business.
Simplyfree range of smart business phone solutions can be customized to provide every modern phone feature and set-up. Through our consultative sales process, we ensure that any solution will include a range of features and functionality to make your business communications professional, reliable, and affordable.
We have what you need!
Call Simplyfree today!
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