Faster than the speed of business

You have lists of contacts all over the place-in your e-mail, instant messaging, your phone directory and more. It would be extremely convenient to have those contacts aggregated in one view, with the ability to know when any of those contacts becomes available.  Sure, there are instant messaging (IM) clients that give you that capability, but you are limited to contacts within your small business – especially if you protect your data network with a firewall (as you should).

Applications that work in conjunction with your communications system to bridge that gap are readily available, letting you have a dashboard for all your communications – messaging, voice, e-mail – even SMS!  All of your contacts – internal employees or important external contacts – can be contacted with a simple click of your mouse:

·         See who is available in real time: the presence status of people inside and outside your organization. (Many UC solutions for small business only provide presence status of contacts inside your organization)

·         Take advantage of enhanced features like 'Pounce' - which provides immediate notification when a contact has become available

·         Take advantage of calendars: hover over a contact and it will display what time they will finish their meeting or when they will be back in the office

·         You are on the phone with someone and have to call them back. Schedule the call from the current call dialog box and automatically add it to your Outlook Calendar

·         Missed calls? Now you can keep track of them and see the contact details and current presence status so you can quickly and easily connect

·         Need to meet: teleport to a meeting in less than ten seconds. (Ok that one is still a few years away) 

The enhanced productivity you gain with a great unified communication system enables you to operate 'faster than the speed of business' – increasing your competitive edge, and ensuring your always on top of collaborating with your most important contacts.  

Take a New Communications System Out for a Test Drive

In the workplace today, people are wary of change.  Especially when it comes to new technology, such as a new office communication system, which people believe is often confusing and hard to learn.  Many employees come to accept the system in place and adapt to take full advantage of it.  They know what works well and what to avoid. Sometimes these “adaptations” lead to more work and are very inefficient and a new communication system could really help.  However when a new system is suggested by those in charge some workers who are used to the old system can be wary of changes.  They want to know if it is difficult to learn, is it necessary for their position, and will it make their job more complicated.  Many workers would rather continue to make unnecessary and superfluous adjustments because a new system is an unknown and people fear the unknown more than almost anything else. At CNR we want to make sure workers understand that a new office communication system is put in place to help.  They are simple to use and take minimal training and can help boost production. 

Some of the new features that can really help a business include unified communications, integration with email and CRM’s, and new mobility options.  But like choosing a car, a lot of factors go into selecting a communications system that works for your business. It can be a very personal decision which makes it daunting. And it's a long term investment. You want to get it right. Fortunately, CNR makes it easy to go on a 'test drive' and see how new systems work. Find out how different people in your business can use it-in the office, on the road, and at home. Find out what specific benefits you can look forward to in supporting sales, customer service, lowering overhead and more. Just call CNR to set up a consultation and demo of a new system.  So don’t convince yourself an old system is fine and that a new one will only make things harder.  The opposite is true and the return on investment makes a new communication system well worth the cost. 

Small Business Communications: 5 Must Have Features

Is now the right time to upgrade your office communications solution? If your business is relying on an 'older' communications solution, the answer is 'yes.' But how old is 'older?' Here's an easy way to tell. These are five communications features no business should do without... even if you are missing just one, it's probably time to consider getting a new communications system.

Caller ID: Knowing who is calling before you pick up the phone is a great convenience and essential for sales and customer service. Caller ID has been around for years, so if your current communications can't support Caller ID, it's definitely time to make a change. But there's an extra dimension to this: being able to link to your customer database/CRM solution (such as Salesforce.com). CNR can help you set up a system that automatically brings up a 'screen pop' of information about the caller. The impact of that single feature on sales and customer service can be huge.

One-number Reachability: Most people in business today have more than one 'reach' number: office, office mobile, personal mobile, fax, home office, etc. To stay in touch, employees end up giving out personal numbers, which is never a good idea. A better way is to use your office communications system to manage all your different numbers by providing customers one number (i.e., the office number) and use the intelligence in your office communications system to find you.

Conference Calls: Many small businesses get by with rudimentary conference calling on their phone systems (it's good for conferencing a few people) and also spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on third-party conference call services when they need more. If that's you, it's definitely time to make a change. CNR can provide a solution that can support more than sixty people on a call. That means no outside charges for conference calls and calls can be arranged at a moment's notice.

Communications Anywhere: It used to be that when you had more than one office or business location, you needed a completely separate phone system for each site. Or if someone wanted to work from home, you needed to install a separate line with its own number that had nothing to do with your office communications system. That's not the case anymore. CNR lets you link communications systems in different offices. You can share resources-messaging and a receptionist. If one office is closed, calls can automatically be diverted to the other office (callers won't even notice). Employees in different offices, or those working at home, can reach each other with just a 3-digit extension.

'No Cost' Moves/Adds/Changes: Does it seem like even the smallest change to your current communications system requires a costly visit from a technician? If the answer is yes, it's definitely time to make a change. Today's new IP-based communications systems let you make moves, adds and changes without calling a technician and incurring any costs. That means if you add an employee or change the way calls are routed in your business, you can make the change yourself. The savings are significant and the flexibility is a real advantage.

CNR is here to help find a solution that works for you.  So if you are ready to upgrade call us and let us help determine what kind of solution will help you and your business increase productivity, reduce costs, and simplify your telecommunications system.