Is This You?

You keep hearing about all of the features that are now available in a new piece of software. They sound great, but not compelling.  You like the familiarity of what you now have and, truth be told, you don't want to lay out the money.

But then you do upgrade, and lo and behold you discover that you don't care about 95 percent of the new features. But that other five percent? Those features are so spectacular that they alone justify the entire cost of the upgrade and more.  Welcome to Economics 101. You have just experienced a variation on what is known as the 'opportunity cost.'

There is no escaping the opportunity cost (OC). We are always making choices and there is a cost to every choice. You accept your friend's invitation to a 'free' lunch-but in reality it's not free: you might have done something more productive with that time, such as meeting with a major client and winning a big sale or attending a class and learning a new skill.

Holding on to technology is a choice. You keep using the same computers, software, copiers, routers, etc. and in theory, you use the capital that would have gone into an upgrade to invest in other things that you deem more important.

Many businesses take this 'buy-and-hold' approach to their office communications system. They wait until it starts failing or they are moving and it is simply not worth the trouble to take the old system along.

But in recent years, this buy-and-hold approach to communications systems became suspect.  One factor was the accelerated depreciation on new capital equipment included in government stimulus efforts: many small businesses were 'stimulated' into upgrading their communications by the ability to expense so much more of the purchase and see it come off their taxes.

But an even bigger factor has been the growing recognition that there is a significant OC in holding on to your current system: you are foregoing the opportunity to benefit from the many advances that have taken place in small business communications.

How important is that to your business? Only you can decide. But if you value communications-if the phone, mobile, e-mail, IM, etc. are something you use every day, it's probably worth taking a close look at how business communications systems have changed in ways that can save you money, increase sales, keep customers more loyal, make your business more productive, etc. In particular, here are five key things to look at:

Unified Communications:  If communications is important to your business, you probably take advantage of many different communications tools:  the office phone system, mobile/cellular communications, e-mail, etc. Traditionally, all of these have been separate solutions that worked independently of each other. Not anymore. Today's small business communications systems get them all working together. A voicemail left on your office phone system can appear on your mobile phone. You can have calls ring simultaneously on your office phone, your mobile, your home phone, etc.  By unifying your communications, today's small business systems give you more options and more control.

Mobility:  Does the ability to work from anywhere appeal to you? Would you like the option to have all your communications tools available whether you are at home, staying at a hotel or simply down the hall in another office? With today's small business communications systems, being away from the office no longer means accepting watered-down communications. You can get access to all your tools-online phone book, speed dials, conferencing calling, unified communications, etc. from anywhere.

Customer Sale/Service:  Customers like to have their calls answered promptly. They like to be recognized. They hate having to repeat the same information over and over. The makers of today's small business communications systems have recognized all of this. There are dozens of capabilities in today's systems designed to turbo charge your sales and service,  from instantly routing and recognizing callers to connecting the phone system directly to sales programs (such as salesforce.com) so every customer interaction is smart and personal.

Conferencing/Collaboration:  Communications systems used to be designed for one-to-one communications: make a call, hang up and make another call. Not anymore. With more and more people working remotely, the ability to have team meetings on the phone is critical. Getting a dozen people on the line is as easy as getting one person, and you can also use your communications system to share files, conduct training, alert people to regularly scheduled meetings, etc.

Lowering Communication Costs:  For many small business, the savings in operating expenses-lower long distance charges, lower call handling costs, reductions in conference calling fees, the ability to use SIP trunks and share resources between offices-can alone justify the decision to upgrade a communications system.

Any one of these five capabilities can more than justify an upgrade. How much can you really benefit? CNR can offer a consultation to see how different communications capabilities can impact your bottom line. So let us help choose which new system is right for your business.