The telephone, since its inception has been embraced by business
and used to its fullest potential. It was business that drove the
increase in feature/function choices in phone systems resulting in the
world connecting systems we see today.
It was the larger corporations that always led the way starting with their own switchboard operators, whose job it was to answer and route the calls to there proper destinations. The need for more sophisticated systems gave birth to companies that started manufacturing the Private Branch Exchanges (PBX) that were housed on the premise of these large corporations.
In fact it wasn't too many years ago these systems were found almost exclusively in only large corporations or government entities that could afford them and the expensive T-1 circuits needed to allow them to perform at their peak potential. Phone system manufacturers saw the huge potential market in the small business sector but economic reality combined with the phone company monopoly conspired to hold back the technological changes that were sweeping through other industries. Small Business phone systems were slowly becoming available, but even for the smallest of businesses a decent phone system often cost more than a car.
Most bought them with long term leases and they were then strapped with maintenance agreements and vendor costs. The phone companies themselves, protected by their government approved monopoly helped fill part of the demand by rolling out features like hunt groups, centrex and more recently, feature packages and voice mail but always at premium prices.
The entire telecom landscape started to change after the Telecom Reform Act of 1996. The phone company monopoly was broken and the genie was freed from the bottle. It was in this brave new world that many of the early stage start up companies were founded.
Most were modeled after the Bells and their first order of business to capture market share was to provide dial tone at a cheaper rate. Real change and creativity from these new carriers would have to wait while service costs continued to plummet including the previously beyond SMB reach, T-1 circuit. At the same time service costs were dropping, advances in software finally allowed equipment manufacturers to jump head first into the small business market with multi-featured key systems and phone systems with multiple options.
The down side was that the capital expense required could put a tremendous strain on small business and the cost to maintain the systems continued to be an ongoing burden. When you couple that with the frustrating finger pointing between equipment manufacturers and service providers when trouble arises, it is easy to see why the small businessperson has always felt caught in the middle when it came to their phone systems.
Worse yet, many small businesses never took the plunge and still operate, to their detriment, with the limited features listed earlier, provided by their phone or cable companies.. Not only are they inefficient productivity wasters, the appearance they give to their customers and potential customers is a turn off to today's savvy buyers.
To see what office phone systems are starting to look like and the performance that is demanded of them you can turn to the cell phone market. Here communications technology has flourished unencumbered by a monopoly and look how far and fast it has come.
The average small businessperson, operating his business on antiquated phones and feature packages, probably has a 16 year old daughter walking around with more communications power in her smart phone than he has in his entire business phone system. Those same technological cell phone advances and the advent of IP Communications are now taking place and shaping the future in the business phone system field. Once again though, the system manufacturers and large corporations are leading the way with phone systems having multitudes of features running over improved networks that are allowing corporations with multiple locations to appear and act as a single organism.
Today it is commonplace to make a call to NY, be put on hold by the receptionist or by the prompting of an auto-attendant and then be automatically transferred to the proper party in Houston or Los Angeles without ever losing the connection or being given another number to call. Up until very recently the expense of these systems has been hundreds of thousands of dollars or more to purchase, set-up and maintain. Most small businesses don't have the resources to purchase this type of system or the IT departments necessary to maintain and operate the latest IP Communications system.
This has put an extra burden on small business as they feel the same type of competition as large organizations with little margin for communications breakdowns. Phone equipment malfunctions can cost a small business far more dearly than large organizations with built in disaster avoidance/recovery plans.
Just when it appears that it might be time for small businesses to wave the white flag and surrender "Cloud Based" communications is starting to change everything. Hosted IP platforms have made it possible for knowledgeable small businesspeople to have the power and features of an enterprise system with little or no capital expense.
Multiple auto-attendants, individual Voice Mails, Voice Mail to email, call groups, transferring calls between offices and disaster avoidance set-ups can transform the communications capabilities of a small business virtually overnight. In the best offerings even top of the line handsets are provided all for a very low monthly license fee.
The real beauty of these systems is that the best of them will never become obsolete. Developers are constantly improving and updating the "Cloud Based" platforms to the small businesses benefit. You never have to worry about replacing your phone system, maintenance and vendor costs disappear and even your phone handsets can be upgraded like cell phones to the latest and greatest models as they become available. Best of all, technology and competition allows a small business to have one of these systems packaged with unlimited calling for less than he was paying the phone company for just his monthly service in 1995.In this new world it is the smart, agile small businessperson that has the upper hand. Those who embrace the new technology can now connect offices, make home based tele-workers appear to be "in office", just like those large corporations and do it all without the high capital and associated costs needed just a year ago. All of this helps business communicate and serve their customers better and ride the explosive communications wave that is upon us and that is why today's small businessman should never buy another phone system again. These systems are reshaping the entire industry and the way that small business should look at their phone systems and service.
It was the larger corporations that always led the way starting with their own switchboard operators, whose job it was to answer and route the calls to there proper destinations. The need for more sophisticated systems gave birth to companies that started manufacturing the Private Branch Exchanges (PBX) that were housed on the premise of these large corporations.
In fact it wasn't too many years ago these systems were found almost exclusively in only large corporations or government entities that could afford them and the expensive T-1 circuits needed to allow them to perform at their peak potential. Phone system manufacturers saw the huge potential market in the small business sector but economic reality combined with the phone company monopoly conspired to hold back the technological changes that were sweeping through other industries. Small Business phone systems were slowly becoming available, but even for the smallest of businesses a decent phone system often cost more than a car.
Most bought them with long term leases and they were then strapped with maintenance agreements and vendor costs. The phone companies themselves, protected by their government approved monopoly helped fill part of the demand by rolling out features like hunt groups, centrex and more recently, feature packages and voice mail but always at premium prices.
The entire telecom landscape started to change after the Telecom Reform Act of 1996. The phone company monopoly was broken and the genie was freed from the bottle. It was in this brave new world that many of the early stage start up companies were founded.
Most were modeled after the Bells and their first order of business to capture market share was to provide dial tone at a cheaper rate. Real change and creativity from these new carriers would have to wait while service costs continued to plummet including the previously beyond SMB reach, T-1 circuit. At the same time service costs were dropping, advances in software finally allowed equipment manufacturers to jump head first into the small business market with multi-featured key systems and phone systems with multiple options.
The down side was that the capital expense required could put a tremendous strain on small business and the cost to maintain the systems continued to be an ongoing burden. When you couple that with the frustrating finger pointing between equipment manufacturers and service providers when trouble arises, it is easy to see why the small businessperson has always felt caught in the middle when it came to their phone systems.
Worse yet, many small businesses never took the plunge and still operate, to their detriment, with the limited features listed earlier, provided by their phone or cable companies.. Not only are they inefficient productivity wasters, the appearance they give to their customers and potential customers is a turn off to today's savvy buyers.
To see what office phone systems are starting to look like and the performance that is demanded of them you can turn to the cell phone market. Here communications technology has flourished unencumbered by a monopoly and look how far and fast it has come.
The average small businessperson, operating his business on antiquated phones and feature packages, probably has a 16 year old daughter walking around with more communications power in her smart phone than he has in his entire business phone system. Those same technological cell phone advances and the advent of IP Communications are now taking place and shaping the future in the business phone system field. Once again though, the system manufacturers and large corporations are leading the way with phone systems having multitudes of features running over improved networks that are allowing corporations with multiple locations to appear and act as a single organism.
Today it is commonplace to make a call to NY, be put on hold by the receptionist or by the prompting of an auto-attendant and then be automatically transferred to the proper party in Houston or Los Angeles without ever losing the connection or being given another number to call. Up until very recently the expense of these systems has been hundreds of thousands of dollars or more to purchase, set-up and maintain. Most small businesses don't have the resources to purchase this type of system or the IT departments necessary to maintain and operate the latest IP Communications system.
This has put an extra burden on small business as they feel the same type of competition as large organizations with little margin for communications breakdowns. Phone equipment malfunctions can cost a small business far more dearly than large organizations with built in disaster avoidance/recovery plans.
Just when it appears that it might be time for small businesses to wave the white flag and surrender "Cloud Based" communications is starting to change everything. Hosted IP platforms have made it possible for knowledgeable small businesspeople to have the power and features of an enterprise system with little or no capital expense.
Multiple auto-attendants, individual Voice Mails, Voice Mail to email, call groups, transferring calls between offices and disaster avoidance set-ups can transform the communications capabilities of a small business virtually overnight. In the best offerings even top of the line handsets are provided all for a very low monthly license fee.
The real beauty of these systems is that the best of them will never become obsolete. Developers are constantly improving and updating the "Cloud Based" platforms to the small businesses benefit. You never have to worry about replacing your phone system, maintenance and vendor costs disappear and even your phone handsets can be upgraded like cell phones to the latest and greatest models as they become available. Best of all, technology and competition allows a small business to have one of these systems packaged with unlimited calling for less than he was paying the phone company for just his monthly service in 1995.In this new world it is the smart, agile small businessperson that has the upper hand. Those who embrace the new technology can now connect offices, make home based tele-workers appear to be "in office", just like those large corporations and do it all without the high capital and associated costs needed just a year ago. All of this helps business communicate and serve their customers better and ride the explosive communications wave that is upon us and that is why today's small businessman should never buy another phone system again. These systems are reshaping the entire industry and the way that small business should look at their phone systems and service.
John J. Vaughan is a Telecommunications expert in New York. He
started his telecom career with one of the first competitive local
exchange carriers founded just after passage of the Telecom Reform Act
of 1996. He has helped them become an established network based carrier
and next generation provider of communications service and systems.
Before entering the telecommunications field he spent almost 20 years as a small business owner giving him first hand experience in how small businesspeople look at their telephone and data communication costs, reliability and their critical importance to operations.
To learn more, and receive John's free top ten list of items to check for when deciding on a Hosted IP Carrier contact him directly at jvaughan2009@gmail.com.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_J_Vaughan
Before entering the telecommunications field he spent almost 20 years as a small business owner giving him first hand experience in how small businesspeople look at their telephone and data communication costs, reliability and their critical importance to operations.
To learn more, and receive John's free top ten list of items to check for when deciding on a Hosted IP Carrier contact him directly at jvaughan2009@gmail.com.
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