The longevity of a Business Phone System
A frequently talked about the query, how long does a business phone system last? Time travel for two decades and there you are in your office. Recently, you have purchased new hardware set to host your business communication and collaborated with a service provider to equip your office phone system with the needed services. While purchasing the phone, you inquired about the longevity of the phone and the supplier assured you of error-free usage for a minimum of twenty years.
Wow, that’s pretty huge.
This means that you can continue using the phone without having the need to replace it for another 15-20 years. Ok, this was what in the last century. Today, after twenty years you are once again on the streets (not really streets, simply meaning to be on the lookout) to find a trustworthy and reliable Virtual Phone System Provider.
But do you get one? As far as our opinion goes, it would be tough to use a modern-day business phone system at a stretch for a decade. It isn’t because they offer poor quality devices or exploit your money. It is primarily because we thrive in a digitally dominated era, one where transformation is always on toes. What’s in today might not be the trend, a year later. So, using the same telephony for years would only stem the capabilities of your organization to serve clients and customers.
A look back at Traditional Telephones
If you happen to sit and think why the copper wire telephones were long-lasting, you will realize that nothing much changed in the hardware of the system. For nearly two decades, they had the same outlook. Even though the processor enhanced and lead to faster communication, the services offered remained the same.
Quite the contrary, virtual pbx is agile and progressive. These offer a range of features each designed to benefit the company as well as the customer. Some of these include voice, email transcripts, video conferencing, IVR, etc.
What makes the system support the above features is the design and architecture of the business phone system made today. Put simply, gone are the days when phone systems were limited to making calls. With the onset of digital tools and technologies, virtual phone systems are now designed to offer abundant facilities needed to facilitate enterprise communication.
Infrastructure and Resources
In terms of the resources and the infrastructure, modern phone systems are tailored to integrate and gel with the IT infrastructure. Starting with CRM integration to collaboration with project management software, they do all. Now to facilitate the above, they need to communicate with each other and this is done with the help of APIs.
Cutting long story short, the cloud phone system incorporates the same technology as that of the IT network and hence, they face similar challenges. As evident, the IT system must be replaced in a span of 5-10 years.
Virtual phones host connectivity with the database, the email list, and other applications to process data and render information. Not to mention the fact that everyday something new comes up and the enterprise is expected to abide by the change. Keeping this in mind, we see organizations looking for service providers that guarantee regular infrastructure updates for all the services.
This allows them to remain at the forefront without actually undergoing the pain to scour for trends and update manually. Where cloud telephony was an option a decade ago, today it is one of the fanciest and widely used forms of communication across enterprises.
Holding Your Business Phone For Long?
So, how often do you need to update your business telephones? It is often seen that organizations tend to drag their business phones till the day it is totally ineffective. Now, there isn’t anything wrong with using a device until it’s the expiry date. However, when you hold them for too long, you only add to the cost of maintenance and operations.
Irrespective of all your quality-graded duct tapes, these phones would definitely weary off and then, the damage caused would be irrecoverable. No matter how much you try, the flaw has rooted itself deep leading to greater downtime hours. A single missed call has the potential to leave a wrong impression, imagine what happens when your business phone is shut for days?
Conclusion
Having said all of the above, it is better to look out for service providers that have a five-year plan and pledge to provide upgrades post the period. Technology is at the forefront and the pace at which it grows is exponential. In order to drive the maximum benefits, you must keep an eye on the trends and align your business phone with the same. Do not be wise yet act foolishly.
