Starting a business is difficult, but not as difficult as the work required to keep it running successfully. Once the business has passed the first euphoric stage of opening, then it has to grow.  Some people would say that the only way to be successful in a business is to sell the best product or offer the best solution to customers' problems.

So, you’ve called in to a customer service line looking for help regarding a product or service you’ve purchased. Your hope is that your questions will be answered and your issues resolved quickly, and by a person who is capable and amiable.

Suddenly, your optimism regarding the call takes a nose dive as your Customer Service Representative says flatly, “I’ll have to put you on hold while I look into this for you.” Or, worse yet, “Let me transfer you to the right department. You’ve reached the [insert the name of a department that has nothing to do with your needs] department.”

As a company or organization grows, its reliance on company data, IT systems and technology as a whole increases as well. To keep up with the demands of business growth, successful management of the IT environment becomes a key strategy for continued success and productivity.

Ever get the feeling that you are sending a specific message in an e-mail, while the person you sent it to has taken an entirely different meaning from your words? Whether in e-mail, telephone communication or written documents, delivering clear messages is critical to operating your business. 

What do small businesses want from their hosted service providers?

Is it a responsive source of service for essential business processes, that perhaps cannot be managed in-house? Do they want affordable services that accommodate the budgetary constraints that small businesses face? Or, perhaps they're looking for the biggest, baddest, most future-proof option available that will streamline business and effect transformational progress for business practices going forward?

When talking with customers, we find they have many expectations when choosing a phone system for business. Whether they are looking for a specific set of features, high system performance or the best available pricing, expectations are often higher than what's attainable for small business.

Most business leaders and owners are quite aware of how much their companies rely on the use of computers and the internet on a daily basis. However, simply having access to the internet doesn't mean you're benefitting as much as you could from its efficiencies. The importance of internet speed should not be overlooked when evaluating your company's technology functions.

“What is wrong with my phone?!?”

“My connection is going in and out, and the call quality is terrible!”

These frustrations are sometimes overheard in business offices that have recently upgraded to a hosted PBX system for their business phones. In this post, we offer a few hosted PBX troubleshooting steps that should resolve some of the issues that arise with this type of new phone system. These solutions will help you transition to your new technology and make office life better for all employees who use it.