It wasn’t so long ago that business professionals were carrying around their cell phones in one part of their briefcase and their PDA in the other. The PDA was as close to a hand-held computer as there was at that time, and gave professionals fingertip access to client information, status reports and task lists.
Today, business professionals are using smart phones more because they provide more functionality. In addition, many modern smart phones can now sync with your computer, allowing you to view, create and edit documents right on your smart phone.
Yes, there are a wide variety of smart phones on the market with just about any functionality your business might need; however, that doesn’t mean you should abandon purchasing a telephone system for your business.
Here’s why:
Cost
The downside of smart phones is their cost. Smart phones are very expensive and a liability; as everyone knows, all you have to do is drop your smart phone on the sidewalk and it’s toast. That means you’re without out of a phone for a day or two, and your company is out of another few hundred dollars.
In addition, nearly every smart phone sold today requires a data plan, which is an additional cost to the basic phone plan. Data plans are also risky because the new smart phone data capping could leave you paying through your nose if your employees go over the limit.
Accessibility
Business telephone systems, on the other hand, are far more economical and have their own unique advantages. The new IP (Internet Protocol) technology creates lower cost and greater functionality. You can do extension dialing between your offices, regardless of where in the world they are located.
Furthermore, because this technology uses the Internet, long distance charges between your business locations are eliminated. This will come in handy if you have a lot of home-based workers, as they can easily connect to your office phone system with a high-speed connection.
Traveling workers can also benefit from business telephone systems; when they arrive at their hotel, they can plug their soft phone headset into their computer and receive and make calls just as if they were at the office. IP telephony offers great functionality with a lower cost than traditional systems.
Working Together
The fact is that both smart phones and business telephone systems have great, unique advantages. Smart phones are helpful for travelling employees who don’t always have access to a computer. Business phone systems are helpful for employees who need to connect across multiple office locations. Depending on how your business is set up, one is better than the other.
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