Do you know what your office phone system is capable of doing? Here’s a hint: it’s much more than accepting voicemails, routing calls, and offering the ability to have an auto attendant response. Here’s another question for you: do you know what your business needs are when it comes to your phone system?

Today’s business environment is fast-paced and competitive. Technology makes it possible for you to know your customers and your customers to know your business within moments. A customer can give feedback about your business then let others know about their own experience within a few easy clicks.

Most likely, you’re investing in ways to make sure you’re harnessing the power of all of your technological business resources. But what about your office phone system?

If you’re not already considering how to get full value from your phone system, you should be.

Savvy business owners or their IT staff know that a cloud based phone system can multiply business success by integrating mobility, applications and collaboration under one valuable umbrella.

Can your current office phone system do these things?

We’ve created an easy 10-question test to evaluate if your current phone provider is delivering the full potential of a modern phone system. Any items you can’t check off suggest you may not be harnessing the full power of a world-class cloud based phone system.

1. Do you have a clear, secure connection without any voice delays, lag, or call quality issues?

2. Does your system provide business intelligence based on call data and elegant integration with other important business applications (CRM, ERP, applicant tracking systems, etc.)?

3. Do users have direct access to a live person who can answer their questions and quickly solve their problems — without engaging you?

4. Are you confident that your office phone system is secure and completely protected against hackers — both via the handset and the cloud data center?

5. Do you have access to intuitive, easy-to-use tools for phone routing and find-me/follow-me rules?

6. Does your provider leverage redundancy and failover to prevent against catastrophic phone system failure for your business?

7. Does your phone system offer on-demand training for new users or refreshers for current staff, and enable employees to be as self-sufficient as possible?

8. Can you view the status of your cloud provider’s system at all times to assess issues and average wait times?

9. Has your cloud provider been in the VoIP business long enough to build out robust data center infrastructure and understand every point in your system?

10. Is your phone system so intuitive and easy-to-use (no 2-week lead times to add a new employee, headaches managing changes, etc.) that it frees you up to focus on more important priorities?

How did you do?

If you have more than 3 unchecked boxes, you should think about what your current phone system is doing to drive value for your business. Your office phone system holds a significant opportunity to empower your business and employees with the right kind of tools and technology to drive integration, security and performance.

If you’d like to discuss your phone system’s capabilities and what’s possible for your business needs, contact us for a free demo to learn more about a ShoreTel cloud based phone system.