Many small businesses are feeling the pressure of the down economy. It is hard to know what to do and where to cut back when the money isn’t coming in. The obvious first place to look when trying to find places to cut costs is overhead. Overhead is a very broad term, basically everything that it takes to run your business. A couple of the major costs included in overhead are office space and employees. That is why many small businesses are looking for ways to cut costs in these areas by downsizing.
The problem with downsizing is that you can lose your efficiency and your ability to serve your customers. When you no longer have enough employees to tend to your customers and other various tasks and responsibilities, the gears of your once well oiled machine of a small business can get stuck. That’s why many small businesses are switching to virtual telephone solutions. Virtual telephone solutions allow small business owners to maintain the level of efficiency and customer service that they have always had while reducing their overhead costs.
Virtual telephone solutions are also commonly called virtual PBXs. This is because the solutions have the same features that small businesses are used to with their standard PBX telephone systems in their brick and mortar offices but, without the high overhead costs of bulky equipment and regular maintenance. And as an added benefit, the virtual PBX will have additional features that are not available with a standard phone system.
Small businesses are taking advantage of the virtual PBX’s flexible features to reduce their overhead costs in a number of ways:
- They are using the follow me call forwarding features to increase their flexibility of where and when they take their own calls.
- They are taking advantage of the virtual PBX call forwarding features and sending their employees to work from home.
- Studies have shown that people are willing to agree to lower pay if they are allowed to work from home.
- With employees working from home there is no need for a large office space.
- Small businesses are able to eliminate the need for a receptionist with the virtual PBX’s automated attendant that will route incoming calls to the appropriate department or employee.
All of these benefits boil down to lower overhead costs for the small business owner. At the same time, the small business does not have to sacrifice efficiency and quality customer service in order to cut their costs. Their customers are still being taken care of by the same helpful employees that they are used to. The business owner now has a phone solution that allows them more flexibility and increased efficiency. They are free to attend to the things that need to get done and be confident in the fact that if their customers need to reach them, their virtual PBX will forward their calls to wherever they are.
In these hard economic times small businesses are being forced to make some tough decision. One of the biggest decisions is where they can cut costs without sacrificing the integrity of their business. Many are turning to a virtual PBX to help them do just that.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
As a small business owner, I’ve been hit by the recent economic woes. However, I expect to eventually start growing again at some point. Virtual PBXs become an expensive option as you add more users and minutes. I use a free Windows open source PBX called CallButler http://www.codeplex.com/callbutler. Whether we’re 5 or 50 people, I can continue to use the same system. I’m not a highly technical person. CallButler was VERY easy to set up and use. CallButler lets our business sounds bigger and more professional. Plus, with this crazy market, you just can’t beat free for a high quality telephone system like CallButler!
Hey great post. Helped me a lot in my thinking of whether I should get a virtual office. I think it’s a much cheaper alternative for this moment of time.
As a free solution for someone with technical knowledge and the need for only basic features, Call Butler works great. However, I wouldn’t recommend it for someone with little or no technical knowledge or those that need advanced features. You need to have a server to install it on as well as the know-how to do so. You also need the ability to debug it when something goes wrong.
With a paid solution you are going to have more features, more scalability and a managed and debugged system with a full tech support staff at your disposal. And besides, with most providers offering solutions starting at about $10 a month, it is well worth the money to have a hassle and worry free phone system you can count on for your business.
Callbutler requires your computer always turned on. This is certainly an overkill.
I would recommend
http://www.800pbx.com if you want a speech driven pbx system. they are automating lot of business operations. We use it for automating our appointments and phone payments.
http://www.Ringcentral.com if you are just looking for basic pbx system. Cheap.