A LEAN BUSINESS IS NOT A MEAN BUSINESS!
Aastra reveals how to make savings from strategic communications investment
Farnborough, 21st April 2009 – Many IT managers, today, are faced with the difficult task of diligently managing their budget spending so as to maximize the financial return for their organizations. Aastra has created five top tips for effective investment in communications technology that can save firms money by improving staff productivity, reducing communication costs, lowering general operational expenses and, through open standards, ensure that organizations aren't locked into proprietary technologies.
1. Embrace mobility
Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) unites what today are the two separate worlds of mobile and enterprise communications to increase efficiencies and reduce costs.
A growing mobile work force is driving demand for FMC and it is important that employees are easily reachable, when away from their desks, in order to provide top-class customer service and enhanced collaboration. People often have two or three different numbers and sometimes more. There are important benefits to be gained from having one number, routed to your choice of device and location. Not only can you become more responsive to your customers, but also, with Least Cost Routing, important savings can be gained. So whether you are a small or large business, look into integrating mobile phones into your company PBX.
2. Enable flexible working
If equipped with the right, readily-available technology most of the knowledge-based workforce could do their job equally well, if not better, from home. When looking at flexible working, companies should include VoIP, as part of the equation, to avoid the recurring costs associated with mobile phones. Remote workers (or call centre agents) can become reachable on the same number and benefit from the same features as when in the office.
Firms can also profit from allowing remote and flexible working with lower property and energy costs, higher morale and increased staff retention.
3. Open up standards
SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is the key standard which any IT purchasing decision maker should be aware of when buying a voice communications system. SIP based systems are designed to be easily integrated into future technologies giving companies peace of mind that they can continue to evolve and upgrade without being locked into a proprietary solution. Also worth considering:
- SIP terminals can represent a third of a deployment cost. So protect your investment with SIP telephones
- telephone systems offering SIP trunking enable cheaper communications
4. Cancel non-essential business travel
In this difficult economic climate, it is important that we are able to maintain a constructive dialogue with customers and colleagues based around the country, and often across the globe. Reducing cost on non-essential business travel doesn’t have to be at the expense of close personal engagement. Businesses should be actively looking at using alternatives such as user-friendly and high-quality Virtual Presence solutions like Aastra’s ViPr. Video conferencing is not only cost efficient, but also environmentally sound. A high quality collaboration enabled video conferencing solution can pay for itself if it replaces just a few transatlantic business trips.
5. Stepped up approach to Unified Communications
Many organisations are still nervous about investing in new technology – but this doesn’t have to mean a ‘rip and replace’ undertaking. Rather, companies can embark on a gradual process which will enable immediate benefits without requiring an overwhelming initial investment.
When looking to improve the efficiency of communications solutions, companies should be also considering:
- presence management tools to indicate whether a colleague is already engaged on a call or in a meeting, to help to manage calls more efficiently,
- document sharing software to enable more constructive dialogues with colleagues or customers, even remotely
- softphones installed on laptops to reduce the recurring costs of mobile phone calls while traveling or working remotely.
- Mobile communications using WiFi networks.
The credit crunch means there is much less flexibility in budgets now than ever before, but that doesn’t mean companies can afford to stop investing in technology. It is vital that technology should remain a top priority for organisations as it can make the difference between winning and losing customers.
“Especially when times are challenging, it’s vital for companies to ensure they have the right communications solutions to satisfy their customers and help staff work more efficiently. Aastra offers solutions for small and large businesses to meet these challenges as well as satisfy the priorities of IT and business decision makers” commented Michael Calvert, General Manager, Aastra UK.
ENDS
About Aastra UK
Aastra UK is the British business unit of Aastra Technologies Limited, (TSX:“AAH”), a leading company at the forefront of the enterprise communication market. Headquartered in Concord, Ontario, Canada, Aastra develops and delivers innovative communications products and applications for businesses. Aastra’s operations are truly global with more than 50 million installed lines around the world and a direct and indirect presence in more than 100 countries. Aastra is entirely dedicated to enterprise communications and offers one of the most complete portfolios of unified communications solutions individually tailored to satisfy its customers’ requirements. These range from feature-rich call managers for small and medium businesses and highly scalable ones for large enterprises, integrated mobility, call centres solutions to a wide selection of terminals. With a strong focus on open standards, Aastra enables enterprises to communicate and collaborate more efficiently. For additional information on Aastra, visit our website at http://www.aastra.com
Media contacts:
Susannah Wyeth and Gerry Grewel
Speed Communications
Tel : 020 7 842 3200
E-mail : aastrapr@speedcommunications.com
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