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Phone system as part of an overall technology solution??
Has anyone made a switch to a hosted or onsite phone system solution that really has the potential of being part of an overall integrated solution for communication in our stores. It would just seem like there would be some real opportunities for our phone systems to do some thinking for us and provide potentially valuable functionality that we likely have not even thought of yet.
I am not asking this question empty handed, as I have 50 hours or so into researching, demoing and actually bringing a hosted solution into the building that did not turn out to be an adequate solution for our industry. Although it did give me the opportunity to own $1200 worth of new phones that are not returnable. They are pretty, i will give them that.Anyone have anything “cool” in their stores?Thank YouRandy -
1 Reply
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Randy –
I have some extensive experience with phone systems as they relate to service companies. There are a few key features to look for in a good phone system that will ultimately translate to dollars & cents:– Easily manageable by some office staff (to add phones @ the shop, remotely, wherever, add numbers, pull reports, etc).– Ability to pull detailed stats that will tell you things like call volume per hour, total abandoned calls (so you can call them back), and service-level factors so you can tell when your busy hours are or if you’re doing your job answering the phone.– Potential integrations with your shop-management software so when a person calls in, it will automatically open the customer’s profile & populate the lead source in the shop management software, based on the dialed number & caller ID.– Ability to show custom displays on the physical phone display based on other parameters. Example: The display will show the lead source (i.e., google PPC) based on the dialed number. It’s very useful for the service advisers & will help clean up your marketing data.In my experience, the phone is the largest source of found money in a service business, and having a good phone system will provide a huge ROI if managed properly. I hope this answered your question. I’m not sure why your phone system wasn’t good enough. Can you give more details?Also, try a local telecom company. They might buy your phones.
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