Toshiba Phone Systems and More

I read a blog today about how plant seed sales are expected to grow by 25% this year because of the economy and people’s desire to get back to basics. Small business too has the opportunity to do the same-get back to the basics.  I attended a seminar of about 35 small business owners last week and the issues are the same across many different businesses.

One resounding theme was that there is tremendous opportunity as well.

Opportunity for available talent, that a year ago was unheard of,

Opportunity for acquisitions,

Opportunity to get back to the basics of good business practices.

Now is a time to look at our businesses to cut waste, NOT to stop spending, because as one of the business owners pointed out that will only perpetuate the problem, but an opportunity to run a leaner organization.  One of the speakers said, “Sales hide all sins.”  That’s very true, when sales are up you can overlook a lot of things. Now is a time to take a deeper look at your business so that it is lean and mean for when the economy turns. It’s a great opportunity to take time to prepare your business, get your systems in place, fine tune your  processes so you are ready, so that you are still standing when others may have fallen.

Another recurring theme of the day was that when business is good, people tend to be isolated and don’t need anyone (except their customers of course) but when times get tougher people tend to need each other more and we are seeing a surge in good old fashion networking. Competitors are even helping each other out -as good will lives in a down economy- that to me was nice to hear- human nature of the small business owner-to help each other.

The small business community will get us out of the mess that the corporate giants have gotten us into. We spent the entire day sharing our pains, strategies, challenges and successes and I came away from the day with a renewed sense of hope in the knowledge that we are not alone in our challenges and that through positive support of each other and a vision to see the opportunities and not just the pains, we will not only survive but will thrive through this.

If anyone is interested in a community of small business owners preparing to thrive- click here to learn about the next session and fuel the small business movement to turn the economy around.

We work daily with our customers to help them utilize technology and strive to be not their vendor but their trusted business communications partner- all of our customers are small businesses we want to help thrive. If you think we can help you- give us a call 203-649-6405 we are all in this together and will need to work together to get out of it.

With the downturn in the economy we are getting more and more requests for video surveillance systems.   People are concerned about theft, both by employees and outsiders and well as wanting to protect the safety and security of their employees and tenants.

When looking for a video surveillance system for your business you need to know what  your objective is for purchasing a video surveillance system?

Are you interested in a crime deterant? Do you need to see fine detail for facial recognition should you need to ID a theif or vandal?  Do you need to see if an employee is putting something in their pocket? Do you need to see in the dark? Do you need to see outside or inside?

There are a wide range of systems out there today from the Do-It-Yourself  kits you can purchase at your local warehouse or office supply store to professionally installed high -quality solutions from respected manufactures like Panasonic and others. Although with that is a wide range of prices for these solutions.

So if you are hoping to just deter crime from happening and don’t care if actually capture a usable image the Do-It-Yourself kits are probably fine and will be the cheapest way to go, but remember you always get what you pay for.

We had a client that needed to see the details of employees taking product off of a 150′ long warehouse isle -obviously a Costco kit isn’t going to accomplish that, but a quality Panasonic iPro solution with PTZ capability and long-term storage if that bill.  You should ask yourself  “What is the cost of the loss I am looking to prevent?”

Professional installation is key to correct placement, recording options and focus so that if and when you need to retrieve an image it’s there.

If you are in the market for a video surveillance solution that can meet the range of needs or aren’t sure what your objective is but know you need a video surveillance system, click here for more information or give us a call 866-887-5792.

What makes a phone system great? Is it the features that is has? Is it the ease of use, maybe how reliable it is! I was reading a blog post today by ramonray:  http://tinyurl.com/bzvlgr and it got me thinking.

Features are important but a lot of times the ones that could help you the most don’t get used! Ease of use is big, if you can’t use the phone system to its capacity then what good are all the features? If the phone system is not reliable like with poor VoIP quality then your customers are not going to want to talk to you.

So what makes a phone system great? How about the service company that installed it? All the things mentioned are important and the best way to get all of these is to do business with a GREAT service company! A great service company will make sure that you know how to use all the features, that the system is installed properly to ensure it is always running right! Great service companies make good phone systems GREAT!

Ask your self three things about your service company, 1. are their Techs certified on the products? 2. do they invest in continuing education from the manufacture? 3. Do they know the product well?

So what do you think? Is it the box or the people behind it? What makes a phone system great?

Planning ahead is probably the most important thing to do with an upcoming office move. Check out this post as it relates to finding a mover. 

But when you coordinate an office move you need to think of your office technology equipment. We had a customer once call us the day before they we set to move and had just realized that they didn’t consider an office phone system in the new location. We had to scramble to get them a new pbx phone system and get in there and cable for them before they moved. They are a doctors office so their office phone system is critical to their business. We did help them but it’s not the way we like to do business.  So if your are planning an office move, here are 7 things to consider BEFORE you move.

1. Establish a realistic deadline and timeline-if your new space is new construction build in 2-4 weeks cushion into your move in date. This will give you time consider either moving your existing pbx phone system or looking at purchasing a new office phone system. There are many productivity enhancements available today that perhaps weren’t available when you bought your existing system or it wasn’t important then to do more with less. Things such as unified messaging, VoIP,  voice and data convergence and integration between a phone system and computer are all ways to work more effectively. An office move might be just the right time to consider these helpful changes.

2. Select an Experienced, Reputable Telecommunications Company-Ask vendors for references. Ask your peers who they use. Customer service and technical support as well as the experience of the telecommunications partner you pick are equalling as important as the products you purchase. Most products these days all have similar features, with the exception of the productivity enhancing tools,  so how you will be serviced during and after your move is critical. Picking a vendor who is a “partner” not just vendor can mean the difference between a smooth move or a disaster.

3. Evaluate your local, long distance and internet services-Again now is a good time to look at whether you are getting the best deal  on the appropriate services for your business. Today companies are looking to save anywhere they can, this is an area that you may not have thought about since you first got your services, but you may be over paying.

4.  Don’t forget about the voice and data cabling-whether you are moving to an existing space or building new, now is the time to consider your present and future cabling needs. Ask potential vendors to visit your new site and give you their imput on number of drops and whether now is a good time for voice and data convergence of your infrastructure.

5. Is it time to upgrade our IT equipment-the way servers and PC’s have evolved over the past few years, now might be the time to look at moving to that faster server with more memory. Make sure your vendor is talking to you about real time data backup solutions, and I don’t mean tape, you want to actually be able to restore your data should you have a disaster. The other critical item is your network security with all the new viruses and threats generated daily and all the compliancy issues a company has to deal with, ignorance is not an excuse to leave your network vulnerable. Make sure your vendor has experience and ask for a project plan to make sure you know what you’re paying for.

6. Protect your stuff-Now that you’re moving into a new office space,  you may want to keep an eye on things. Again with the “do more with less” mentality- consider installing a video surveillance system to not only watch your employees and assets but also as a deterrent to crime.

If you can find a telecommunications partner that can provide you all of the services in one place, that’s even better. It’s hard having to deal with and coordinate a large number of vendors and contractors especially if you have other duties within your company. Often the responsibilities for the office move are put on an office manager or facilities manager, finding a good communications partner that can take ownership of the technology piece of your move will take a large burden off of you and make your move a success. Don’t forget to notify your vendors and clients of your new contact information so they can find you after you move.

If you are planning an upcoming office move and would like to talk with an experienced telecommunications partner in the CT area, contact me    or give us a call 866-887-5792 so we can help you plan a successful move.