Migrate to a cloud-based IP phone solution
Are you in the process of renewing your conventional telephone system contract? This system has been reliable but is obsolete? Consider turning to a hosted IP phone systems solution (IP telephony). It’s an excellent choice! Here’s how you migrate:
Ready? Almost!
Before undertaking such a major change, form a team of “specialists” from among your employees. This team will be responsible to manage the 6 steps so that the migration proceeds according to standard industry practices.
- Needs assessment Needs are not limited to existing features. It is important to think outside the box; in fact, we have to look back to better move forward! Your team will need to identify the current system’s irritants and analyze possible improvements (telecommuting, recording conversations, conference calls, email messages, etc.). Why not take this opportunity to review your customer service procedures at the same time? Study ways to better serve your customers and consult your users; after all, they know your customers best!
- The technical aspects Can your network support additional traffic (bandwidth, security, equipment, etc.)? Is the current number of lines sufficient? What about the number of positions? Do you know your call volume? Do you foresee growth? There are so many things to consider when thinking about moving to hosted IP phone systems.
- Choosing a provider The service provider must be able to provide valuable advice while working well with your team and yourself. Choose one with care!
- Selecting the equipment The equipment must meet the current needs of users in addition to offering them new features. It goes without saying that after analyzing your needs, a good service provider will be able to suggest the right equipment!
- Deployment Regardless of the size of your business, we suggest deploying in 3 phases. The first phase consists of installing 10% of the positions* and performing tests. When the tests are conclusive, we will move on to the second phase which affects 10% to 20% of the positions. Since most of the issues will have been resolved in phases 1 and 2, it will be easy to complete the final deployment. The success of the deployment is based on the 80/20 rule: 80% preparation, 20% installation.
- Support There’s nothing better than supporting users to ensure a smooth transition! Remember that all issues identified need to be addressed quickly and effectively.
Think about the environment!
Make sure that your old equipment is collected and recycled when the migration is complete.
To guarantee success…
Contemplate your planning, communication, teamwork, understanding your users’ needs and your technical know-how.
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*Positions: We use the number of positions to simplify the explanations. However, make sure nothing escapes you by distributing the migration to several user-centric or site-based categories, or both. For example, consider the following categories: "new employees," "existing employees moved to a new site," "newly connected buildings," "retrofitted existing buildings," "building mergers and acquisitions" or "buildings with contracts that must be renewed soon.”