Your business made a big decision—you are finally getting a new office phone system! This can be an exciting yet anxious time for you and other team members responsible for a successful implementation.
You will be driving all of the new features; you just don’t know it yet, even ones that you haven’t even considered.
So, what should you expect from a new phone system? What processes must you follow during this change in office technology?
What you don’t know is the difference between you getting a fully functional Unified Communications as a Service (UCaas) system or a new phone system that does a little more than you currently have today.
A provider that can educate while extracting all of the necessary details to configure a fully functional communication platform that meets your needs now and as your business grows is what you should be looking for. Just think of all the increased productivity time and efficiencies your business will be able to take advantage of.
If you’ve chosen to partner with a trusted office technology company like AIS, it’s great to know what lies ahead. Although we can’t speak for other providers, we thought it would be a great idea to take you through this journey and explain how we successfully execute new office phone systems for our customers.
As a valuable and knowledgeable technology provider, I know that the beginning stages of a new phone system are critical for discovery, planning, and design to maximize its value to your business. We also want to make sure that you are another happy customer!
Successful Implementation: Discovery For Your New Office Phone System
There are likely a few things previously sorted out regarding your new phone system during the buying process, besides the price.
You have probably met with a salesperson, subject matter expert, or sales engineer. Generally, you have all discussed the driving factors for wanting the new phone system, the number of users, probably some key features, and any special considerations.
With this knowledge, our sales team has most likely determined the solutions that best match your needs. Upon selecting the type of system, we will present options for different phone models or other hardware and software enhancements.
Once the details are discussed and a contract is signed, your project moves to the next phase: a meeting with our operations group.
With your job package in hand, it is up to the implementation team to gather all parts and then make them do what you want. Their job is to ask the detailed questions to learn everything they need from you and your team to ensure the most successful cutover, aka preventing any possible downtime.
Bringing It All Together, Ahead Of Time
Depending on the size and scope of your new system project, one or more meetings will need to occur.
Our team will consult with you and perform an in-depth walkthrough of the application design while remaining efficient and respectful of your time.
The better prepared you are at the beginning, the better your chances are for fewer meetings and follow-ups later. Here are some ideas to maximize getting the most from the initial discovery meeting:
- Invite your key team members with the most in-depth knowledge of how your current phone systems work, things work now, and how they need to operate after implementation.
- Gather all account information and lists, such as phone bills, published phone numbers, employee directories, employees/office floorplans, and a business hours schedule.
- Pre-discuss your team’s questions, ideas, and wishlist and bring the notes to our meeting.
With the growing adoption of online meetings and remote work, these discussions can occur without leaving your desk. Depending on what works best for you, we can schedule a conference call, an online meeting, or an in-person visit.
We Have Some Questions
While not all discovery collection meetings are the same, there will always be plenty of questions. Our engineers follow a business requirements document to ensure they have the best and most thorough understanding of what your new office phone system needs to do.
In most cases, your sales rep and our engineer have discussed the information you provided during the sales and design phases. However, confirming that plan with our engineers is always a good thing.
Even though you’ve had some homework assignments leading up to this, the discovery meeting will not be a test but a journey to understand how you work.
This is a planning meeting and we will be there as your partner and consultant as we share information, ask questions, and explore any options that may improve how your callers are handled.
- The Basics: Together, we verify several location site details (one for each site if there are multiple locations). These details may include an address, authorized contacts on-site, published or known telephone numbers, the current telephone service provider, a floorplan, hours of operation, etc.
Additionally, we will need to know about your technology infrastructures such as cabling, data networks, external paging, fax machines/servers, and other communications peripherals and the knowledge and management of these resources.
- The Project: An essential part of planning is creating a timeline for your project. Establishing and sharing the schedule for meetings, follow-ups, and training sessions, as well as laying out any to-do items and milestones, helps set expectations that are understood by all working together on your new system.
Keep in mind that multiple timelines will be in place depending on the number of phases or steps it takes for you to receive the best implementation possible.
- System Details: To make your system fully customizable for your business needs, we will need to obtain more details about a few items. First is a complete list of all system users, including names, email addresses, floor plans/locations, and which devices reside in each department.
Will some of your users have any system restrictions or privileges? Will you have any call groups, supervisors, call recording, or reporting features? This will all be part of building and populating the system for the people on it.
Another critical element you can work on before the initial discovery meeting is assessing your call flows. Designing or documenting your incoming call flow can be a pretty straightforward task.
You will need to create a list of all published and unpublished telephone numbers (that is, all public and private numbers that are called into your business). Then, write out what should happen, step by step, (if necessary) when someone makes a call to that number.
Reference these questions below if you’re having trouble completing this step:
- Where should it ring?
- Does a live person answer it, or should it go to an automated attendant?
- What should the caller hear when answered?
- Does this call flow have different routes during different days or times of the day?
Think of what you, as a caller, should experience, and then as your business, what needs to happen on the receiving end to make it the way you want. It can be easy, don’t forget that you may have multiple numbers to map out during this process.
Simple or Complicated? The Final Say on New Office Phone System Discovery and Feature Development
The overall goal of collecting detailed company information for your new phone system is pretty simple. Essentially, we need to know your expectations, who gets what, where things go, and the completion timeline.
This article just scratched the surface of the depth of a promising discovery meeting and all the information you need to communicate with your provider. The more details you can deliver, the more robust your next phone system can be.
The complexity of the answers to these questions often depends on the size of your system and the number of different ways your customers and prospects will call to conduct business with you.
AIS is an office technology company designed to make your workdays easier. Office technology continues to evolve, and it can be hard to keep up with new and emerging products and services. We’re here to guide you with the best solutions for your business, employees, and customers. To learn more about a new phone system for your business or the other products and services we sell, contact us today.
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