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The Evolution of Work and the Rise of the Modern Company

Modern Phone System Timeline

The core technology and philosophies behind traditional phone systems were developed when most work was done by people sitting at desks in office buildings. Companies changed and grew slowly and customer expectations were relatively static. Not much about the way people used telephones to communicate with businesses changed from the 50’s through the end of the century. Then something happened. Use of the Internet became more widespread and disrupted our thinking about what it means to run a business. Old assumptions about work were challenged and new tools for productivity and collaboration emerged. Internet enabled mobile devices added fuel to the fire and today’s mobile, flexible, social and always-on modern company was born.

What Makes a Modern Phone System?

Modern companies understand that communications technologies play a key role in thriving in today’s environment. Here are some good tactics:

• Let the vendor manage your phone system
  For some companies, owning and managing the phone system internally makes a lot of sense. Others would rather get out of the business of running a phone system entirely. Fortunately, modern phone systems offer this choice. Businesses can choose a system that is managed by a vendor that specializes in enabling a mobile workforce, driving revenue, delivering important business metrics and designing a service that doesn’t impact IT.

• You know you are out of the business of running a phone system if:
  End users contact the vendor, not your IT team for support
  New licenses and services can be added on the fly, with no scale limitations
  Software upgrades happen automatically
  You can transfer calls from anywhere
  You get one predictable, monthly invoice from one vendor

Your phone system is a source of revenue. Treat it like one

The time when a business phone system simply was a necessary cost of doing business has passed. Like every other technology investment, a modern business phone system is strategic and helps contribute dollars to the bottom line. Integration, intelligence and enablement are the keys to making this happen.

Many of us are living in a post-cubicle world. We work from home, airplanes, hotels and coffee shops. Mobile technologies have untied us from our desks and modern phone systems enable work from anywhere and keep company unity intact. This one comes with an acid test. If you can’t use a desk phone, softphone or mobile phone to transfer a call to a co-worker, even if you aren’t in the office, you aren’t using a modern phone system.pic-map

Keep Your Eye on the Future

While there are many benefits to cloud based technology, perhaps the most important, is that cloud-based solutions are always new. Customers who subscribed two years ago have access to the same features and upgrades as customers who buy today.