THE

TOP

10

Telecoms Problems

OF SMALL BUSINESSES

The top 10
telecoms
problems
of small
businesses
Running a small business is
challenging enough. The last thing
any small business owner wants
is for these challenges to be
compounded by problems with
their telecommunication services.
Fast, efficient communication
is pivotal for the success of any
enterprise, especially those taking
their first steps so its important
to ensure your telecommunications
run as smoothly as possible.
Sadly, it doesnt often work
out this way: at some point,
most businesses experience
problems of varying severity.
Were going to look at the 10
most prevalent telecoms issues
faced by small companies, and
provide solutions for all of them.

1) Call Abandonment
When youre a fledgling company you have to spread yourself pretty
thinly, so its not always easy to answer every call. Sometimes, clients
or customers fall through the cracks something best avoided during
the critical early stages of your relationship development.

A study by Jeff Rumburg of MetricNet found that:

SOLUTION

Call abandonment rates have the potential

to cost up to 31 per client if even 15%
of calls are missed by an office.

Steps can be taken to tackle this problem.

Communication solution systems are often put in
place to deal with telecoms problems and call
abandonment rates are one of their top priorities.

The optimal range for (realistic) call management

fell at roughly 4-7% (call abandonment rate).
A standard office misses that range
narrowly, with the average call
abandonment rate set at 8.7%.
Rumburgs findings highlight just how important
it is to get on top of this problem. At the average
8.7%, abandonment rate, a company could lose
as much as 23 for every missed call, while the
optimum range would see just 15.50 lost.

The Univerge SV9100 is one such example

of a communications solution which can
eliminate your dilemma. This system can:
Deal with and comprehend traffic
spikes to prevent hang-ups
Instantly inform your team of a lost call so an
immediate follow-up call can be implemented
Make use of a predictive abandonment system
which sends alerts to clients and customers
at times when calls are likely to be missed

Aerial Direct: The top 10 telecoms problems of small businesses

2) Toll Fraud
Even a professional business isnt immune to the dangers of hackers
and scammers. Toll fraud is perhaps the worst case of this, with British
companies estimated to lose up to 1.2bn per year collectively.

A hacker will hijack a phone server and

begin placing a series of long-distance
calls on the line, with some totalling a
few thousand pounds every hour.
Toll Fraud comes in two guises:
1. Illegal SIP Usage which Detects open VoIP
ports and continually tries to enter the system
under the guise of a reputable source.
2. Subscription Fraud which sees a
fraudster accumulate a series of documents
in order to activate a hosted phone
line on behalf of another person.
Both of these methods can have a potentially
catastrophic effect, haemorrhaging huge
sums from a business within hours.

Aerial Direct: The top 10 telecoms problems of small businesses

SOLUTION
Systems have learnt to deal with the threat
of toll fraud considerably better in recent
years, with most communication solutions
offering a built-in patch that is able to detect
and prevent fraud before it happens.
Devices will normally do this by utilising a restricted
class of service meaning they can track calls
attempted overseas calls or calls to a directory
access, and block them or ask for permission.
These systems naturally charge for the service,
but will place a set annual fee on it (usually
less than 100). Given the sums that can be
lost if youre targeted, its well worth paying
the additional fee for peace of mind.

3) Lack of Call Recording

Even with the morass of communications technology available
today, call reporting remains as important as ever.

Not everyone has voicemail, but its a

pivotal device in helping small businesses
to thrive - for several reasons:
Lost information Not all information
is transferred online. Sometimes a client
will call directly and while you may
take a note, the hard copy can be lost. A
recording system allows you to listen to
and review your call at your leisure.
Sales training For office environments with
a heavy focus on sales, a recording system can
save calls and use them as a learning tool.

SOLUTION
This is a problem with a fairly simple solution: make
sure you get a voicemail system or, preferably, use
a communications solution which has a powerful
storage unit for phone calls and messages.
Most good systems will have this feature as
standard, meaning it should be relatively easy
for small businesses to stay on top of every call
they take, and monitor them accordingly.

Customer satisfaction Customers

can be dealt with and managed far more
efficiently if their calls are monitored. Being
alert to and informed of their needs leads
to much higher rates of satisfaction.
Professional liability Its an awkward
subject to broach, but disputes can arise
between differing parties over who said what
and to whom. By recording the conversations
you have with clients, you know exactly
what was said, by whom, and when.

Aerial Direct: The top 10 telecoms problems of small businesses

4) Lack of
Unity in a Workplace
Even in smaller companies, fragmented working practices can lead to a disconnection
between sub-teams in the same office. Its not uncommon to see an SME or startup business make the most of employees who work in the office for only a couple
of days a week, while others will work from home or even out of the country.

The term telecommunications no longer

extends only to telephone usage, with
video calls and online chat services also
incorporated under the definition.

SOLUTION

Its crucial that a small company is able to

maintain a constant stream of clear access to all
its employees, whether they work 6 metres from
one another or are on opposite sides of the world.

While some tasks dont immediately need to be

dealt with, its not a good feeling when youre
waiting for the go-ahead from a remote colleague
and youre unable to connect with them.

You can organise set meetings or times

to make a call but it isnt always easy to
stick to those pre-arranged timings when
youre inundated with client demands.

Some solutions also provide the ability to

keep constant vigilance over a workforce allowing you to see whos communicating
with whom in order to boost efficiency.

A disconnect between you and any of

your staff or colleagues could prove to
be problematic in the long-term and, as
such, needs to be dealt with promptly.

Aerial Direct: The top 10 telecoms problems of small businesses

A solid communications solution will be able to

link everyone in your workforce in seconds.

5) Falling Behind in the

Technological Age
Companies of all sizes need to keep pace with the ever-growing list of available
technologies. While systems like call recording go a long way to helping you manage
your telecoms, even this technology is becoming the norm in an office environment.
The hardware of your telecoms is arguably as important as the software on your devices and as some
products become outdated, it becomes more difficult to find a technician able to repair them.
This usually results in the need to replace entire systems anyway, which can lead to
extended periods without operational telecommunications in the office.

SOLUTION
There are several new pieces of technology
which will help you take the step up to the
next level of connectivity, including:
UT880 a desk phone which contains
a 7-inch multi-colour touch screen.
M155 Messenger a wearable wristwatch
device which allows you to take notifications
and messages with you on the go.

G966 a combination of DECT (Digital

Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications),
Wi-Fi and Android technology which can
all be supported within one handset.
By making the most of the more advanced
technology available today, you can help your
small business to become more competitive,
even against bigger or more established rivals.

Aerial Direct: The top 10 telecoms problems of small businesses

6) Disconnect from Customers

A poor telecoms system can lead to customers feeling isolated or disconnected
from your business. This can be an especially damaging problem for
companies that rely heavily on a few key clients for revenue say, where
an amicable relationship could prove prosperous in the long run.
An inability to respond to calls can be a damaging factor in relationships, but its certainly not the only one.
Using the same line to deal with clients of differing levels of priority can, at times, cause you to lose focus on the
more important deals. Naturally, its never a good idea to alienate the people who are your main source of revenue.

SOLUTION
There are several innovations within communication solution systems that can help
to build a more personal relationship between you and your customers.
A strong connection can be forged by using:
Caller ID which allows you to instantly
know who youre talking to before you even
pick up the phone. Letting a customer know
theyre important enough to have registered
a spot on your ID list will go a long way
to building that much-needed bond, and
also saves you an awkward few moments
as you try to remember who they are.

Aerial Direct: The top 10 telecoms problems of small businesses

Call Back System this will let you call

back any important customers at the
touch of a button. A call to a client or
customer youve missed gives them the
personal treatment that shows you care.
VIP Priority an innovative feature that
will drag and drop callers into a set queue
depending on their importance to you. This
allows you to monitor your priorities, as well
as keep those VIP customers happier.

7) Inability to Keep on
Top of your Team
Even in smaller businesses, its impossible to keep track of every worker at all times.
In the day-to-day reality of business, simple mistakes are easily made: staff can double-book meetings
and be unsure about who is dealing with which client. A surprisingly common and damaging problem
occurs when several members of a team each assume the other is dealing with a client.

SOLUTION
A new wave of communications solutions technology exists which
has helped to make this an issue of the past.
You can manage your teams activities far more
efficiently with the help of the following software:
Presence This provides a real-time image
of the meeting status of your employees,
letting you know what theyre doing, and
when they are and are not available.

Reporting You can now receive automated

reports on call activity, as well as the call rate
and call history of every line in your office.
MyCalls Wallboard This feature
allows you to highlight live statistics in a
public sphere from your call centre.

Aerial Direct: The top 10 telecoms problems of small businesses

8) Inability to Future-proof
This is subtly different to point five (Falling behind in the
technological age), because it is about a lack of forward thinking
rather than an inability to keep up with technology.

If you fail to prepare, youre preparing to fail:

like all clichs, it is founded on the truth.
When youre busy dealing with the issues that
are in front of you, it isnt always easy to take
the time out to plan ahead. But planning is a
crucial facet of any successful enterprise; if you
dont know where youre going tomorrow, what
youve achieved today could all be for nothing.

SOLUTION
There are several ways to future-proof a
business when it comes to your telecoms, with
technological advancements that are able to:
Boost the amount of users on one system from
as few as 10 to as many as 900 users at a time.
Provide the latest and, more importantly,
most easily-upgradeable technology to avoid
the need for costly reinstallation later on.
Netlink which can add new branches
easily across the board without the
need for much upgrading.

10

Aerial Direct: The top 10 telecoms problems of small businesses

9) Reducing Costs
Its perhaps no surprise that small companies experiencing problems with their
telecoms department are able to incur sizeable fees quickly when travelling.

Travelling (whether abroad or even just across the

country) means that fees soon mount up, with
Travelex reporting that, even in the UK, costs can
rise to as much as 145 per person per day.
Call rates can take gradual and unseen
chunks out of your bottom line, so its
important to get on the best tariffs.
While getting the right provider is a good
start, it wont necessarily allow you to
identify the short cuts to reducing costs.
A lot of people are quite content to let telecoms
prices increase, providing the technology works
but the sums you can save if you remain
vigilant about your call rates can be surprising.

SOLUTION
Already mentioned above, the NEC Univerge
SV9100 communications solution device
tackles all of these problems, and is able to:
Provide the best audio and visual communication
to cut the costs of communications associated
with long distance business travel.
Make use of a multiple carrier system,
which allows a company to sift through
the best rates and select accordingly.
An NEC Door Phone also allows for anyone in
the office to serve as a temporary receptionist
if the phones are ringing, eliminating the need
for (and salary of) a full-time receptionist.

Aerial Direct: The top 10 telecoms problems of small businesses

11

10) Unreliability
Its perhaps fitting to conclude this list with the
most basic (and prevalent) telecommunications
issue faced by small businesses.
Even in the 21st Century not everything runs smoothly all the
time: frustrating faults occur, leaving you with a problem to fix:
one survey found at least 63% of services, and as many as
14% of VoIP users, experienced issues at least once a month.
That figure only grew worse when it came to fixed
broadband services, where 79% of businesses will
suffer from a fault at least once per year.

SOLUTION
The solution here - and the simplest fix of all - is to
place your trust in a reputable provider. Choose a
reliable communications solution provider that stands
out from the rest and you will improve the odds of
avoiding patches of downtime in your system.
Telecommunications can be a harsh mistress, but
if you take the advice in this eBook, your small
business should be technologically enabled,
and you should have one less challenge to face
in your search for competitive advantage.

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Aerial Direct
Quay West Business Centre,
Quay Lane,
Gosport,
PO12 4LJ
0330 019 3662

Aerial Direct Limited is registered in England & Wales at: 10-12 Rodney Road, Portsmouth, Hants, PO4 8SY. Company no. 08043921
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