Author: cwdadmin

8 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Phone System

Posted on by cwdadmin

Purchasing a new phone system is a big decision that can affect your entire business.  Not only is it a big investment, but it can also directly effect your employees productivity levels as well as customer service and satisfaction.  There are many factors to consider when making a decision on a phone system.  Below are 8 questions we think should be answered before making that decision:

  1. What solutions do we currently have in place?  – When are your current contracts set to expire? Where is your equipment in the depreciation cycle? Do you have current systems in place that will need to be integrated with the new phone system?
  2. What are our current costs and what is our budget? – Make sure you consider the costs of future upgrades and support on the new system.
  3. How much are we expecting our business to change and/or grow? – Can you add remote or mobile workers as needed? Can you add new sites that are fully integrated and managed as a single system?
  4. Do we prefer a CapEx model or a monthly subscription OpEx model for our communications? – Do you prefer cloud, onsite, or a hybrid deployment with applications delivered from the cloud?
  5. What pain points do we have with our current system? – What aspects of it do you like/dislike?  What features do you wish you had?
  6. What service and support level is offered by the vendor we are considering? – Who do you call when there is an issue?  What is their response time? Do they provide end-user training during the installation process?
  7. Do we have specific compliance measures we must meet? – For example, PCI, HIPAA, etc.
  8. What features are essential for our business to have and why? – What features are included and what features incur additional charges?

Communications are the lifeblood of any business, which is why choosing the right vendor and communications platform are so important.  Look for providers that focus on customer service and training and ask for customer references.  Choose a system that is reliable, feature-rich but still easy to use and manage, and that will grow with your business in the future.

How the Right Data Solutions Can Keep Employees Motivated

Posted on by cwdadmin

Keeping employees motivated is challenging year round but it can be especially challenging in summer months with some team members out on vacation and sunny weather calling to those who are in the office. There are a lot of ways to keep employees motivated and you have probably heard a few of them. But do you know that your data solutions can help you implement some employee motivation tactics? Keep reading to find out how.

Celebrating Milestones & Achievements

The employee birthday party might be the standard for celebrations, but being able to recognize employees for a variety of reasons is a great way to keep motivation and morale levels high. Luckily, when all your data is in the cloud, it’s easy to keep track of a synchronized employee calendar with milestones like work anniversaries and birthdays.

Job Flexibility

Giving employees the ability to work from home – and to have flexible hours – can be extremely motivating. In fact, one study found that when managers allowed employees to set their own schedule, they actually worked on average 7 hours more than those who had a prescribed schedule. With a virtual desktop solution for your office, workers can set their own work hours and work from their home – or anywhere in the world – during the summer.

Get Outside

By the same token, even workers who choose to work from the office benefit from some sunshine and fresh air during warm months. Some HR managers suggest holding meetings outside for employees who are happier and healthier, but you can even take that another step further and have workers conduct all types of business outside.

Both virtual desktop solutions and mobile phone management – through Bring Your Own Device technology – means that employees can spend time outside, taking advantage of great weather, and still pick up important calls and work on business documents without compromising security.

Be Creative

Perhaps the most important thing that any company can do to keep employees motivated is to be creative and to foster creativity. If that means finding ways to celebrate and recognize employees, to host social gatherings or friendly competitions, or just to get to know employees on a more personal level, it will encourage healthy relationships among employees and keep them motivated to do a good job for their team and their company as a whole.

And the importance of creativity does not only extend to management and HR actions. Allowing employees to be creative with their time, to work on independent projects (e.g., Google’s 20% rule), and to bring fresh new ideas to the table is the best way to keep employees interested in their jobs and to improve company morale.