The systems give staff unlimited personal lines so that individuals who call in will never get a busy signal. In addition, staff members who travel to regional offices within the company on a regular basis can easily set their phone number to temporarily ring from another phone with no long distance charges.
Patricia, who has been an administrative professional for 25 years, said her company’s IT department spent weeks setting up the new system and has spent even more time training staff to use it. She has observed that a number of staff members now dial calls through the desktop application, but she has stayed with the traditional phone operating procedures — like picking up the receiver when the phone rings. She complains that the system is a lot more technical than the former system.
Transferring a call is more complicated now. There are more buttons to push, and Patricia is constantly referring to the “cheat card” that Shoretel provided. In addition, she has run into a few kinks. Ever since John, an executive in her office, got a new headset, she has been unable to reach him by speaker phone, something with which her IT department will need to assist her.
The VoIP system also has the capacity to indicate to callers a specific reason that a staff member is unavailable to take a call, such as that the staff member is in a meeting, on vacation, or out of the office; furthermore, the reason given can easily be changed throughout the day. However, Patricia has opted to maintain her office’s original phone answering techniques by using a live body; the personal touch is necessary in her office, which frequently interacts with powerful clientele.
VoIP systems remove many technological barriers that have previously existed with phone systems; however, businesses that are considering a phone upgrade to such a system must do so cautiously, allowing the new technology to assist their business processes — instead of dictating the processes themselves. In transferring to a new phone system, it is necessary to realize that the receptionist’s functions are part of the system — that is, the system of providing superior customer service.
With installation of a new phone system, it is necessary for staff to assess the effectiveness of their current phone processes, view the processes that are available with the new system, and select new processes that will make their old processes more efficient. For example, even though the technology exists to provide callers with detailed information about a staff member’s whereabouts, will doing so be in the staff member’s best interest, and will the information even be helpful to the caller?
Old fashioned receptionist standards are still the most effective in accomplishing superior customer service, and a new phone system should assist a business with accomplishing this.
