| Business technology in small businesses can mean a | | | | need to be part of your business' strategy for |
| lot of different things and can be interpreted in many | | | | technology management. |
| different ways. But it will always come down to the | | | | What about My People in the Field? |
| same thing - the technology implemented and used by | | | | If you have a large team of sales reps in the field, the |
| a business must provide the maximum amount of | | | | savings which you could enjoy through the |
| efficiency for the minimum amount of cost and | | | | implementation of internet based telephony can be |
| maintenance. | | | | carried on to this side of your business as well. |
| Technology in business must be well planned and | | | | Nowadays, there are many mobile phones available |
| implemented in a sensible manner and a plan for | | | | which are capable of making calls over the internet |
| technology management must be developed and | | | | using the 3G network. This would mean a possible |
| adhered to. This may mean moving more of your | | | | upgrade of your corporate mobile phone contract and |
| business systems onto the internet to increase the | | | | possibly some retraining for your staff - but ultimately it |
| mobility of your business, or identifying and investing in | | | | would save you money on phone bills. |
| new systems which will do the same job but in a more | | | | How do I Know that My Company is Now More |
| efficient manner. | | | | Efficient? |
| How Can the Internet Help My Business? | | | | Technology in business also encompasses the |
| If you are looking to save money for your business, | | | | assessment and monitoring of work performed by the |
| the internet is an excellent place to start. If your | | | | employees. With modern networking and targeted |
| business includes a small call centre to provide | | | | technology management, it would be possible to not |
| customer service, you could save a lot of money in | | | | only make your company run more efficiently for less |
| the long run by investing in changing the phone system | | | | money; but also allowing you to keep an eye on |
| to an IP telephony system. This would mean that | | | | exactly what is going on in real-time. |
| rather than incurring massive phone bills using normal | | | | There are many products available which will allow |
| phones, all calls would be routed over the internet and | | | | you to monitor your employees' statistics - be it the |
| customers would be able to call in using a normal local | | | | amount of time they are spending on each call or the |
| telephone number. | | | | amount of time they take to finishing each file before |
| It is much cheaper to call someone through the internet | | | | they are able to move onto the next one. Through this, |
| than through a standard phone line and the savings | | | | you would be able to address any possible issues |
| you would make here would more than cover the | | | | which may arise and discuss them with the employee. |
| cost of implementing such a system. | | | | Business technology should broaden the horizons. You |
| You would need to ensure that your business' internet | | | | should be able to do more for spending less. |
| connection is powerful enough to manage this of | | | | Something as simple as making phone calls cheaper or |
| course. If there is not enough bandwidth to | | | | something as involved as identifying areas of concern |
| accommodate all of the calls being made, the sound | | | | in an employees performance and having more |
| quality can suffer. As long as both parties can hear | | | | information which can be used to develop strategies |
| what the other is saying, this does not have to be too | | | | for the employee to avoid this. |
| much of an issue - making allowances for this would | | | | |