Share what you know with millions of people
Focus is the best place to turn what you know into remarkable content
0
How do you start formulating a telephony/UC strategy?
How do you strategize a phone system? What planning should take place early in the process?
Events
- Dos and Don'ts of Small Business Marketing May 29 @ 11 am PT
- Lead Nurturing 202: The Next Generation May 31 @ 11 am PT
- The Tricks to Paid Media June 6 @ 11 am PT
- Display Advertising for Brand Awareness June 20 @ 11 am PT
Related Activity
2 Answers
Rob,
You should start by defining your needs as it relates to telephony and what features you and your staff are looking for (Mobility, CRM Integration, Advanced Vectoring, Call Reporting, etc.)
The next step is to determine what type of system would best suit your needs and whether Hosted or Premise Based would be best. There are a good amount of white papers here on Focus that will give you some good information. Beyond Focus you can also check out Current Analysis and Gartner for the latest comparison information.
If you do not have available staff to do the research for you, then I would recommend hiring an independent consultant to help you muddle through the flood of information.
Rob,
Derek is correct. The start point of anything is defining the needs.
I find it helpful to not think in terms of labels, ( UC, etc ), but in terms of the functionality that you want and/or need. Its also useful whilst doing this to identify whether a feature is a Want, Need or Nice to Have. Then when you are looking at implementation costs and your budget for this project, you can get a sense of relative values. ( no point paying a lot of money for Nice to Haves, and then not having the budget for the Need items)!
The other suggestion I have is not to rush into something until you have fully examined it, and ensure you try before you buy..there are some nice sounding products out there that simply don't work!.Its very easy to get carried away with the excitement of the possibilities, only to find a lack of compatibility with existing systems and so forth.
Negotiate hard, and be prepared to walk away.
If you choose to use a consultant, make sure they are truly independent, and don't have vested interests.
Answer This Question