Analog systems have supported businesses for decades. Built on standard copper wire and POTS (plain old telephone service) phones, they are reliable, boast good voice quality, and have the basic features you might find in a typical home phone such as hold, mute, redial, and speed dial. These days, with more consumers making voice calls over the internet on an average of 20 hours a week, a business’s analog system is a necessity.
In a nutshell, over-the-top (OTT) systems are a phone replacement and provide the customer with various features not typically found with any home phone, such as recording and streaming from a server. Customers can also access this recording at their desk and listen to it on their own time. The OTT phone systems may not have the voice quality of analog, and they will get fewer calls, but it’s about saving money and keeping the customer satisfied.
For years, businesses have bought out-of-the-box analog systems, hoping they were good enough and got used to calling friends and family. This is often not the case. If your business is considering a new system, here are some factors to consider.
Customer service skills. A good OTT company will make it easy for the customer to contact you. This means your operators will keep your customers informed about your new product or service and ask for confirmation. Some will ask you if you want to “try it out,” but many will ask for a fee for the privilege of using their system. These days, if your system gives you the impression that it’s not interested in your business, chances are, it is NOT interested in your industry.
Pricing. When you buy a new OTB system, it’s often priced too high because businesses are worried they will be forced to sell their customers for much less than OTB. But you want an OTB system that does what you want it to do, and OTB is not going to do this. So, you need to be aware of how much this will cost you in terms of monthly fees, etc. There’s no quick fix for this. The OTB system will also look great on paper, but it won’t do what it is supposed to do for you to make it easy for you to understand and communicate.
Accessibility. All businesses want their customers to have easy access to them. The OTB systems that only connect you to your customers are the ones that will get less use. Your OTB system must make it easy for customers to access you via their preferred means.
Convenience. Your OTB system needs to be convenient for your customers. If your OTB system goes on vacation, it will not call you back when you call. It’s going to stay on vacation. This may lead the client to call other companies who might have regular access to the same OTB server you have. This means your clients are going to go elsewhere.
“The OTB business is only successful if the business owner/operator is a good communicator and understands the preferences of his clients.”