Business phone systems can be simple or complex, depending on the number of lines and desk units to be installed. With a little forethought, purchasing a business phone system can allow you to have an expandable platform that is easily capable of handling the growth your company may experience. Many business phone manufacturers make equipment that is only useful within their product line. For this reason, it is essential to examine what products are offered to make sure that your needs will be met both today and several years down the road.
If you are replacing a business phone system, you may not be able to utilize parts of your current system for an upgrade if your current equipment is outdated or no longer manufactured. Some business phone systems are only expandable so far, with the number of lines being limited. For cost purposes, it is always more cost effective to upgrade an existing system than to completely replace your system, but be especially careful when doing so. Find out all the information you can on your current product line and make sure that it can be expanded even further should the need arise. Many business phone equipment retailers and wholesalers offer used or refurbished equipment that small business can use to avoid having to completely replace their existing hardware. The most important time to consider the future for your phone system is during the initial purchase.
Equipment that is time tested and offers several options for expansion may be more expensive than some of the cheaper options available, but the savings you will experience in the long run can eclipse whatever many you may save now by a substantial amount. Just as a desktop terminal and server system for a business is a serious purchase that merits future needs considerations, a phone system is no different. Do your homework and you can get a business phone system that will meet your business needs for many years to come.
Replacing and Upgrading Business Phone Systems
What Home Business Systems Can Do For You
The dynamic home based entreprenuer is constantly on the lookout for anything and everything that can increase their profitability. This is as it should be. Any type of business which does not strive for excellence can soon expect to be overshadowed in our increasingly competative world by those that do.
Whether you are a home business veteran or are just starting out, you need to understand what home business systems can do for you. A good home business system could hold the key to increasing your competitiveness and ensuring your profitability in the years to come.
What is a home business system? Put simply, a home business system is a set-up which allows an entrepreneur to earn money from home in an efficient manner. There are a multitude of these systems available, and the one you choose will be directly related to what your interests are and to what you really want to do. The best home business systems will have a few things in common however. These characteristics will include:
Simplicity. A good home business system must be easy to understand. If it is too complex, it runs the risk of not working at all. An excellent system is simple, but it isn’t simplistic. It must show clearly just how it can help the bottom line. In other words, you should be able to see how you will be making your money, how fast you will be making your money, and what you can do to make more money.
Foresight. In other words, the home business system has a long-term strategy. In any business, complacency kills. When a company is no longer willing or able to innovate, it begins to lose market share. A good home business system provides for a dedicated program of research and development. It doesn’t really matter what industry you are in. You might be in computers, or you might be in discount retailing. You still need to regularly come up with good ideas and implement them, if you are to have any long-term profitability.
There are two basic ways of acquiring a home business system. You can either create your own, or you can buy one. If you are starting your own home based business, you will most probably have to create one, and it will should cater to who you are as a person and what you want to accomplish. If you choose to franchise or act as a salesperson to someone else, you will probably use the system which they already have in place. In either case, it is important that you have a system to follow. It gives you direction and clarifies your goals. However, don’t get so caught up in playing “by the rules” that you forget to inject your own personal brand on your work.
In short, every business needs a simply, yet dynamic system to enable it to move forward. Put this in place as you set up your business and you can help to ensure your home based business gets off to a flying start.
The Business Of Home And Commercial Alarm And Security Systems
Alarm systems are meant to protect lives and belongings if they are positioned, used, and maintained properly. Datum show that homes without a burglar alarm system (for example) are four times more likely to be targeted. Alarm systems are also great for fires and other crises. Alarm systems are installed strategically in consultation with home and building owners. Another benefit of alarm systems is that insurance companies will render diminished rates for building and/or homeowners insurance if the proper burglar and/or fire alarm systems are installed. And dont forget, Fire alarm systems are operational and on-duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
There are a throng of divergent applications for alarms. The most frequent are of course the fire and trespass types, but other applications are being unfurled at a ardent pace. Think of applications such as medical alarm systems (also called personal alarms, and medical alert devices). These systems are conceived to activate the EMS service in the event that a sufferer becomes injured, sick or ill.
Alarm systems can be stand-alone (i.e. a acoustic device is set off in the case of an intrusion or fire event), or they may be monitored by an outer monitoring company. Remote alarm systems are exploited to connect the control unit to a preset monitor of some sort, and they come in many different configurations. Telecom lines are traditionally utilized to broadcast a sign when an alarm event (fire, break-in, etc.) occurs. These systems are interfaced with an auto-dialer that will mechanically give notice to the fire or police departments in the event of burglary or fire. Most monitored burglar alarm systems are equipped with hi-tech battery and/or mobile backup systems that kick in straight away should your power or phone connection fail. This forestalls a would-be thief from cutting off the phone line to preclude the alarm system from notifying the monitoring service.
Some alarm systems are tied to video surveillance systems so that current video of an intrusion area can be instantly displayed on a remote monitor, not to mention recorded. With new technology, alarm systems are not only available as hardwired devices, but also as wireless. The introduction of wireless alarm technology means that new sensors can be added quickly and easily without the need to run wires back to a control panel.
One of the major downsides to alarm systems are false alarms. When an alarm system is not properly installed, used or maintained, the number of calls for police and fire dispatches may increase. In many municipalities the alarm owner may be fined or cited if the alarm system becomes a nuisance. But this being said, in 1994 the International Association of Chiefs of Police passed a Board Resolution stating that professionally installed and monitored alarm systems are useful instruments to deter crime and provide peace of mind for residential and business owners.
Customer Service for Business Phone Systems
Working in a law office often means long hours and late nights, especially doing probate work. Getting in before seven A.M. and staying until well past business hours, I assumed that I would always be available for whoever might call me. Recently, my office switched our business phone system and I started to notice a drop in the number of calls I was receiving each day. It was such a change, in fact, that I was able to get my work finished much earlier than usual. I never considered that it could be our phone system and simply chalked it up to good luck. Little did I know that I was missing several calls from important clients who had almost all left voicemail messages that I hadn't been receiving. A couple of weeks after he new phone system was installed, I ran into one of these clients while in court, who kidded me about being too busy to get back to her. It was then that I realized there must have been a problem.
The next day when I returned to the office, I asked my associates if they had experienced similar problems. They hadn't, but they suggested I call the company who sold us our phones and equipment to see what could be done. I called, and within twenty minutes, the problem was fixed. Apparently, my voicemail was being sent to another place. The service representative explained in detail how to do a simple diagnostic to see if my messages were going where they were supposed to. When I found that they weren't, he explained how to change the settings to solve the problem. While I now have a lot of calls to catch up on, I am grateful that the company we went with for our new phone system provides such competent customer service. I think that in the phone business, as in any business, it is paramount to success.
Business Systems - Not Just For Big Business
When I mention business systems to you, what comes to mind? Do you think of an IBM mainframe computer sitting in a big room in the middle of your building? Do you think of expensive, highly specialized software? That’s what many small business owners imagine. And they think it’s not for them. If that’s what you think, you’re only half right.
Half right because expensive, highly specialized software is probably not for you. Half wrong because good business systems most definitely are. A business system isn’t hardware or software. It’s the way that you do any part of your business. It’s how you do things. You are using systems all the time, you just may not be using them efficiently.
I regularly urge business owners to get everything they know about their business out of their head and onto paper. I’m urging you now to do the same with your systems. Start writing out how you do things in your business. At a minimum, write out how you treat your customers or clients, how your paperwork for each sale flows, how your production systems work, how you market to clients, and how you do your bookkeeping.
Do this in detail. For each area, make a very detailed description of every step in the process. Include what you do and why you do it. Include the subtle parts that make your company uniquely you. Include the parts that you are proud of. Include the tricks that make it efficient. Include what you tried that didn’t work and explain why. Each system should become a very rich, highly detailed system. Why so much detail?
Because this is the beginning of being able to consistently deliver results. And the beginning of being able to consistently deliver results even when you aren’t around. Documented (written) systems make delegating much more manageable. Delegating is one of the keys to success in growing your business while still having a life.
Maybe you don’t want a bigger business. Maybe you want to keep yours small. Still, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to go on a long vacation and turn the keys over to someone else to run and make money for you while you are gone? Without systems, that wouldn’t be remotely possible. With systems almost anything is. Now, does that sound like something that should only be for big business? I think not.
Business Support Systems - Your Family is Key
Business support systems are critical to your business success. The most important business support system is your family. The spousal relationship is particularly key to your ability to launch and operate a successful business.
If your spouse or significant other is against your business, then you are missing a huge portion of the business support system you need to sustain yourself. Running a small business is a family affair. Whether your family thinks they are involved or not, they are. They truly are the largest source of support your business will get.
Impact of Negativity
If your family is negative about your business then this influence will almost wipe out any other business support systems you have in place. It’s going to be tough for the next couple of months while you get your business off the ground. A strong, positive, encouraging business support system will sustain you through the lows and temper you through the highs.
Negativity, on the other hand, will kill your business faster than anything else. If you are hearing all day that you're no good, you're business is crappy, you're ruining your life, blah blah blah blah, you will go down a black hole with the rest of the business support systems you so carefully put in place.
The Bottom Line on Business Support Systems
You need to have positive business support systems and the main source of this support is your family. If your family is not going to be supportive then the circumstances are not optimal for your launch. Despite all the other business support systems you may have in place, your family trumps them all. Think seriously about where your family rates in your business support system and then decide if now is really the right time to start your business.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Business Computer Consulting .com. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}
Benefits Of Buying Certified Pre Owned POS Systems For Your Retail Business
Are you a retailer who is currently running a successful, profitable retail store or chain of stores? If you are, is your business currently using POS systems? POS, which is the abbreviated term for point of sale, systems are important to the success of a retail business, particularly in today’s retail industry. If you are aren’t already running POS systems, which include POS cash registers and POS scanners, you will want to look into making a POS investment, as it is one that will likely pay off.
As it was previously mentioned, POS systems commonly include POS cash registers. POS cash registers are vital to the success of any business, especially one that relies on the tracking of inventory. Whether your retail stores sell clothing, food, home and garden products, or even pet products, you likely want, as well as need, to track your inventory. By having a POS cash register, it is relatively easy to do so. With the correct POS software and the knowledge of how to run the cash registers, you can track the inventory inside one or all of your stores, with little effort required on your part or the part of your employees.
As important as it is for your business to have POS systems, including POS cash registers, you may be wondering about the cost of doing so. Yes, POS systems may be considered fairly expensive, but it is important to remember what you are getting. Many business owners fail to realize that POS systems, including POS cash registers, can cut costs. For instance, by having a POS cash register with a built in scanner, your cashiers can easily save time by scanning all purchases, instead of entering each purchase in by hand. When the correct POS software is installed in your registers, you should be able to track your inventory for each of your stores, making it easier to know what to order. In fact, many POS systems automatically know what needs to be ordered. In many instances, you will find that POS systems pay for themselves, in no time at all. This is essentially considered getting a return on your investment.
Despite being able to pay for themselves overtime, there are many business owners who don’t want to incur more debt or expenses than they need to. If you are one of those retailers, you may want to examine certified pre owned POS systems. Certified pre owned POS systems are ideal for all retailers, but partially those who are looking to profit and stay in business for years to come, while successfully limiting the amount of money spent on equipment at the same time. Of course, saving money is the greatest reason as to why you should at least look into buying certified pre owned POS systems, but there are additional reasons, which are briefly touched on below.
In addition to being able to save money or cut costs, purchasing certified pre owned POS systems is ideal because the products actually work. In fact, they work like new. While this may seem silly to mention, it is important to remember. When many of us, particularly those looking for the best, think of pre owned POS systems, cheap, poor, or secondhand comes to mind. Yes, you will want to use your best judgment when purchasing certified pre owned POS products, but you shouldn’t have a problem. By purchasing your certified pre owned POS products from a well-known and reputable POS supplier, you should get a certified pre owned POS system that is like brand new, yet for a fraction of the cost.
If you are interested in modernizing your businesses, to keep up the ever changing, fast paced retail industry, you will want to examine POS systems and their many benefits, all of which can help to improve your business. As previously stated, certified pre owned POS products are just as good as brand new POS products and they make it easier to get a return on your investments. For affordable certified POS systems, including POS cash registers, POS scanners, and much more, contact VisionPOS.com. VisionPOS.com is not only well-known for their large selection of certified pre owned POS systems, but their amazing customer service, technical support, and much more.
Business systems – what are they?
You may have heard about them before, but never quite thought about how they can help you personally. They seem to be an ambiguous element of the business world, and when they are discussed, always seem to be this…thing…that other companies and organizations do.
What I am referring to is Business Systems
From the beginning of modern capitalism in our society, the most successful companies were those that developed a system, or group of systems, to complete their tasks and meet the needs of their customers. Take Henry Ford and the Ford Company, for example. Mr Ford obviously realized the power of developing and implementing a system that saw his Model T Ford produced quicker and more efficiently as his company grew. His never-ending approach to finding a simpler and more effective method of completing a task pioneered the way for many major corporations, and helped Ford stay competitive in the motor vehicle business.
But, most people in business don't make cars. In fact, they most likely sell clothes, books, time (through a job), commodity goods, intellect (through consulting), and so on. But, what particular business systems could possibly put into practice that will see their organisation become more proficient, easier to manage and produce better results for their customers?
A system can be defined as methods, organisation, or considered principles of procedure (Oxford Dictionary). And throughout your daily activities, there are certain tasks that you do every day or often enough that you have a certain way of doing them.
So, what types of activities could you systemize or create “considered principles of procedure” for, that will enable your organisation to be more efficient?
Emails - there are most likely a number of emails that arrive in your inbox daily or weekly, that you can create a system for processing them. Set up rules or commands in your email processor that automatically places emails from specific people into topic-related folders. For example, email newsletters into the folder for that email newsletter. As the emails arrive, they will be filtered through this system, and your inbox will not be overly cluttered with emails from many different topics.
Staff training - Do you have a specific approach to how you train new staff? Is it documented the steps that you take to educate the new staff member about your business, its goals, the OH&S discussion? Even if you don't have staff yet, imagine what you must put into a system for when you do. Make a list of all the steps in the staff training process - almost like a checklist. This alone will help you to train your staff in a systematic way that leaves little to no room for forgetting an important part of their induction.
Inventory management - Inventory control and management is a large part of many organisations. There have been numerous software packages created that assist companies in managing their physical stock. If you have large stock levels, then consider investing in these established software systems for the business. If not, then spend some time breaking down those typical steps that are taken in the stock control, stock ordering and quality control procedures. When is the stock checked for minim quantity levels? What is the minimum order of stock for each item? Is there a procedure that checks the stock when it arrives from the manufacturer, ensuring a minimal loss of damaged goods, and ultimately upset customers? A good way to start this is to also make a list of those things that need to be managed and monitored on a regular basis.
Sales process - if you are involved in selling in any way, then you most likely have an approach that works for you already. However, what if there are 4 sales people all selling the same product, and all selling it totally differently? Of course, a human being's personality must be allowed to shine through, but there are going to be specific tasks that every sales person must carry out to maintain the image of the company. Write these tasks down. Spell out exactly what the staff member must do, say, wear, act like, and so on, so that every customer can come to expect the same level of service and approach from each member of your sales team. Create a system that they earn, rather than hoping they will make sales in their own way using their own methods.
The reality is you are already operating a number of systems in your organisation. These are sometimes referred to as habits. The way you manage your files, phone calls and even how you make your tea or coffee are all systems. However, to be truly successful in a business, you need to record and officially structure these systems so that the organisation continues to function without your presence - for example, when you are on holiday.
Then, all your hard work and effort in creating a business that your customers have grown to depend on will not be wasted. Others can continue doing exactly the same thing, in exactly the same way, for many more years to come.
Automated Business Center Systems
Automated Business Center Systems are charging into the home office and sweeping aside many of the old-fashioned ways of doing business. They offer a quantum jump in efficiencies and are fundamentally changing the way part-timers run their home based businesses.
Imagine having an automated system in place that delivered all of your personally addressed promo material electronically to interested people. Then persistently – and without any fear of rejection – did the follow up while you slept.
Imagine new people being trained automatically and being kept fully informed of their progress every step of the way.
Welcome to the world of the Automated Business Center (ABC).
Simply speaking, an Automated Business Center is a sophisticated web-based software package designed to automatically deliver all types of information and perform many of the repetitive, boring, day-to-day tasks that can take up so much time in running a home based business.
Most Home Business owners run their operation part-time. They have to work smart and the ABC allows much of their business to run automatically while they are at their other job or business. The ABC allows the home business owner to operate more efficiently, even while they sleep, which will be the case if they are operating internationally.
Every module in the platform interfaces with the main database and all other modules in the system. This means that the “shopping list” of features is limited only by the imagination of the designer and web team – and the financial budget.
These systems don’t come cheap! Plan to invest well in excess of $250 000+ if you’re looking to build your own!
Here are some of the key features you will find in a state-of-the-art Network Marketing platform like the ABC AutoBiz Center:
• Promotional front-end
• Sponsoring Center
• Training Center
• Resource Center
• Family Tree Center
• Coaching Center
• Email Coaching
• Contact and Archive
For the astute part-time home business owner, being “time efficient” is everything. Cutting edge systems like the the ABC AutoBiz Center platform offer this as their central core benefit – and anything that helps us move toward that goal of a seven day weekend has to be worth a quick look!
Auto Sound Systems are an Investment in your Car Make it Great
For those who love tunes and the ability to take them along wherever you may roam, there are some great auto sound systems that allow you to basically plug in your favorite tunes to play as you go. It doesn't really matter which style of MP3 player you use, most of the newer auto sound systems at least have the ability to read and translate the material from these players into great music for you to enjoy on your ride by simply plugging your MP3 player into the car stereo.
Many of us find that lugging around an MP3 player with all of our favorite tunes (or at least most of them-with up to 40 gigs of hard drive space it might take a while to fill completely) is much easier and more practical than attempting to lug around a huge case of CDs. It is also great for those of us who find ourselves disappointed when we purchase CDs only to find that we really only like one or two songs. Now we can simply download the songs we know and love while avoiding those we are uncertain about or at least waiting until more songs come out before deciding whether or not to purchase the entire collection of songs. Having an auto sound system that allows you to enjoy the convenience of simply plugging in either your MP3 player or a memory card or stick in order to have your favorite songs at your finger tips at all times is fantastic.
I don't know about you, but I am absolutely hooked on audio books. I love to read and find so little free time in which to get my feel of the latest and greatest best seller. Audio books allow me to hear the stories I've been eagerly awaiting at my convenience and in my SUV as I'm making my daily commute or running errands. These books are also a great way to enjoy long car trips. You can even check your local library in order to find an excellent selection.
I typically try to find stories that might interest the children on long car rides as well (such as the Harry Potter books or The Polar Express). This instills a love of reading in them and I don't have to worry about the stray 'grown up' word that some audio books contain. Good auto sound systems not only play great music but also sound wonderful when it comes to the spoken word as well. This is not only true when it comes to books on tape, CD, or MP3 but also talk radio and national news stations as well.
When you begin your search for your next auto sound system make sure you consider all the possible features you may wish to include. You can find sound systems today that include GPS, DVD players, navigational tools, CD players, MP3 players, satellite radio receivers and countless other nifty features. Choose the auto sound system that will suit your needs and interests best and enjoy it for as long as you can. A good sound system is something that will stay with your car, truck, or SUV so it is best to make that particular investment long before you plan to trade your vehicle in on another. At the same time a good auto sound system can be an excellent incentive to hold onto your vehicle a little while longer.