Signs it's time to update your phone system

Making the decision to upgrade business phone systems is something that isn't done lightly. It takes time, money and planning to do. Many businesses take the stance of "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" with their phone systems, but even telephony technology is constantly evolving, and upgrades will eventually become necessary.

When to upgrade business phone systems

Many business operators were forced to upgrade when the decommissioning of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PTSN) network in their area started. This rendered old-style Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems obsolete.

If you haven't upgraded yet, watch out for these signs that an upgrade might make sense.

Your phone system is almost obsolete

If you're based in an area that still uses PSTN and haven't upgraded to VoIP yet, you might want to consider doing so now while you have the luxury of planning and time to experiment.

If you have a very old VoIP system, you may still want to consider upgrading if, for example, your existing system isn't IPv6 compatible. Being an early adopter can be risky, but using modern yet tried-and-tested solutions makes sense.

Your phone system won't scale

If your business is growing rapidly and you want to be able to handle more calls, you'll need a VoIP system that supports modern codecs. With cloud telephony solutions, adding new lines is just a matter of making a few mouse clicks. Legacy systems are far less scalable and flexible.

Your phone system doesn't support remote working

COVID-19 accelerated the idea of remote working, with many businesses that were previously entirely in-house being forced to find ways to facilitate remote work. If you're considering adopting a remote or hybrid working model but your phone system can't support it, consider switching to a modern VoIP system that offers portable, flexible communications.

By investing in VoIP and video conferencing tools you can support your employees to work remotely more effectively.

Call quality is poor

There are many different VoIP codecs to choose from, each offering a different balance between call quality, bandwidth and compatibility with other systems. If your current business telephony system supports only older standards such as G.729, upgrading to a newer system could offer huge increases in call quality.

You're worried about outages or security issues

Your telephony systems, alongside your website, are some of the most important tools for communicating with your customers. An outage or a security breach could be a PR disaster for your brand. If your system is old and no longer receiving security updates or you're concerned about how to efficiently manage security, backups and redundancy, consider upgrading to a more robust business telephony solution from a trusted provider.

As you can see, there's no single answer to when you should upgrade your phone systems. In general, however, the best time to upgrade to a new phone system is before you reach the point that your current one no longer meets your needs. If you're pushing the limits of what your existing system can do, now is the time to start researching your options.

At 8x8, we know that telephony can be confusing. For most business owners it's something that works in the background, so SIP trunking and APIs are probably things you rarely think about. That's why we offer free live demos to help you choose a system that suits your needs. Call us now to learn more.