For any business, improving efficiency is one of the major keys to success. Whether it’s cost, energy or time efficiency, the latest systems and gadgets have the potential to make your workplace a more pleasant environment to be in as well as helping your business run as smoothly as possible.
Laptops
An essential tool for modern offices, laptops enable workers to be more mobile and take their work with them, wherever they need to be. When you need to equip your staff with computers, consider Cheap Laptops from a site like refurbishedlaptops.co.uk
Smart Boards
A proven success in classrooms, smart boards display whatever is shown on a computer and, with touch-screen technology, allow users to interact with and manipulate those displays with their fingers. With the most recent models able to cope with multiple users touching the screen at once, smart boards can be a valuable addition to your office equipment, bringing a new dimension to meetings and brainstorming sessions.
VoIP Phone Systems
Standing for Voice over Internet Protocol, a VoIP phone system is a more flexible, cost-effective alternative to the traditional landline. Plug your phone into your router via an adapter, or buy a VoIP phone, and you can make and receive calls over the internet. A major advantage VoIP has over a landline is that there is no traditional phone network to maintain, and as a result, call costs are often much lower.
Related: Do you need to boost a mobile signal?
Why a hosted system makes sense
A hosted VoIP system goes a step further than simply plugging phones into the internet. The exchange that routes your calls, traditionally a box in a cupboard, lives with the provider instead. That means there is no large upfront cost for hardware and nothing on site to maintain, and as traditional copper phone lines are gradually retired, it avoids investing in equipment with a limited future.
It also scales easily. Adding a line, a new starter or a direct-dial number is usually a quick change rather than an engineer visit, which suits a growing business. Calls between staff are typically free, even between different offices. Many hosted systems include features that would once have cost extra, such as using your office extension on a mobile app, voicemail sent to email, call recording and hunt groups that ring several phones at once. Call quality and reliability are now comparable with traditional lines, provided your internet connection is good.
Choosing computers and phones for the business
The right computer depends on the work you do. A graphic design business will usually want at least one Mac, while general administration and professional services are often better suited to Windows based machines. Matching the hardware to the job avoids paying for features nobody uses.
Mobile phones matter most for businesses that customers may need to reach outside normal hours, such as emergency electricians or boiler engineers. A small firm with only a couple of staff might share a single business mobile between them, so whoever is on call can answer it.
VoIP phones give you a landline number that moves with you. They use an internet connection to make and receive calls, so as long as you can plug the phone into an internet port, it works wherever you are. That makes them useful for anyone who sometimes works from a home office and wants customers to reach them on the usual number.
The three main types of VoIP setup
VoIP works by converting analogue audio into digital packets and sending them over the internet. Because of this, call charges no longer depend on where you are or how far away the other person is. The technology existed for years but only became a real alternative to landlines once broadband speeds were high enough.
There are three main ways to use it. Computer to computer calling is the simplest and cheapest: all you need is a computer with a microphone, speakers and suitable software. An analogue telephone adaptor lets you plug an existing handset into the adaptor and use it to make calls over the internet. An IP phone is a dedicated handset that looks like an ordinary desk phone but connects straight to the router with an ethernet cable.
For an office, IP phones usually feel the most familiar to staff. As internet speeds and reliability keep improving, VoIP is increasingly rivalling traditional phone lines.