Most of us have already used Outlook, Word or Excel which are part of the Office suite, not many have used Teams to ‘share’ company information and fully collaborate with colleagues.

Watch the video from Microsoft to get a basic overview of how Teams works. You can chat, share files, create a Wiki, hold meetings and much more.

Need to know more about Teams or subscribe to Microsoft 365 – > don’t hesitate to Contact Us

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There is no doubt that those who are new to working from home (WFH) will be finding it difficult for various reasons depending on your personal circumstances. If you can make sure to create a dedicated workspace that makes it ‘feel’ like work, this helps to concentrate and make sure everyone knows when you are at ‘work’ they should help you focus on what you are doing. Depending on budgets a sit-stand desk can help your wellbeing, not forgetting to take regular brakes and keep stretching. Being isolated can be difficult for many especially those who normally work in larger teams. You can overcome this by using technology and there is no better way than virtual meetings and video conference calls with colleagues.

This is where your IT provider can help you smooth the transition of WFH with simple technology. You should be able to collaborate with both colleagues and clients but how? Microsoft Teams help you chat with those you work with , utilising Microsoft Office 365 and Teams. Depending on your service provider they may be in a position to enable telephone calls via the software. Over the next year this piece of tech with Microsoft will be much sought after and become widely used throughout business.

Not using MS Teams? Then there are other solutions available such as Gamma’s Collaboration software. This software is part of a telephony system known as Horizon, just install the software on your computer and use a webcam for both visual and voice.

Remember to use your IT provider as they are there to support you WFH and assist the transition back to office working once the pandemic allows everyone to do so.

Should you have any questions, never struggle alone.

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Traditional lines and minutes were sold when most calls passed over the Plain Old Telephone Service knows as POTS, this is no longer the case.Calls over POTS can be very expensive and if you have an ISDN line into your telephone system, this is also adding to the costs and with BT switching off ISDN in 2025 migrating to calls over the internet is the way forward.In today’s digital age everything appears to be pushed over a broadband connection and this can be true with telephone calls. The bonus is that ‘on-net’ calls are free, in simple terms that’s when both the person making and receiving the call has an IP connection or VoIP, basically the telephone call goes over the broadband connection and this is where savings can be made.You should be speaking to your current telecoms provider and asking the question about call rates and what options are available to you. If they want to keep you on the current tariff look for an alternative as it’s possible to move from pay-as-you-go to an all inclusive call bundle. Of course the all inclusive will cost a little more per seat but if you are making lots of calls this can work out more cost effective and you’ll be able to budget your spends each month.If you are unsure you call always call our team at Comspec on 01204 898055 and we’ll guide you through our Horizon phone system or why not take a look at the video.

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There are many reasons why people have migrated to a hosted platform, here are just a few.

Reliability

Lessons have been learned over the years of how best to implement VoIP. The early adopters soon found out that just plugging a VoIP handset into the customer’s local network caused many problems as both the broadband (internet) and traffic was a major factor in complaints of quality. With the increase of high speed fibre internet connections VoIP has become more reliable but again it depends on the ISP (internet service provider). If the ‘line’ suffers jitter and has latency issues these can affect the quality of the VoIP call. Always consult the hosting telephony company first as they should be able to offer advice and possible suggest a quality broadband connection. At Comspec one of our suppliers provides broadband that plugs direct into the hosted telephony system for an assured service.

Scalability

At Comspec we are often asked “We may employ more staff in the coming years, what happens if we need more telephones?” The simple answer is you can add extensions and handsets as the system will grow with your business. Of course this can work in reverse by downscaling anytime by removing the unwanted extensions. This could apply to those businesses with seasonal demands.

Control

With most hosted telephony systems you are in control of how the system is setup. You should be given access to a web based portal where you can login and administer the system yourself, of course you may not want this in fear of doing something wrong and will normally appoint someone to do this for you, for example the telecoms company you purchased this from. At Comspec we can manage this for you in our Horizon portal.

Features

Most VoIP systems are feature rich with hunt groups, auto attendant, call queues and voice mail to name a few. Always ask which features are included and what is extra as an add-on.

Business Continuity

We have all experienced internet failures when the broadband goes off, sometimes for hours. The benefit of a hosted system is that you can easily redirect your calls elsewhere if the extension isn’t picked up or even ‘pair’ your extension with your mobile phone. This feature is also known as ‘follow me’. Should a disaster happen and you have fire or flood, handsets can be deployed at another location to get you up and running with little disruption.

Cost

We’ve added cost last because most decision makers look at price first where in fact they should look at all the above first before deciding on which hosted system to go for. There are cheap offerings out there as telecoms companies try to attract you, just be aware that their systems may not be as rock solid as one which may cost a few £ more. Weigh up the risk – losing calls and customers or staying ahead of the competition and sounding professional. We only get one chance and a one bad customer experience could cost your business dearly.

Give us a call on 01204 898055 and learn about our Horizon hosted solution run on the renowned Broadsoft platform.

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