5 Technologies You Need for a Techno-Successful 2008

1. Unified Communications

The traditional ways businesses communicate is through different devices for e-mail, telephone and fax. However, you may want to rethink how you communicate by considering a unified communications (UC) system.

Instead of using three different devices to receive faxes, e-mail and phone calls (or to check voice mail), use one device — your computer, smart phone or VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) phone. Just this change alone will not only save you time, but also help you more easily manage your communications. Your communications system and phone systems can now be fully integrated. Instead of keeping incoming faxes in a manila folder, saving e-mails in your e-mail program and writing voice mail messages on a piece of paper, you can store all of these in-bound communications on your computer by project, client or any other way you choose. Another advantage of a UC strategy is having the power of your phone system with you wherever you are. If you’re in a hotel in Asia, you can easily use your computer to connect to your sales manager, using a telephone extension, just as if you were using your office telephone. This is about responding faster, both to clients and internally.

Some of the companies in the tri-state area that specialize in UC include M5, Avaya, Time Warner Cable Business Class and Altigen or networking companies such as Cisco and 3Com.

2. Use True CRM

Customer relationship management, or CRM, is the process, supported by software applications, of proactively understanding what your customers want, offering them products and services that they need and initiating actions based on their purchases or actions (such as phone calls, requests for information, e-mails, etc.).

Managing contact information in Microsoft Outlook, as many people do, is OK, but information in Outlook (or some other contact management program) gives you only raw data, not knowledge that you can act on to boost profits and serve customers better. With CRM, you can dynamically track what your customers are doing — what they purchased, what they downloaded from your website, or what direct mail campaign they responded to. A good CRM system also enables you to send an automatic reorder, a custom message of thanks for a new order and a number of other custom-tailored messages. On top of that, a CRM system keeps all information related to your customers, prospects and partners in one place and accessible to anyone in your organization. So CRM can boost your sales, increase your profitability and serve your customers the way they want to be served. Today, CRM solutions with the same functionality used by large businesses are within the reach of any small business, whether you purchase the software yourself or utilize a hosted CRM solution. If you think it’s time for you to move up to CRM, then Entellium, Infusion CRM, NetSuite and Microsoft CRM are just a few solutions worth looking at.

3. Give Your Business a Technology Audit

A “technology audit” for your business will give you an inventory of the hardware and software you have and tell you what you need to upgrade, what is not being used to its maximum potential and whattechnology needs to be replaced. During this audit, a security professional should check out your servers, computers and network to ensure they are as hardened against hackers and security breaches as possible. Make sure you review your mobile technology strategy as well. Take these steps now and your employees’ productivity will go up, downtime will be reduced, and your business will reduce its risk.

Here are a few things to look out for:

• All points of access to your data are secure from hackers and protected against viruses and other threats.
  
• Your IT equipment is not acting as a bottleneck. Old computers and servers may be reducing employee productivity. If this is the case, you can have an IT pro “clean up” the machines, increase memory (RAM) or simply buy a new machine.
  
• Do you have the right software to meet your business needs today and for your projected future growth? Is it time to integrate your software so you are not duplicating work or maintaining Excel spreadsheets for everything? If it is time for upgrading software, consider the myriad hosted software applications that will not require a big upfront investment. (Note: If you do purchase new software, make the investment in getting the proper training — see below — as well as making sure it is customized for your company).
  
• You might also want to inventory your software. If it’s not licensed, get rid of it. The software industry is cracking down on illegal use of software, and the fines you pay are much more than the cost of purchasing legitimate software.

There are many New York area companies offering free technology audits. Check out CMIT Solutions or Green House IT for starters, or ask your IT professional.

4. Provide Technology Training for Your Employees

You might not realize it, but you are probably using only a small portion of the full potential of your technology. If you’ve thrown technology at your employees but not taken the time to ensure they have at least a minimal amount of training, you’re not maximizing your investment in the technology or your employees.