Today, we are powered by more technology than ever, in our personal lives as well as in business. Much of this is due to the internet; it has improved our social interaction and contact, virtually any information is there at our fingertips, and in general, the speed of technology has boosted our productivity by 3% on average.
But even though current technology is often developed to increase productivity, a high proportion of us are actually only working productively for 5-hours out a typical 8-hour working day. So what’s to blame for this deficit?
Many believe the cause of this is technology itself, however, research has shown that the main causes of this productivity short fall are:
- Pointless meetings, or overly long meetings
- Constant interruptions and/or distraction from either other staff or from micro-managing managers
- Sifting through and answering the often-vast quantity of emails we now receive
And as these are all work-related processes, rather than technology-related ones, which means there is an answer!
Improve Your Productivity with Technology
Here are a few ways to use technology to boost your productivity at the office.
Reduce Time Spent in Meetings
Business executives typically believe that nearly three-quarters of all meetings are a complete waste of time. Time can be saved through video conferencing, by eliminating the need to commute, and you can hold quick, on-the-spot or last-minute meetings to address important or urgent items when it really matters.
Remove Distractions & Interruptions
On average, an employee spends over a quarter of their time dealing with interruptions and distractions. When properly deployed, technology can eliminate these distractions, for instance, a cloud phone system includes many features perfect for:
- Answering Rules & Time Frames: Create specific time frames to forward your calls which can help you focus.
- Customized Greetings: Create customized messages to inform callers of your availability. Give them additional options to communicate with you, such as email or text message.
- Voicemail Transcription: Include brief, concise instructions on how to leave the most effective message in your voicemail, then a voicemail transcription service to save you time in retrieving messages.
Use Automation & Integration
Automation and integrated tools can greatly increases productivity:
- Automation eliminates manual processes and reduces common mistakes.
- Integration maximizes the benefits of technology by increasing features and functionality.
- Reduce time spent dealing with email by setting up automatic replies and filtering.
The automation and integration capabilities of a cloud phone system can also go a long way toward helping your business performance:
- Auto Attendant: A virtual assistant can automatically answer and direct calls to the right person.
- Call Forwarding: Automatic call forwarding can improve customer service, and reduce missed calls and customer frustration. This feature is further customizable and enhanced by using Answering Rules and Time Frames, and can block unwanted or spam calls.
- Call Queues: Automatically redirect incoming calls to the next available person in a predetermined queue. This reduces hold wait times for customers, minimizing frustration, and allows you to get more done.
- CRM Integration: Enable the ‘Click-to-Call’ feature that automatically records calls, and allows you to view call logs within your customer database.
- UnitedCloud now integrates with Microsoft Teams.
Your Business Phone Can Increase Productivity
A cloud phone system can increase productivity with its feature set, but it also helps your business by reducing hindrances to productivity present within traditional systems.
A cloud phone system is an easy choice for business communications:
- Reliable service with automatic fail-over
- No maintenance
- No need for IT specialists to configure the service or keep it running
Use technology to help your productivity. Talk to TechPoint today; find out how your business can benefit from a cloud phone system.