Problems – Customer is experiencing 4 different problems with their current system. The first problem is that clients are receiving a busy signal or being sent to voicemail when calling into a location. This issue is especially problematic at 1 particular location and resulting in loss calls or calls “falling through the cracks”. This problem is affecting potential clients, current clients and contractors who work with them. Another issue is that the outbound Caller ID shows incorrect information. Clients and potential clients are calling wrong locations because the outbound caller ID shows the incorrect location. This problem results in confusion to both the client and employee due to calls being routed or returned incorrectly. Due to this issue, clients must then hang up and call the correct clinic resulting in wasted time, inconvenience and inefficiency. The third problem is that offices are not integrated/able to transfer between locations. There is no way to transfer calls between multiple locations with the current system in place. If a client or potential client needs to speak with someone at a different location than they called into, they must hang up and redial the correct office. This causes an inconvenience and time loss to the client and could result in the person becoming frustrated. If employees need to speak to one another, they must get a line out and dial the appropriate office as opposed to having the option to press one button in order to reach another location, thus resulting in a less efficient operation. The final issue is no centralized number. Each location is listed separately with no centralized number for new and prospective clients to call and be processed appropriately. Once calling into this centralized number, clients could then be transferred to the appropriate office to handle their needs. A centralized number would help to cut down on lost calls, end confusion and result in a more efficiently ran system.
Scenario Solutions – The proposed solution to address and resolve the current issues would be a VoIP system. The VoIP solution provides the following: Allows calls to be answered by a live person and avoid clients receiving a busy signal or being sent to voicemail. Phone calls will ring to the number dialed, and if that line is being used, it will then rollover to the next line in the system. This ensures that even if someone is on the phone at the location being called, someone else will be there to answer the call and take care of the client’s needs or transfer them to the appropriate place. The outbound caller ID will show the appropriate number and clinic information (location and number) that the client needs to contact. This will stop the client from calling the wrong clinic and having to be moved all over the place. All offices will be integrated and have the ability to transfer calls between each other seamlessly. This will enable the operation to become more efficient and manageable, as well as cut down on time wasted on hanging up to call the appropriate location. This will greatly reduce the inconvenience for both clients and employees. Ability to have a centralized number for all clients and new or prospective clients to call, thus making the process more streamlined. With a centralized number, new clients can call and be processed before being sent to the appropriate office to handle their needs. This gives a more professional appearance and cuts down on confusion.
Cons – Because this is a VoIP solution, the performance of this system is dependent on the quality and reliability of the current Internet at all locations. If they choose to stay with the current provider(s), the system proposed will work, however we cannot guarantee performance.