Running a business, regardless of its size, calls for a conscious effort to perfect the manner in which all activities are done. As such, all your business operations need to be optimized so you can save such scarce resources. Luckily, technology has led to the development of incredible tools you can use in your business to meet that goal. Here are five tech software you can utilize to improve your business operations:
1. VoIP Phone Systems
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) basically enables you to make and receive calls over the Internet. This technology is loaded with more features than the cell phones or landlines you’re probably used to.
For cell phones, you’re usually given one phone number for every SIM card you register under your name. That restricts you to one mobile device if you’re to receive or make calls through that phone line. The downside of this system is that it’s difficult to share a phone between you and your employees. And if every employee were to use their own phones, it means your business will be using different lines for communication, which isn’t a good practice.
Landlines are also disadvantageous to businesses since they confine you to an office desk. You can’t make calls when you’re away from the office.
Fortunately, the introduction of VoIP phone systems has revolutionized business communication. You don’t need a SIM card to have a phone line. This means your business number can be used on several devices, including laptops and desktop computers. This allows all your employees to make calls using one central business line but from different devices. That’s critical in portraying a professional and unified image of your business.
Other beneficial features of VoIP phone systems include the following:
- Ability to register as many numbers as you want without the need for extra sim cards
- Integration with other popular business tools like email, project management software, and customer relationship management software
- Voicemail transcription and forwarding of voicemail messages to your email inbox
- Call recording for future reviews or reference
- Call forwarding to any member of your team when you’re not in a position to take calls
Take note that this is but the tip of the iceberg. You may want to visit this post and similar websites for more information on VoIP phone systems.
2. Project Management Software
Some business projects are quite complex in that they involve many participants, processes, and outputs. At times, disorganization can paralyze the entire team, leading to delayed delivery times. Using advanced project management software can save you from such hurdles.
Here are some of the main advantages of using project management software:
- Centralization: These tools enable you to have every component of a project on one platform, including project files, notification of team members, and tracking of project progress. That would be easier for you than if you were using different software options for all the different components.
- Progress monitoring: At any given time, you’re able to see how much has been accomplished and what remains to be done.
- Great collaboration: With project management software, every team member is able to follow the progress of a project and discuss any issues in real time with the other participants.
- Reduces meetings: Some people like project meetings, while others detest sitting through such discussions over and over again. Whichever side you belong to, the truth is that meetings considerably eat into resources like time, energy, and money. Project management tools help every team member have a bird’s-eye view of the project at all times, thus reducing the number of meetings that have to be held.
3. Accounting Software
Finances are yet another critical part of your business. It’s not an exaggeration to consider them the main driver of business operations. Because of this, it’s important to get your finances in order through accounting.
You’ll want to use modern accounting software that offers most or all of the following features:
- Income and expense tracking
- Recording and tracking of bills
- Setting up automatic billing of recurring expenses
- Generating important financial reports such as balance sheets, cash flow statements, income statements, or profit and loss statements
- Multiple currency support
- Sending customized invoices
By knowing the financial status of your business at any point in time, you’re able to gauge whether you’re performing well or whether you need to change your system of operation so as to generate more revenue.
4. Customer Relationship Management Software
To succeed in business, you must strive to always make your customers happy. One of the ways to stay ahead of the game in regard to customer satisfaction is by using customer relationship management (CRM) software. This helps you achieve the following:
- Keep all customer records in a centralized database
- Communicate with customers on one platform but through different messaging channels and email services
- Get notified of all customers’ concerns
- Categorize customers according to geography, age group, or gender, and send category-specific marketing emails or product updates
- Generate sales reports
- Forecast sales based on past trends
- Get timely reminders on messages you need to follow up
- Analyze customer behavior and use the findings to come up with better products or services
5. Video Conferencing Software
If your business lived through the hard times at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, you certainly understand the importance of working from home. Although travel restrictions were imposed virtually all over the world, the business had to go on. Telecommuting became the order of the day for businesses with processes that could be handled remotely.
Take note, however, that telecommuting didn’t start and die with the coronavirus pandemic. It existed before COVID-19 and is set to grow in scale in the coming years. It’s usually not a must for every employee to travel long distances on a daily basis just to report at the workplace, especially if their tasks can be handled on a computer and submitted online.
Allow your employees to work from home whenever possible. After all, if there’s anything that the pandemic has brought to light, it’s that many jobs don’t require staff members’ physical presence every workday. To keep in touch with your remote workers and hold virtual meetings, you can always turn to reliable video conferencing software.
To Conclude
Technological advancement has made running a business considerably easier. With options such as VoIP phone systems, project management software, and video conferencing software, you have more than enough tech software to choose from for the optimization of your business operations.
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