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It’s time to get strategic! You do it in every other aspect of your business, why aren’t you being strategic when it comes to managing your technology. And by the way a huge part of your technology is your phone and communication solutions.

Lean into the idea of LEVERAGE

Tons of people think they know technology, tons of people in reality DON’T! Wrap your brain around this… “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” We’re willing to bet when you stop and engage experts to analyze the technology you have in place, you’ll find that the equipment you already have could have the capabilities to do really cool things you want it to, but haven’t set it up for. Think about the fact that humans only use 10% or their brain’s capacity OR you know that your smart phone has way more features and capabilities than you know how to use. IT’S THE SAME THING HERE!

So in our first light bulb moment, we learned that before we let our current vendor or our new vendor talk us into a brand new system (a rip and replace as we call it) we should first completely vet what our current system can do. Would upgrades and or updates be the solution to our needs?

And here’s a hint, if you aren’t staying current on upgrades either because you want to save money or your vendor isn’t helping keep you current, you’re going to end up spending much more money in the long run.

Know the TCO

You need to be aware of your Total Cost of Ownership. This one is huge. It’s the difference between an operating expense and a capital expense. Cloud systems do come with a smaller upfront costs by nature, however you might be really shocked when you sit down and do the math. There are indeed fees that will pop up and are unpredictable and unavoidable like usage tax, rental fees etc.

This Mitel MiVoice Business customer is configured for 100 employees. Take a look at the total cost comparison

Having already paid for the system, you’ve eliminated the cost for the hardware and software that runs it. You own it. But the simple addition of MiCollab to facilitate chat and collaboration, you’ve provided your team with features and functions you would get from switching to a new cloud vendor. Most importantly, the updates and upgrades needed to keep your system operating at peak efficiency at all times are covered by the Mitel Software Assurance plan. So, over a one-year period, the

TCO for your on-premises system would be $37,000 and over three years the TCO would be $81,000.

STRATEGIC wins the race

Eventually, all businesses will end up with some form of a cloud-based solution. However, your communications system requirements should be dictated by how the system is expected to contribute to your daily business operation and your communications strategy should evolve with your business needs

If you can address all your requirements by leveraging your existing on-premises equipment, then that’s probably what you should be thinking about before you consider cloud migration. But chances are, there are  incremental updates and upgrades you should be making today that will keep your system as flexible as possible, ready to capture opportunities when they arise and enable you to better support the needs of today’s workforce.

LEVERAGE Towner

Towner makes it easy for you to think strategically about how best to leverage your communications solutions.

Our warranty programs are build to keep your current and relevant. Through our ongoing system evaluations and health checks, we always know where you stand if you hold a warranty with us.

Then when it truly is time to move to the cloud, our team as well as your team know what features and functionality are needed to make the transition as smooth and cost effective as possible