noMoving towards remote or mobile working can be daunting, and finding ways to save money is crucial. Reducing your charity’s telecom spend shouldn’t be difficult and will ultimately help you achieve specific goals.
What are you spending now?
Future planning is important for your organisation. However, it would help if you weighed up what you’re spending now to plan for the future. It’s important to add up all overheads and costs of supporting your workforce, including training and maintenance expenses.
Understand your bills
What’s the process you undertake when your Charity’s telecom invoice arrives? Does it get a stamp and sent over to accounts? Or is it collected from your bank account without any further thought?
- Check your invoice for any ‘value-adding’ additional services that you may be billed for, for example, 1571 services, voicemail etc.
- Analyse each department and identify which ones are heavy users and ramping up call costs. There are ways in which this can be significantly reduced.
If your bills aren’t clear and you are unsure what they mean, speak to your provider or schedule a meeting with one of our charity consultants.
Seek advice
Once you have recognised that you may be paying too much for your charity’s telecoms bill, you should look to do something about it. If you have an in-house specialist, scope your requirements and draw up a list. If not, our charity consultants can help identify your requirements and draw up the most cost-effective solution for you.
Identify your requirements
This is the important bit of what you need to do. It’s important to identify what you need within your organisation to meet your current demands and the future’s scalability in priority order. Consulting with all departments will ensure your list of requirements is accurate and scalable so you can find the best possible, cost-effective solution.
Look what’s on offer
Even if you’re in a contract with a supplier, it’s important to ensure you know what’s on offer. Speak with your current supplier and others to ensure you get the best deals. We have a team of dedicated charity consultants on hand to meet with you and discuss the most cost-effective solutions for your organisation. Vs Group’s Charity Connect can significantly save your organisation money with free local, national, and mobile calls. Included is a full telephone system with scalability and functionality, operating a simple plug ‘n’ go solution.
Check your telecom contract
Ensure you check the small print of your charity’s telecoms contract before committing to new and/or cancelling any services. Most termination fees are built into a contract and usually make you pay to understand the dates and timeline penalties. Checking the small print can give you details about what happens to the equipment, which is crucial as replacing handsets can be expensive.
Make it easy for yourself
Streamlining your broadband, mobiles, telephones, lines, calls, photocopiers, fax lines and everything in between can save you money and time by reducing how many suppliers you deal with. Not only making things easier for you, but it will give you an upper hand when negotiating new contracts and save time when you need to contact the customer service department. Having all of your telecommunications with one supplier can also make rectifying a fault easier.
Embrace new technology
Trusted telecom providers will always consult with you on the latest developments in technology and what they mean for your organisation with potential cost savings and efficiencies. The telecommunications industry thrives on new technology, and there’s always something introduced, driving down costs for your organisation.
What’s the cost of maintaining your telephone system?
As with any maintenance contract, the older the system and the type determine what you pay. Having an older telephone system could mean that parts or engineering resource are difficult to attain. Therefore upgrading your charity’s telecoms to the latest software could reduce your costs in the short and long term.
Talk to your supplier and be honest
Talking to your supplier and consolidating your telecoms can save you a whole lot of time and hassle, as well as money. Switching to a hosted system will not only allow your organisation to embrace new technology, but it can also drive down the organisations operating costs.
Consolidating your telecommunications means clearer and concise billing and our consultants are ready to take you through the steps you need to take to start making savings, get your bespoke quote today.
