Think of the term “lockdown”, and consider the businesses impacted by the absence of in-person environments. What springs to mind? Hospitality, cinemas, enterprise or production? What about agencies and dealerships, restaurants or gyms? In reality, the majority of businesses were drastically impacted, yet one rarely thinks of call-centres, customer care lines or even businesses requiring a connected, tangible database.

It’s generally assumed that because an organisation doesn’t outwardly require manual labour, it’s been business as usual from day one. What people don’t factor in, however, are the intricacies behind this transition, nor how a brand previously reliant on human energy, body language, monitoring and tracing can go from a physical space to a remote environment without compromising on productivity and accountability.

How does one monitor technician’s efficiency when you can’t oversee their use of time in person? How do we track our team on-the-clock when all work is suddenly behind a screen?

Well, prior to lockdown, employees were assigned a desk and connected to a hard server wherein progress could be monitored, body language read, calls overheard or, if required, taken over. Employers could determine who was working at what effort level or who required training with a single glance. This changed, for obvious reasons, yet the extent to which PBX capabilities eased this is still unknown to many.

Any professional organisation relies on metrics such as performance, accountability, measurability and statistics, and requires solutions that makes this info traceable and easy to access. Enter PBX, who have radically transformed the concept of what process and procedure entails.

Firstly, PBX allows for seamless transition from on-site premises to remote ones while eliminating the need for conventional hard servers and desk phones. A simple routing transition is all it takes to adjust the required settings, and calls can be directed to the consultant’s line via the relevant software. Through this, said calls can be monitored, recorded and later assessed, with reports stored for up to 10 years. It doesn’t stop there, as these assessment metrics are as in-depth and comprehensive as any on the market.

The data tracking capabilities allow an employer to unpack your information down to the exact reasoning calls are abandoned. You can monitor the duration of time between an incoming connection and human response, redirect calls to the relevant department (no need for a secretary to answer the hotline), plan shifts according to busy time periods and assess staff productivity up to the frequency and duration of breaks. It offers total business intelligence in that you’re provided with complete transparency as both an employer and service provider.

This isn’t a small-scale phone line for office-to-office calls either- some of our clients process in over 7000 calls a day from the comfort of their own homes. Business productivity is at an all-time high yet call rates are not exponential- in fact, many prefer the benefits of PBX solutions as the reduced office rental actually enhance their bottom line.

You can track all your data live and, at any given time, have an indication of who’s doing what, how many calls are in progress, who’s on hold and how long they’re waiting for. Listen, step in altogether, monitor the data to establish who needs training or make sure your employees are maximizing your ROI- it’s up to you.

Modern problems do require modern solutions, and the developments of PBX have redefined what a modern solution entails. To many, PBX is just for call centres, but the reality is that it’s host of accountability and tracking options make it applicable to a wealth of high end organisations seeking to adapt to a difficult work from home climate.

It’s not just about making and answering calls- PBX is in equal parts an accountability metric, productivity measurability tool and customer experience enhancer. We know that adjusting to the new, dynamic and remote world can be difficult, but with the right service and the right provider, it doesn’t have to be impossible.