Hear that phone ringing?
No?
Well, brace yourself – pretty soon that’s certain to change.
The post-lockdown, slow return to the office for millions is about to begin in earnest; spelling the latest opportunity for the channel.
As businesses throw open the doors of their physical offices, predictions are that workforces will return to their moth-balled desks for at least three days a week.
As incongruous as it might seem, that means people sat in actual offices at actual desks.
And that means a likely revival for the desktop handset.
Hardware, it seems, is back in the game – and those most-ready to respond are sure to benefit big.
UK-based hosted telephony provider MyPhones are preparing to help businesses transition to a new, post-pandemic world where those physical offices – despite perhaps being less populated – are likely to resemble how they once looked (and sounded).
“Some people have feared for the death of the desktop phone, but I think that’s too simplistic a concept,” says MyPhones Sales Director Paul Gibbs.
“The functionality is still as relevant and as important as it’s always been, it’s just that we have all grown used to defaulting to our mobile devices.
“Many people returning to the office will love reconnecting with their old desk phone. The shape and weight of the handset will feel good; the buttons will feel good; and the functionality will feel familiar and dependable but at the same time new.
“There is a real, visceral physicality to using a desktop phone that is somehow missing when it comes to using a mobile device or communicating via a video call. People will discover how much they’ve missed that.”
Although the psychology is undoubtedly powerful, those all-important factors of functionality and user experience will, as always, be the dominant drivers.
But, there’s also a third, pandemic-related dynamic to add to the mix: choice.
“It’s definitely not a binary thing,” says Gibbs. “Because of the pandemic and the work from home situation, people have grown very used to mobiles, video collaboration tools, and headsets but they shouldn’t have to choose one over the other.
“When someone calls my landline, all of my devices ring and I choose which one to answer. Similarly, calling from a feature-rich desktop phone will often provide a better experience than doing so from a different device. Enabling organisations to offer their workforces that choice will be key”
Many organisations bringing their staff back to the office will look hard at their kit and assess its suitability.
Increased hot desking; workspace reconfiguration; office down-sizing, and in some cases complete relocation, will place pressure on existing hardware resource.
Additionally, headsets as well as desktop phones will need a thorough once over.
And here there is another critical imperative at play: compatibility.
The pandemic has caused an explosion in the use of video collaboration apps such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and others.
But many organisations’ existing headsets may not readily integrate with those platforms and will require upgrade or total replacement in order to provide the required flexibility and call quality to connect with the now-multiple devices out there.
“Businesses will need to take stock of their hardware and think about their new needs going forward,” says Gibbs.
“We’re already doing a lot of that thinking on their behalf so we’re in a great position to support our resellers as they help those end user customers make the right decisions.”
All of that said, the desktop phone is of course dead unless it is enabled by a smart hosted telephony platform.
Old school PBX functionality remains mission-critical to some organisations: no frills call parking, diverting and a smart night service function are still must-haves for many.
“The key nature of some of that functionality sometimes gets forgotten about in the move to the cloud,” says Gibbs. “Just like the revival of the desktop phone, it’s so important to get the blend right between the old and the new.
“Most importantly of all, we’re at last having the back-to-the-office conversation. And that means returning to normal is hopefully getting closer.”
Amen to that.
Now, can someone answer that darn phone..!
