A Watchdog report has found that throughout the entire social care sector, 23% of services were found to need improvement for safety. Often we see care facilities using out of date phone systems that are not fit for use anymore. This can be highly dangerous when emergency situations can happen at any moment and you may need to phone for help. It’s time to upgrade your phone system if you are suffering from any of the following problems:
- Cordless phone crackle or cut out completely in some areas of your building.
- You feel that enquiries into your care facility may not always be dealt with in the best way so you want to monitor and improve the way your staff are speaking with prospective residents and their families.
- You feel that frequent engaged tones are leading to frustrated callers and a loss in revenue.
If you answered yes, don’t worry! Yo Telecom has helped hundreds of care facilities to successfully overcome these issues and more.
What is the Best Phone System for Residential and Long Term Care Facilities?
There are three main types of phone systems available:
- Digital phone systems
- Internet (VOIP – Voice Over Internet Protocol) or cloud based phone systems
- Hybrid phone systems – the best of both worlds
Let’s go through each of the systems and discuss their strengths and weaknesses, so you can find the best phone system for your residential and long term care facility.
Digital Phone Systems for Residential and Long Term Care Facilities
A digital phone system is a traditional, physical, phone system that will be located somewhere in your care facility. It is a small box that is usually mounted on a wall or placed in a cabinet. They connect to your phone lines and all the handsets you have in your building. As they run through fixed lines, digital phone systems tend to be reliable. In fact, they rank number 2 out of the three in reliability. However, as they are restricted to these physical lines, it means they aren’t that future-proof.
Internet (VOIP) Phone Systems for Residential and Long Term Care Facilities
Internet phone systems, also known as a VOIP or cloud-based phone system, are very different to traditional digital phone systems. Instead of being located in your building, your phone system will be based in a data centre somewhere in the world and your calls will be routed in and out via the internet. A benefit of this is that it can save money on call charges. But, if your internet cuts out, or stops working for a period of time, you will not be able to use your phones at all.
Hybrid Phone Systems for Residential and Long Term Care Facilities
The hybrid phone system is the perfect mix of a digital and internet (VOIP) phone system. The system will be located in your care facility and offers you flexibility with your choice of fixed or cordless handsets. The main advantage of the hybrid phone system is that it can offer you more reliability than a digital or VOIP phone system. If one type of line fails for you, the phone system can automatically route calls in and out through a backup line. Hybrid phone systems don’t really have any disadvantages – they really are the best of both worlds.
The Hybrid Phone System is the Best Phone System for Residential and Long Term Care Facilities
As well as being the most reliable phone system you can buy, hybrid phone systems also offer a range of other useful features for residential and long term care facilities. You can find these listed below:
+ 100% Guaranteed Cordless Phone Coverage
Yo Telecom can offer you cordless coverage throughout your entire building! Your staff will be able to walk around, while carrying a cordless phone, with confidence that they will be able to make a or receive a call from wherever they are. You may need to make an emergency call or take the phone to a resident so they can speak to a loved one. The Yo Telecom phone system makes this simple and easy and without dropouts or crackling.
+ Call Logging
Never let an unanswered call turn into a missed opportunity, bad impression or upset family member again. You’re bound to miss a few calls here and there when you’re busy on the phone or helping your residents. But these can soon all add up. Call Logging works exactly like the call log on your mobile phone, alerting you as soon as you receive a missed call so you can WOW your callers by returning their call. Not only does this show an excellent level of service but those callers who were wanting to enquire about using your services will be more likely to do so.
+ Call Recording
Monitor and improve the way your staff communicate with your callers. Whether it’s a prospective client, a doctor or a resident’s family member. If a caller has a bad experience on the phone with you, it can be damaging to your reputation. Call Recording works by recording all of your calls, both inbound and outbound, so you can listen to them whenever you need to. By listening to a few calls a week you can give guidance to your staff on where to improve. This feature can also come in handy if you need to re-listen to any information that was given to you over the phone – such as medical information from doctors.
+ Call Transfer
Help callers speak to the person they need to, fast! With Yo Telecom’s Call Transfer feature there’s no need to run around your care facility trying to pass the phone to another member of staff. It’s one easy touch of a button to transfer a call to any other handset (fixed or cordless). You can also transfer your calls to an outside line, such as a mobile phone. This is useful when you have a caller who urgently needs to speak to a specific carer or manager, but it is outside of their working hours.
+ Business Continuity
Business Continuity is a feature that will ensure communication can happen between you and your callers at all times. If your internet fails for you and your phone lines cut out, this feature allows backup lines to kick in so that you can always make calls.
+ Professional Voicemail
If you can’t answer a call because you’re busy on the line or taking care of residents, it’s important that your voicemail is informative and helpful. If not this could be causing your callers to become frustrated. Your callers will be looking to get their questions answered. So if you can’t take their call at that time, it’s important they know why their call can’t be taken and how else they can contact you. Knowing this will make them more likely to call back another time.
3 Step Plan to Increase the Success of Your Residential and Long Term Care Facility
1. Book a Demo
You can book in for a free demo of our Care Home phone systems by calling us on 02382 146115.
2. Sign up for the Option that Suits the Needs of Your Residential and Long Term Care Facility
One of our specialist consultants will come to your care facility and discuss all of your options, until we have found the perfect solution for you.
3. Let us Take Care of a Hassle Free Installation and Training
Your delivery and installation date will be booked on a day that suits you. We’ll take care of the whole switch over and will train you to make the most of all of the features on your new phone system.
