So you’re looking for a new phone system for your Care Home? There can be an overwhelming number of options when deciding what phone system to install, so we’ve highlighted some of the main points to look for when researching the best telecom system for your care home. Although most of these tips will be transferable to other industries, we’ve focused on Care homes because we have vast experience when it comes to installing new systems, we’ve heard first hand what care providers look for in a phone system and which features offer the most benefits specifically for their use cases.
If you’re looking for a new care home phone system, it may be because you’re facing one of these problems with your current phone system:
– Cordless phones drop-out or crackle in certain parts of the building.
– Your line(s) are constantly engaged because you’re often speaking on the phone.
– You feel that enquiries into your home may not always be dealt with in the best way.
If so, your situation isn’t hopeless; Yo Telecom has helped over 400 Care Homes overcome these challenges. In this concise article, we’ll outline (in a very simple manner) the differences between Care Home Phone Systems that are available.
What is the Best Phone System for Care Homes?
There are three main types of telephone systems available:
– Digital phone systems
– Internet phone systems (VOIP – Voice Over Internet Protocol)
– Hybrid phone systems (the best of both worlds)
I’ll briefly introduce the three, and give you some benefits and disadvantages.|
Digital Phone Systems for Care Homes
A digital phone system is a physical telephone system, which would be located somewhere in your Care Home. They are small boxes which are 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.
One benefit of a digital phone system is its reliability. This system ranks #2 out of the three for reliability.
One disadvantage of a digital phone system is that it is restricted to physical phone lines (digital or analogue phone lines). Which means it’s not that future-proof, and will be affected by the BT Switch off.
Internet (VOIP) Phones for Care
An internet or VOIP phone system is a virtual phone system, which unlike a digital or hybrid system will not be located in your care home. Instead, it will be located in a data centre somewhere in the world.
One benefit of VOIP systems is that they can save money on call charges.
One disadvantage of VOIP systems is that if your internet goes down, you will not be able to use your phones – at all. However, Yo Telecom can counteract this with our 4G backup which enables your VoIP phones to continue working, even when your internet goes down.
Hybrid Phone Systems for Care Homes
The hybrid system is a mixture of a digital phone system and an internet (VOIP) phone system. The system will be located in your care home and offers flexibility with your choice of cordless and fixed handsets.
One benefit of a Hybrid phone system is that they offer more reliability than both VOIP and Digital phone systems. If one type of line fails for you, it can automatically route calls in and out from a backup line.
Hybrid phone systems don’t really have any disadvantages… They are truly the best of both worlds!
The Hybrid Phone System is the Best Phone System for Care Homes
As well as being the most reliable phone system you can buy, Hybrid Phone systems also offer a range of other useful features for Care Homes listed here:
100% Guaranteed Cordless Phone Coverage
Guaranteed cordless coverage, in your entire Care Home. Your staff and residents will be able to talk on your new cordless phones from any part of your building. You may need to make an emergency call from a resident’s room, or take the phone to a resident so they can speak to a loved one, with the Yo Telecom Hybrid Phone System you can do that, with confidence you won’t have drop-outs or crackling on the line.
Call Logging
Never let an unanswered call turn into a missed opportunity, bad impression, or an upset family member again. You may miss calls when you’re busy on the phone, or helping residents, but with the Yo Telecom Hybrid Phone System, you can easily WOW your callers by returning your missed calls, so they don’t turn into missed opportunities or upset families.
Call Recording
Make calling your Care Home a positive experience, always. Improve and monitor the way your staff speak to prospective callers, doctors, and friends & families. If a caller has a bad experience, it can be damaging to your reputation and lead to a loss of revenue.
By listening back to calls, one of our Care Home managers saved thousands in missed opportunities by discovering a staff member was turning down enquiries saying “Sorry, no vacancies” when they had four vacancies!
With Yo Telecom’s Call Recording you can listen to any call that has been made or received, and use it to guide and help staff to improve. It also comes in handy if you ever need to re-listen to advice from doctors.
Call Transfer
Help callers speak to the person they need to, fast. There’s no need to run around the Care Home to pass the phone to someone, with the Yo Telecom Hybrid Phone System it’s one simple touch of a button to transfer a call to any other handset (cordless or fixed handset). And, you can even transfer calls to an outside phone line or mobile if you ever need to – such as a director or managers mobile.
On Hold Marketing (or Music)
Make waiting on hold enjoyable & entertaining, or informative & interesting, or a mixture of the two – your choice depending on what your goals are. Some Care Homes like to entertain callers with iconic music like Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, while other Care Homes prefer to inform callers with unique selling points of the care home or upcoming family BBQ’s. Either way, we’ll source the music, or create you a professionally recorded and personalised on hold marketing message, with some soft music in the background to add to the experience.
Smart Inbound Call Routing
Impress your callers with fast service by smartly sending inbound calls to a phone, or a group of phones. If the person who usually answers calls is already busy on the phone or doesn’t answer quickly enough, the call will automatically be sent through to another phone, or group of phones. Saving your callers time, and keeping them happy.
What do Care Homes Say About Yo Telecom Hybrid Phone Systems?
Hampton Care
Nellsar Care Group
Landermeads Care Home
Questions?
If you’d like to know more how Yo Telecom can help improve your care home communications, please call us on 02382 146115, complete the short form below, or email [email protected]!
