If your business runs a medium to large sized office then there are a few essentials that we think you should have. From basic and obvious necessities to luxury facilities that you might want to give your employees access to.
The list below details these options ranging from basics you need to luxuries you might afford.
A Business Call Handling System
Even in today’s modern world of computer use, the telephone is still the primary means of communication in the world of business. If you do not yet have a full business call handling system then you should definitely give it a fair amount of thought.
To decide with business phone system is best for you, make a list of the features that your business needs. For your convenience I have compiled some of the common features for you below.
- A welcome menu – “press 1 for accounts, 2 for sales etc..”
- Customisable greetings – “Hello and welcome to ‘company name’”
- Transfer & hold – the ability to transfer between phone extensions and put customers on hold.
- Hold music or recording – you might like to be able to play music or a recording to the people you have on hold, this is a good chance to market your other services.
- Call Forwarding – an out of hours service might be ideal for you to still receive calls when the office is closed.
- Call Recording – recording calls can be great for future training use and also for any cases of verbal abuse received over the phone.
- Distribution of calls – If you have a large team of customer service representatives then you might like the option of distributing calls between them when a couple are engaged on a current call.
Those are just the basics and for a full list of features that are available click here.
PCs and Software Programs
Computers and some select software programs can be very costly, especially for the specifications your business might need, however, you now need access to computers and software in virtually any industry.
Software like Microsoft Office is essential for the creation of text documents and spreadsheets for any office but some may require programs from the Adobe suite for image design or alteration.
The software you require will depend largely on the industry your business is in and the kind of work you do.
A Shredder
Any information received by your business then becomes your responsibility, whether that is the personal information of an employee, a client or some other kind of confidential document.
If something like a client list for example is to find its way into the wrong hands then your business could be devastated by others looking to shark your clients. To remove the threat of this information becoming a problem you should purchase a shredder.
A Water Cooler & Boiler
Placing one or more water coolers or boilers in your office can save your company plenty of money through time! Coffee and tea are among the most popular beverages in most offices and the time taken for employees to make their way to a kitchen, boil a kettle and make a coffee or tea adds up.
Instead you might consider hiring a water boiling system in your office to ensure that your employees have to only walk to the system and push a button to get some boiled water instantly.
Showers
Many businesses nowadays are trying to encourage green schemes with their employees, however, no one wants to cycle into work and stew in their own juices for the first hour. Having access to shower facilities will encourage your employees to exercise in their lunch hours, this will adversely increase productivity as exercise stimulates your workers.
Storage Lockers
Lockers can be a great help for your employees, whether they want to store some running shoes, personal documents that they might need or their jacket on a warm day.
More of an essential for larger offices these storage systems will give your employees the means to store personals and valuables. They will also give your business a facility to fall back on, should anyone’s items be misplaced or assumed stolen then you can say “well we do provide lockers that you can store your items in” if the question of claims comes up.
Featured images:
License: Royalty Free or iStock
source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1356757
This article was written for us by Thomas James, a specialist in business development and law.