Moving Office Phone Systems

Whether your business is moving office or your expanding into new premises, moving office phone systems is a major project. Try to determine a time frame and moving schedule and set a date when you want your move to be completed. A smooth commercial move relies heavily on planning so start planning your telecommunications move at least twelve weeks before your move date and that way any hiccups that may arise can be sorted out ahead of your moving day.

As a general rule, we would recommend considering your options for telephone lines and Internet connectivity at your new office at least 8 weeks before your planned move date. This way we can make all the relevant checks, explain options and costs, make decisions on which services to order and manage them in a timely way, whilst at the same time handling all required surveys well in advance and pushing back delivery dates to fit with your move dates.

It’s not uncommon for expected installation dates to run past their normal recommended lead times for telephone lines, especially if any unforeseen snags appear, such as additional equipment is needed in the local exchange, the telephone network requires additional cabling or more cabling is required to your new site.

Chose a senior member of your team, this might be yourself, to be responsible for your move and making sure tasks are coordinated. If your business has different departments, you should also include a representative from each major department and hold regular meetings with the everyone involved so they have a clear insight to where the move is up to and that each of the tasks gets completed on time and you’re running on schedule.

If your business is relocating premises then it’s crucial that you know the best Internet connection you can have at the planned new site. It is very important how fast and cost-effective your business Internet connection is, you don’t want to move into your new office only to find the Internet connection is slower than it was at your last office. It’s vital that you make all the necessary checks before you sign any lease or committing to a new site for certain.

If you provide us with the full postal address for your new site, we can do this for you by carrying out checks in the local exchange to establish which Internet service providers can provide Internet service to your new site and which of these offers the fastest, most cost-effective and reliable service available.

You can visit our Internet services page for more details.

It is also worth remembering that Internet service can take a while to get going and you wouldn’t want to be left without such a critical element of your business, so it is crucial that you plan this well in advance to avoid disappointment.

Your IT and Telecommunications can be one of the most challenging and complex parts of moving office phone systems, and when this is combined with a technology infrastructure upgrade, the issues can be greatly increased. You need to consider things such as how IT and office phone systems will be disconnected, relocated and installed at the new location.

Can your business be without critical IT systems like e-mail or line-of-business applications? It’s important to make alternative plans now or perhaps schedule the move to be out of office hours. Weekends are often a good time to move as you won’t have to deal with clients whilst the move is going ahead.

If you are installing new systems at your new site then a smooth transition during working hours should be possible. Your new office systems can be up and running in advance of your move and any issues with calls to your existing telephone numbers can usually be managed through your telephone line providers diverting calls to ensure a continuation of service for all.

Decide who will physically move the equipment — movers who specialise in IT relocation, or internal staff? Once equipment and service have arrived at the new location, who will put them in place and connect them, and how will they be tested to be sure all technology is operational?

There are many things that can go wrong whilst moving office, but there are steps you can take to minimise the potential impact of a disaster – and ideally prevent it happening in the first place.  This why we say, PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! A reliable Business Continuity Plan can save your business from unnecessary disruption and save you from a whole lot of stress in the meantime.

If you are retaining your current telephone numbers or reusing your current phone system at your new premises then some degree of downtime simply cannot be avoided and you may wish to have a contingency plan in place that allows for out of hours work to be planned around your move dates.

There is no getting away from the fact that your office move is going to cost you money but how much money, is down to how well your move is organised. Therefore, it’s important that you contemplate the implications of the move with regards to the costs involved and the extent of its impact on the day-to-day running of your business.

Sometimes it might seem like the cheapest option to take charge of the office relocation yourself but professional removal companies are there to help with your commercial move and will be able to provide you with expert advice and knowledge to enable a smoother transition. However, keep in mind that this will come at a price and this is something you need to factor into your budget.

Because we understand how important cutting costs can be for a business, especially in today’s economic climate when many companies are just trying to stay afloat. We will undergo a full review of your ongoing costs to make sure your business is not paying over the odds for your telecommunications products and services.

A poorly arranged office move can hit your business hard financially if the right considerations have not been made. It could affect your productivity and cause the business significant downtime from not having important services in place. Ultimately it could cost your business a lot of money. However, managed correctly, moving office phone systems could raise the corporate profile of your business, grow your client base, improve operational efficiency, retain and attract staff, identify potential cost savings and give the right first impression to your clients thus helping you to succeed in the long term.

Using traditional telephone lines, it is not always possible to retain your current valuable published telephone numbers for your new premises dependent upon how far you are moving. If you can provide us with your current telephone numbers and the full postal address for your new office, we can check this for you quickly and confirm what options you have.

If you can’t take your telephone numbers with you then you have three options to consider: –

1. You could retain your current number on a constant divert to your new numbers and slowly migrate over onto your new number whilst still receiving all the calls from your old number on a divert. This can prove expensive however longer term as you will pay a pence per minute rate to receive every incoming phone call that is diverted and generally speaking, people are lazy, if they can still get you on the old number, they won’t start using the new one.
2. You could place an announcement on your current main telephone number stating, “the number has now changed, please redial the new number which is xxxx xxxxxx”. This can usually be taken out on a 3-month rolling contract with a fixed monthly cost in the region of £10 – £15 and can be switched off once you are happy everyone now has your new number instead. This is effective as people are educated that they need to call a different number for you and cost-effective too with no divert charges as detailed above in option one. The only downside is people have to redial another number to contact you.
3. Your final option would be to consider migrating your current phone number “into the cloud”.  This is an option we strongly advise you to consider as if you choose to do this, then your telephone calls to that number can be routed to you anywhere you have an Internet connection.

Tech Advance have a portfolio of experience when it comes to businesses moving office phone systems. We can manage the whole process for you, ensuring a seamless transition between locations with minimum disruption of service or loss of productivity. We make sure that your office phone systems, IT equipment and servers are all fully operational from day one.

We have skilled and experienced people with the knowledge and expertise to guide you through your move; ensuring every last detail is covered and provide you with useful tips and advice so you can hit the ground running as soon as you relocate.

Whatever the size of your office move, be it a large scale relocation or an expansion at your current site, Tech Advance can provide you with a moving plan that will oversee the management of your entire business communications infrastructure. We will advise you on what technologies will help improve business efficiency, find a suitable network infrastructure that best meets your requirements in the new office, make changes with minimum downtime and disruption, keeps within budget and guarantee that all systems are ready-to-go on the first morning in your new office.