Muscle cars and Business Phone Systems

When you think of muscle cars you could not possibly draw parallels between the aerodynamic marvels of engineering that travel 200 MPH and business communications....can you?

I am here to tell you YES YOU CAN! And I wll even take it a step further and tell you how. 

When trying to think of any similarities between muscle cars and Business Phone Systems, as I often do, you have to start with their technological evolution. 

We have seen dramatic changes in technology over the last thirty years in both the auto and communications industries. The changes are what we call impact changes in that they dramatically affect the users of said products daily lives.

The 10,000 FT View....

Technological advancement is based on the need for greater efficiency. If you apply this to both industries, the similarities start popping. Take fuel efficiency for example. Gas is expensive, and the harder we drove the more we spent. Engineers saw this efficiency gap and filled it with fuel efficient engines or even electric cars.

When looking at how fast and far reaching business has become. You do not have to be a Fortune 500 company to do business nationwide or internationally, you just need the cost effective efficiency tools to get it done.

Enter the Cloud and Hosted VoIP. If we were communicating the same way we did 30 years ago, our cost to do business the way we do today would be astronomical and debilitating. Now, we can actually have Anywhere Access to clients and colleagues without the enterprise telecom budget. In fact, I would go so far as to say VoIP has supported the Small to Medium business and much of that market’s success can be attributed to VoIP.

One thing I loved growing up was cars. My father was the owner of a Sunoco service station and I spent much of my childhood around cars. In the old days my Dad could literally listen to an engine and tell you what the problem was, it was quite amazing but he had been an auto mechanic since age 17 and he had seen and heard it all or so we thought. 

Technology in the auto industry changed rapidly, my Dad was not a fan.

It was getting increasingly difficult for him and his staff of mechanics to diagnose problems with newer vehicles. During this time they would resort to the vehicle manuals to look at engine diagrams so they could understand what was going on. Prior to having to the availability of a diagram, the map or guide was in their head. Of course they had training on the new technology but the tools to diagnose issues were scarce and expensive at the time. Most auto makers were making it difficult for independent shop owners to diagnose issues due to complex and at times unreliable electronics not to mention flaws in the new engine designs.

The Model T of Phone Systems: Centrex

The communications industry was no different. The original phone system was Centrex which was an analog line plugged into a telephone receiving features from the Central Office switch similar concept to Hosted VoIP but Centrex was very basic and not feature rich.

Although the Business Phone System did not offer much in terms of features, we were baby stepping our way to telecommunications creating actual efficiencies. Now businesses could receive multiple calls on one phone, and with the touch of a button, the calls could be answered, transferred and put on hold. Don’t laugh, it was huge at the time.

FUN FACT:

Did you know that the Muscle car got its name from massive V8 engines, racing stripes, big tires and dual exhaust, they were awesome? If you did not, well now you do.

They were designed for speed and guzzled gas.

So what killed the muscle car?

Well most likely the price of fuel skyrocketing, emissions controls and innovation. As the design of cars became more aerodynamic, engines became more fuel efficient which raised safety and emissions concerns. Auto makers started making smaller, faster and more efficient engines. The change was so rapid that the technology was outpacing the mechanics who were working on the cars.

The communications industry evolved in a similar way. Phone systems evolved from analog to digital and more features and buttons were added to phones. There became a need for trained technicians to install and support these systems.

For close to twenty years the technology stayed the same.

It wasn't until the year 2000 that we saw a dramatic shift in communications technology. The legacy analog and digital technology was slowly moving to IP technology. Companies started to implement IP phones on the network and connecting locations over the wide area network (WAN).

This was both good and bad as there were very few telephone technicians that understood IP technology or companies who thoroughly understood the technology and how to support it. Much of the initial             VoIP movement fell on the IT person or department and not the telephone tech (very similar to the auto industry…get it…the mechanics were like the field techs).

As communications technology progressed through innovation there became more of a need for cross trained and skilled technicians or engineers who understood both the voice and data network. In the mid 2000's there was a strategic inflection point in the industry and hosted or cloud communications started to become a viable option for businesses. Although hosted technology wasn't really a new concept it appeared to be. In reality the first hosted phone system was Centrex, which was that bland service discussed earlier, interesting right?

Be that as it may, It was difficult for business owners and IT departments to really consider hosted communications as an option. They were moving into unknown territory.

The challenge was to educate the customer on hosted and cloud communications. There was skepticism but it was uncovered that once a customer moved to a managed hosted environment they were happy and they no longer had to pay for costly upgrades or maintenance. Hosted communications allowed customers to centralize reception, connect offices and remote workers easily with a minimal capital investment.

Thanks Mr. Jobs

Let's get to the conclusion here.

Muscle Caqrs and Business Phone Systems (Like all things in life) share this simple equation....

Skepticism turns into acceptance equaling Efficiency, Efficiency, and more Efficiency.

Now we just need flying cars to happen and then I really have something to blog about!

If you read this blog because you are an auto enthusiast, well I am sorry to say that the ride ends for you here.

If you read this blog because you have a thirst for all things VoIP, well I am happy to say we can help at least try to quench that thirst.

Start by taking a look at our whitepaper....

Does Your Phone System Drive Revenue?