New System Hang-Ups

“You need to have conversations with all functions affected by the change, not just those in the IT group, about how their daily work or responsibilities may change as a result of the new technology,” Beesley says. Demonstrating how new features or functions will boost productivity and make employees’ work easier can also win converts. When call-center representatives see that a VOIP system’s “screen pops” allow them to pull up customer account information during incoming calls, for example, they can see the new technology in a more positive light.

Hansen of N’compass says it’s also essential that executives are sold not only on the business benefits of new telecom technologies but on their ease of use, too. “If there’s even one influential executive who doesn’t like the way he or she has to access voice or e-mail with the new system, it can put a damper on the whole project,” he says.

Don’t Overlook Training

There’s a tendency to think that people will just pick up what they need to know about the new technology’s features by thumbing through a manual. But Paul Thibeau, a former marketing communications consultant with Organizational Concepts International, a Minneapolis business consulting firm, observes that “the person controlling the purse strings isn’t the one who has to sit at the receptionist’s console or in the call center.”

Not everyone learns best with a manual, says Thibeau, so it’s important to ask manufacturers, carriers or agents what other training resources are available for employees. While classes can help, information delivered just once usually has little staying power. Web sites with comprehensive FAQs, on-the-job aids, such as laminated checklists or “how to” process steps, and online training modules can help people access instruction at the moment of learning need.

“What happens more than companies care to admit is they install a new telecommunications system and don’t end up fully using all of its capabilities or features because of training issues,” Thibeau says. “So the question becomes, ‘Why give people these enhanced phones or data devices if they will never be taught how to use them?’”