How Business Has Been Transformed By Phones

Although history has recorded that the first patent for the telephone was granted in 1876 to Alexander Graham Bell, it is also a matter of public record that several people were working on the same principles at around the same time, necessity being the mother of invention and contemporary technology its father, and so we can say with some certainty that the telephone was and is the product of several industrious and enterprising minds.

Our species has had the benefit of telephones in one form or another since the late nineteenth century, and it is difficult to visualize life without it. Today’s incarnation of the phone is so much more than the simple ability to communicate the spoken word; that basic function has been surpassed beyond the understanding of anyone who lived in the late 1800s. Nowadays we are able to conference call anyone in the world who has a similar device and communicate not only in speech but with text and video, all without any seeming physical connection.

Such is the progress of our technology that we now use the phone as much more than just a tool for communicating with. So here are some of the many ways in which phones and the telecoms industry in general has transformed the way business is conducted.

Fast and Instant Communication

Before the use of the telephone, the only way in which people could communicate with each other was by letter. If people were separated by large distances, or if they lived in different countries, it would take a very long time for letters to reach them, together with a correspondingly long time for the reply to reach the original sender. The introduction of the telephone wiped out this time gap instantly, as the two parties were now able to communicate with each other instantaneously. This made doing business far easier and quicker, as decisions could be made in seconds rather than months, leading to fantastic growth in business and the economy. Business owners and managers were able to also communicate directly with anyone in their own company at times when that communication was vital.

Total Connectivity

Business owners were, with the facility of telephones, able to communicate with all aspects of their business instantly; they could speak to their warehouse managers, their accountants, their stock controllers, their production managers and their bank, all in the same hour. A similar benefit was enabled between the business owner and their clients, to the prosperity of both parties.

Everyone in the business was now available to handle any eventuality and to deal with it there and then. This easy communication is now something that we take for granted today, as business phone services enable business owners to access all aspects of their organisation very easily.

New Methods of Interaction

Before the advent of the phone there were only two basic methods of interaction between people, and these were talking face to face and the sending of letters to each other. Telephones provided an added and completely new method of communication and interaction, and the new invention found its way into new ways of interacting directly with consumers by way of advertising. Then, with the advent of television and the consumption of TV sets in large numbers of homes, direct sales became possible via phone numbers being shown with products on TV advertising campaigns. Although advertising campaigns have always been mainly about branding, there was also the possibility of direct phone sales tied to TV audiences at home.

Fuller Customer Connectivity

This new method of communication carried with it the possibility of connecting with customers in real-time. After seeing the phone number on their TV sets, people were able to speak directly with agents who had been trained in both sales and customer support to either make a purchase or to resolve any other issues. Phone landlines were now enabled solely for the purposes of customer service and sales. There was now possible a permanent connection between a company and its customers, so that the value of a new customer would now become the hugely increased value of a lifetime customer because of the direct phone line’s ability to foster customer loyalty.

In Conclusion

Phones have made an incalculable change and improvement in the way that business is conducted, and the technology continues to enhance the way that business is able to move forward swiftly and with confidence.