Enjoy the comfort and extreme mobility that comes with use of a corded or cordless headset with your office telephone! Read More→
Enjoy the comfort and extreme mobility that comes with use of a corded or cordless headset with your office telephone! Read More→
In my 30 + years in the telecommunication industry, one problem I have seen consistently are issues where the end of a phone call might be interpreted not as a drop, but as a deliberate act with one party becoming offended.
So let’s take a look at the causes and some solutions.
By and large the most common cause of dropped calls that my company has seen are due to problems with older phone systems that still are using copper phone lines or similar. Such problems existed in 1919 and still do in 2019. In recent years problems with calls originating to or coming from cell phones have increasingly been contributing to problems with dropped calls.
One of the ironies of the dramatic improvement in cell phone service quality is that since one can rarely tell when another party is on cell phone or a landline or VOIP line resulting landline or VOIP carriers getting the blame for dropped calls that are in fact caused by cell phones. The slight upside to this is that folks these days are less likely to assume an abrupt end to a call is a deliberate act on the part of the caller.
Other causes of dropped calls include:
a) electrical power problems.
b) internet carrier or related IT problems.
c) user error, in which case it becomes an “accidental or deliberate disconnect” and not a dropped call.
d) on older non VOIP systems component issues.
e) user issues often related to persons new to the phone system.
On VOIP systems however.., the problems most times are not due to phone carrier carrier or issues or the equipment but one of 4 things;
The best way to avoid dropped calls is through the use of the modern business telephone system.
On older phone systems, if a component is about to go bad dropped calls would be one of the problems one could experience. If it is not a problem with the systems components things that will cause a call to drop on a modern “land-line” system include a loss of electrical power and carrier issues. Switching to a VOIP system improves greatly the chances of this not occurring – but does not eliminate completely the potential for this problem to occur
If over a period of several months you continue to experience dropped calls on a regular basis, consider changing local phone or internet service carriers. Most often however today’s carriers are very good at identifying and fixing these issues. As bothersome as these things are be patient with your phone or internet carrier since it may take several reported incidents before they can clearly identify and get a handle why this is happening.
If ongoing issues with dropped call is getting especially frustrating – hang in there! A solution can almost always be found! In the meantime consider taking a break and firing up a Jimmy Buffett tune on your computer or smartphone until things finally get resolved!
Problems with dropped calls have been around the since the days of Alexander Bell. As good as our modern communications infrastructure is, I don’t expect them to go away anytime soon. Take the advice I’ve given you here, and you’ll find the problem to be less pervasive, and frustrating.
Many business owners have a love-hate relationship with the vendors and suppliers their company relies on to keep things running smoothly – count me as one of them.
On one hand, when I need one of these companies I want to them to:
On the other hand when I feel I don’t need them, I really would rather not hear from them. Except, I also understand that many times while I may not feel I need to speak to them, they may have information that is in my company’s best interest to know about.
So as busy as we all are, here are several effective methods for managing unsolicited calls from vendors/suppliers in a way that keeps you properly informed while not becoming a drag on your time:
I am also big on having a proactive relationship with my vendors and suppliers, which helps my company keep costs down while taking preventive measures to avoid major problems and expenses.
Bottom line: The relationship between a company and its vendors is a bit of a dance, but when it works well everyone is happy; when it doesn’t work well, everyone loses.
What are your thoughts on this subject? Do you have tips, suggestions and comments to add? If so, I would love to hear from you.