Why I Will Never Use A Desktop Phone Again

How Integrating Our VOIP Phone System With Microsoft Teams Made Communication Easier For Me
I hate having to hold a phone to my ear, and while not everyone feels that way, I know I’m not the only one! Since online meetings have become commonplace over the last year and a half, having to switch from the ease of using my PC headset (allowing me to type notes and easily pull up whatever I need to on the computer related to my conversation) to picking up the phone was just annoying. While I could use the app on my cell phone to make and receive calls, that required me to use a Bluetooth headset to be hands-free. However, that introduced the issue that when my headset batteries were running low (unbeknownst to me), my voice started to become choppy to those on the other line. I would also have to switch headsets between my online meetings and phone calls. Even if I tried to get a headset connected to my phone and my PC simultaneously, I still would have the battery issue.

Fortunately, our engineers were piloting a system to integrate Microsoft Teams with our phone system. They took a couple of weeks out of their schedules to get this past a beta stage, and I’m impressed with the product. I’m in Microsoft Teams all day, so it made sense to use it as my primary means of communication. I now use my USB-connected headset for both online meetings and my phone calls throughout the day. No more switching headsets, no more battery issues, no more having to hold a phone.

Since May, I have not used my desktop phone, and I don’t think I ever will again. If you are like me and are ready to leave your desktop phone behind, contact us to schedule a review of your business phone system and see how to become more efficient (and save money too!)

Request a FREE Cost-Benefit Analysis For Your Phone System

The Recruitment Risks of Too Many Interviews

Employers today are struggling to find workers. Those that ask applicants to go through an unnecessarily lengthy and opaque process are likely to lose out on candidates who have plenty of alternatives. 

It’s a significant financial and operational commitment for a company to hire a new team member. Onboarding and training require considerable resources, not to mention the salary, benefits, and taxes involved in compensating the new hire. Operationally, new team members are often accountable not just to their boss but also to stakeholders in other departments by virtue of increasingly interconnected and collaborative offices.

So it’s understandable that employers might want to use an extensive interview process to thoroughly vet candidates before selecting one for an open position. But employers need to be careful not to drive applicants away with overly onerous interview processes, particularly in a job market in which applicants have considerable leverage.

Long Interview Processes Can Be a Big Turnoff

In an article for BBC Worklife, Mark Johanson presents the experience of a 49-year-old software engineer from Indiana named Mike Conley, who became so frustrated with a seemingly never-ending interview process that he ultimately pulled his application. In Conley’s case, the employer was unable—or perhaps unwilling—to even share whether a six-round follow-up to an already completed three-round interview process would be the final step in making a hiring decision.

According to Johanson, Conley’s experience is not unusual. “The internet is awash with similar stories jobseekers who’ve become frustrated with companies—particularly in the tech, finance and energy sectors—turning the interview process into a marathon,” he writes. With many jobseekers enjoying a large number of potential opportunities these days, they have the luxury of being selective and may be turned off from an interview process that seems unnecessarily burdensome and time-consuming.

Streamlining Your Interview Process

Insufficient vetting might result in your costly investment’s failing to deliver the desired results. But too much vetting might result in quality applicants’ opting out of the process altogether. So, what is an employer to do?

A couple of best practices might help strike the right balance for recruiters:

  • Be deliberate in arranging interviews. Recruiters should avoid adding additional interviews without first evaluating the need for each additional round. If an interviewee already has several rounds of interviews, resist the urge to add on others that might provide only marginal benefit.
  • Be transparent with interviewees. Recruiters shouldn’t keep applicants in the dark on the hiring process. If there are going to be six rounds of interviews, make that clear upfront. Applicants may decide they aren’t interested enough in the position to invest that much of their time. While this might mean some applicants drop out early, it’s better than wasting everyone’s time only to reach that same result later in the process.

The labor market, as with most markets, is cyclical. Sometimes employers have a great deal of leverage and are awash with candidates. In these cases, they can ask them to submit to extensive vetting. But this is not one of those times! Employers today are struggling to find workers. Those that ask applicants to go through an unnecessarily lengthy and opaque process are likely to lose out on candidates who have plenty of alternatives.

Shared Content, Author Lin Grensing-Pophal