The demands of putting up a business today and keeping it going happen to be the crucial challenges any new business owner must face before eventually becoming successful with it. There are business schools that might teach you how to start one and keep it going. You might have opted to get your business education by being hands-on as an employee. Your exposure to the retail trade and the experience you have dealing with various sorts of customers and business contacts are also pivotal aspects of your credentials.

However, no matter how much you already know and how much experienced you might also be, efficiently running a business still requires the enterprising owner to be aware of the technology necessary to make business viable, competitive, profitable and eventually grow. As it is with any endeavor, the technological aspect of business begins with the most basic of tools to make companies matter in any industry. A quick look at the items below point out the basic tech must-haves you need for your business to be able to keep it running efficiently and profitably.

• A business broadband connection. An online phone system that makes business VoIP(Click here) available to all areas of your company’s operations turns it into a professionally run business. Customers are the very first to experience this as they make calls that become professionally handled by the auto-receptionist feature. It could either be a local number call or a toll free call, depending on how your service plan goes, customers and your sales people could ably connect to make your business telecom do what it is supposed to do at a price you can pretty well afford. The same applies with the online tech necessary for work processes to happen smoothly. It is unthinkable for businesses today to be able to function or matter at all without being connected to the Internet. The stronger the broadband connection, the better.

• Mobile broadband compatible systems. A phone system that compatibly runs with mobile devices with regards to VoIP and all its other functionalities is a must-have for companies. Employees that are either workstation-bound or road bound mobile agents usually prefer to use their own mobile devices like smartphones and tablets to accomplish paperwork, do correspondence, or collaborate with coworkers via efficient telecommuting. Apps for business productivity, retail and cloud storage make professional work easier to accomplish and life better for business owners, employees and businesses.

• Instant messaging tools. Online tech tools that allow information and correspondence to take place rapidly and instantaneously matter to a company that places a high value on immediate customer response. This makes the transfer of important info move at a pace that’s urgently cognizant of the value of time. Call handling systems that allow call forwarding to happen automatically are also just as important to have for companies.

• An IT department. How well your people connect with each other online to perform daily tasks and collaborate efficiently; and how well your sales people connect with customers online to consummate transactions or possibly follow sales leads — depend so much on the high degree of efficiency and creativity of IT departments in companies. IT systems that run a company’s information and communication systems and maintain their security and reliability ultimately chart a business’ industrial future. How well or badly IT teams configure telecom systems and computer networks in companies reflect how well or badly they perform.

• Telecom analytics. Customer calls and inquiries done online via toll free numbers or virtual retail apps need to be analyzed and measured properly by design thinkers an strategists in companies. Marketers need to acquire genuine market information from consumers so that they could come up with info capital to furnish innovators and inventors in a company’s creative circles. This is the only way customer intimacy could be established and used strategically.