KEY POINTS:
Investing in new communications technology can help businesses to reduce costs, and also ensure they are ahead of the competition when the market picks up, says Victoria Crone, Telecom's general manager of business.
This year Telecom has noticed a shift towards what it calls "light business" - there
is less infrastructure and more sharing of ideas and resources.
This is something Crone expects to see more of in 2009 as businesses look at streamlining by reducing unnecessary costs.
In November Telecom polled small and medium businesses on their outlook for 2009 and found they were generally optimistic about the future - 49 per cent thought general business conditions would deteriorate, but just 19 per cent thought their business would be affected.
When asked how they were adapting their business operations to the recession, 20 per cent said they were doing nothing, 15 per cent said they were driving advertising, 13 per cent said they were reducing overheads and 10 per cent said they were reducing staff.
Crone said Telecom had noticed the biggest changes concerned businesses trimming services - making their operations lighter. They were realising they did not have to invest heavily in infrastructure, opting for a laptop rather than a PC.
"The corner cafe is more and more becoming the office, with laptops, mobile broadband and Wi-Fi ," she said.
Advancements in technology such as smart phones, software as a service and internet protocol are often prescribed to companies looking to manage the time- and money-wasting aspects of their business.
Smart phones help busy professionals to make better use of their valuable time by allowing them to check emails during down-time.
Software as a service helps businesses to manage their cashflow.
Instead of large, upfront purchasing costs, businesses pay a monthly fee and the software can be used for accounting, customer relationships management, as a business management tool and for online backup.
Telecom also advises small businesses to embrace the shift towards internet protocol (IP).
This allows for better management of messages by pulling voice mail and email functions into one inbox.
Voice mails can then be forwarded to people who are available to action them. IP also allows businesses to control and screen calls - such as setting the phone to take calls from only one particular party for the day.
Crone said IP was becoming increasingly important for businesses' productivity, especially if operating a mobile business.
"It allows for effective use of time - businesses are just attacked by calls and emails all day."
Tougher times had also seen businesses get smarter about cost-effective marketing and they were embracing new digital media.
"Businesses should not always slash prices in a downturn and should be investing in marketing to keep people coming through their door."
Crone said the use of video on the web was growing rapidly, but more so in the United States and overseas. While most business internet traffic was now peer-to-peer file sharing, she said that within three years 85 per cent of internet traffic around the world would be video.
This generally started with businesses searching YouTube, then starting to demonstrate their business on the site, she said.
Online business community Made From New Zealand was gaining traction and was an example of using the internet to market business.
Crone said it was encouraging to see New Zealand businesses embracing new trends rather than hiding under a rock.
"They should be investing rather than pulling back. They should be assessing where costs in the business are not being utilised."
