Empower your Office with Crew-Tech

Delivering great customer service isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore, it’s what sets successful small businesses apart. Customers expect quick answers, fewer transfers, and a smooth experience every time they call. But for many small teams, outdated phone systems make that nearly impossible. Long hold times, missed calls, and inflexible phone lines can quickly add up to lost opportunities and frustrated customers. That’s where VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) comes in. VoIP has transformed business communication by allowing calls to run over the internet instead of traditional phone lines, bringing advanced features like call forwarding, intelligent routing, mobile access, and voicemail-to-email to businesses of all sizes. These tools don't just streamline workflows; they directly enhance the customer experience by reducing wait times and improving responsiveness. In this article, we’ll break down how VoIP can strengthen your customer service efforts, especially if you’re a small team looking to deliver big-company professionalism. What is VoIP & How does it Work? In simple terms, VoIP is a phone service delivered over the internet. Because it runs on the internet, VoIP offers flexibility traditional phone systems can’t match. Teams can answer calls from anywhere, scale easily as they grow, and take advantage of advanced features like call routing, voicemail‑to‑email, and CRM integrations. These tools help small businesses communicate more efficiently and professionally, fostering customer relationships and improving customer experience.  Features that Improve Customer Responsiveness Never miss a call with features like call forwarding, mobile extensions, and simultaneous ring. Take calls on any device: desk phone, laptop, or mobile. Respond faster with remote features allowing you to work out of the office. Quick and consistent communication builds trust with customers. Smarter Call Routing = Shorter Wait Times Auto-attendants and menu options send customers to the right person every time. Call queues allow small teams to manage high call volume. Priority routing ensures important calls are handled quickly. Helping customers quickly and professionally improves overall customer experience. Professional Image VoIP offers features once only available to large companies and corporations: Custom greetings On-hold messages/music Caller ID routing Business hours schedules These features help small teams and businesses present a caring and professional approach, improving customer perception. Detailed Call Reporting & How it Helps you Improve VoIP systems track missed calls, wait times, and call volume trends. Analyzing and identifying busy call times to adjust your staffing or workflows, can prove very beneficial to customer experience. Identifying reoccurring issues and improving internal communication processes will help build your customer relationships, improving overall customer experience in return. How Crew-Tech Can Help Crew-Tech offers a powerful VoIP platform, SkySwitch, which gives us the flexibility to match your team with the system that fits best with your workflow, call volume, and customer service goals. Whether you need simple business features or a more advanced setup, we can tailor a solution that supports the way you work today while preparing you for tomorrow. Our VoIP offerings include enhanced tools such as: Contact Center / OmniResponse for multi‑channel customer interactions Business SMS / CloudMessage for text‑based outreach and reminders UCaaS platform features for unified, cloud‑based communication UC Client / ConnectUC apps for calling, texting, and collaboration across devices These options help small teams stay connected, responsive, and professional. All with technology that grows alongside your business. Want to explore all of our VoIP features and compare platforms? Visit our VoIP webpage to explore more!

Understanding your printer or MFP's Duty Cycle and Recommended Monthly Volume (RMV) is essential to keeping it running efficiently and preventing avoidable maintenance issues. Duty Cycle refers to the maximum number of pages a printer can produce in a month. Recommended Monthly Volume (RMV) represents the number of pages you can reliably and safely print each month without putting unnecessary strain on the device. While the duty cycle shows the absolute limit, it’s not the number you should aim for in everyday use. Instead, consistently printing within the RMV helps maintain print quality, reduces wear on internal components, and supports a longer device lifespan. Printing at or near the duty cycle month after month leads to higher service needs, costly repairs, and premature hardware failure. The RMV and duty cycle are set by the manufacturer, after the manufacturer puts the MFP through a series of stressful tests and analyzes the data. In fact, about 70% of printer issues occur when users exceed the RMV, making it a critical guideline to follow. Many businesses misunderstand or ignore these numbers, which is why it can also be important to find the right technology partner or managed print provider. How to Determine Your Monthly Print Volume To understand how much you’re actually printing each month, use one of these methods: Review Printing/Vendor Bill: If you work with a technology vendor or managed print provider, your monthly invoice typically includes your total print count. Check your Meter Reads: Meter reads show the total number of impressions (prints, copies, and scans) your device has produced throughout its lifetime. You can access this in your printer’s settings or on a printed report. Track Paper Usage: Although less precise, tracking how many reams or sheets you go through in a month can give you a rough estimate of your print volume. Comparing Your Print Volume to RMV and Duty Cycle A common rule of thumb is that the RMV is approximately 10-20% of the duty cycle. For example: If your small business prints around 2,000 pages per month, you should use a device with an RMV around 2,000 and a duty cycle near 10,000. If you run a high‑quality print environment (such as a graphic design studio) you should pay closer attention to RMV to preserve consistent color accuracy and professional output. Sometimes MFPs cannot handle both the volume and quality needed, in which case a production machine may be more beneficial. Staying within your RMV ensures better performance, fewer service calls, and a longer-lasting printer. The chart below compares the RMV and the duty cycle of a few different Ricoh MFP's and one production printer: Machine RMV Duty Cycle RICOH IM C401F Up to 5,000 Up to 10,000 RIOCH IM C4510 Up to 12,000 Up to 50,000 RICOH PRO C5410S (any?) Up to 150,000 Common MFP Problems that Signal Change There are a few common printer issues that can signal a need for a smaller or larger machine. For example, some businesses know they are paying too much for an oversized machine and downsize while other businesses may need the indicator from their vendor to downsize if they are not meeting their monthly print minimums. Indicators You're Overworking Your Printer (Or May Need an Upgrade): Frequent jams Slow processing Quality degradation Overheating Toner usage spikes Conclusion Staying within your printer or MFP’s Recommended Monthly Volume (RMV) is one of the most effective ways to protect print quality, prevent avoidable maintenance issues, and ensure your device supports your daily workflow without strain. By understanding the difference between duty cycle and RMV (and accurately assessing your monthly print habits) you can better determine whether your machine is properly sized for your environment or if an upgrade or downsized option would be more efficient and cost‑effective. If you’re unsure whether your current device is the right fit, or if you’re considering whether managed print or outsourced IT support might benefit your organization, check out our resource on Outsourcing IT or Leasing vs. Buying an Office Printer to help guide your decision. And if you’d prefer hands‑on support, the Crew‑Tech team is always here to assess your print environment and recommend the best solution for your needs.

Slow internet speeds got you down? For many businesses, simply having Wi-Fi feels like enough, until slow internet speeds start to hurt productivity and customer satisfaction. Taking a few simple precautions can help avoid these issues and drastically increase your office internet speed today. Here's how to get started: 1. Wi-Fi Router Placement It's common for businesses to hide their routers to avoid clutter, but this is a common mistake. Walls, metal, and obstructions actually weaken Wi-Fi signals. Generally, a central location will provide the best coverage in office spaces, but there are a few different ways to check. According to Net Spot, signal levels around -75 dBm or higher is strong enough for stable browsing, video calling, and streaming. dBm stands for decibel milliwatts, which is just the unit of measurement for the power levels of a Wi-Fi signal. 2. Optimize Channel and Bands One of the most common Wi-Fi problems is interface from overlapping channels. Luckily this problem is also a quick fix. You can utilize a Wi-Fi channel scanner to see if your network is overlapping with others. There are two common "bands" with various "channels" in them. A 2.4GHz band (pictured below) has 3 channels that don't overlap (1, 6, and 11) and provides a longer range of signal. A 5GHz has 25 channels that don't overlap and is a common bandwidth for large companies to support a variety of devices with faster speeds. When selecting a channel, empty channels are the best option to increase internet speed. If an empty channel is unavailable, choose a channel with another network, don't try and overlap channels to fit into an empty space. Wi-Fi networks can detect each other in the same channel, overlapping channels is what causes bandwidth issues. The example above has two overlapping channels, although this will not decrease the Wi-Fi speeds drastically, best practice would suggest moving them to channel 11. 3. Optimize Device Placement and Antennas Although similar to optimizing router placement, optimizing device placement is regularly overlooked. Positioning devices close to the router can reduce the need for Wi-Fi signals to travel long distances, speeding up your device's internet speed in return. Another trick to increase Wi-Fi speeds, without rushing to upgrade the entire router, is through the antennas. Check to make sure the antennas are not obstructed by anything, but if they aren't and the bandwidth still isn't strong enough considering upgrading them. High-gain or directional antennas can increase Wi-Fi speeds dramatically compared to the defaults. 4. Reduce Access Points Many people assume that when Wi-Fi is unstable in larger offices there is a simple fix: add another access point, but too many APs can actually make a network slower and less predictable. Increased interference, confused devices, and roaming problems could be a sign you have an overload of APs. According to Net Spot, you may have "too many" APs if your devices randomly cling to different access points or if speeds fluctuate while not in use. Conclusion With today's technological advancements and bandwidth demands, older routers will struggle to keep up no matter what. Optimizing router placement, device position, bandwidth, channels, as well as reducing access points and upgrading hardware like your router's antennas will help your router keep up. If you continue to have problems after implementing these changes it may be helpful to partner with an IT provider in your area, especially if your company doesn't have an internal IT department.