We can all agree technology advances at a break-neck speed. In the world of business, it can be hard to keep up with all these changes. There is one area that it is essential to “keep up with the pack.” That is with your communications. 61% of businesses are already using VoIP for business. If you are still on the fence, this fast guide should help you understand some of the features of VoIP for business. We will also discuss the benefits of VoIP for business.
What is VoIP?
Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) is basically how you receive your phone calls. Plain old telephone service, or POTs, is the traditional phone service. As in, you have a specific telephone service provider that sends technicians to run lines into your business.
VoIP, on the other hand, does not use traditional phone lines with a phone service provider. Instead, phone service is run through the internet. Your service provider is responsible for set up, updates and maintenance of your system. Most times, VoIP is much less expensive than POTs.
What are some features of VoIP?
As you move from traditional solutions, you gain a lot of features that were previously unavailable to you. These features can be game changing for your business and your customer service.
Administrative Portal– One of the most exciting features of a VoIP for business phone system is the administrative portal. This portal makes it easy to add and remove users while managing all the features included with a VoIP system.
Mobile Integrations– Mobile apps can be downloaded onto any mobile device. When utilizing the mobile app, you will have access to the same information as if you were sitting at your desk in the office.
Voicemail– While voicemail is standard for many phones including POTs, VoIP for business phone systems also can come equipped with voicemail transcription and voicemail to email.
Call Rules– Some interesting call rules include call routing during hours and after hours. The following features relate directly to incoming calls. Call Forwarding: allows calls to be forwarded once they have been answered. Follow Me: when someone calls and follow me is activated, several phones can be set to ring at once. Find Me: Similar to call forwarding, however, the phone call is routed to your alternate device right away.
Auto Attendant– An auto attendant is the automated system that answers your calls and routes them to the correct representative or department. This is time saving for your employees, as they are only receiving the calls that pertain to their specific job.
Conferencing– Conferencing allows users to have many people on the line at once. This is very important for collaboration purposes.
Call Recording– Call recording is a great feature for businesses who want to be able to reference their calls either for training purposes or just to have a record of transactions.
Unified Communications– VoIP phone systems have the capability to switch to unified communications. With a few adjustments, you can join all your communications avenues into one convenient solution.
Benefits of VoIP for Business
There are many benefits of utilizing VoIP for business phone service. Aside from all the features of the service itself, there are four aspects of VoIP that can benefit all businesses, big or small. These benefits include:
- Mobility – Remote work is easier than ever with the mobile applications. Businesses and workers have learned the value of remote work in the past year and are wanting to take advantage of these perks.
- Reliability – An internet-based phone system allows for more reliability. Many VoIP solutions have over a 99% uptime, meaning that if your company is utilizing mobile options, power outages will not affect your service.
- Scalability – Internet run services are easy to scale. As you add users, you do not need to schedule a maintenance call or run new lines. You scale by buying handsets and plugging in. That’s it!
- Call Analytics – Call analytics can be very important to customer service. When you receive your call data, you can learn about call times and high call volume hours. This can help you make staffing decisions to better suit your guests.
Getting Started with VoIP
Hopefully this article has helped you understand VoIP a little more clearly. At Unitel, we are here to help you. If you would like to further discuss VoIP and how to transition your business phonelines to VoIP, we would love to help!
Unitel’s VoIP for business solution, Cloud PBX, is packed full of all the features and benefits your business needs and its scalable to grow with you. Its user-friendly design makes it ideal for any business and allows you to communicate flexibly from anywhere you need! Contact us to get started today!