Although many businesses primarily rely on email, IM, and social media to interact with customers, and resort to various chat tools and project management software for internal communication, phone systems are still pivotal for companies of all sizes. Improving communication is one of the main goals of every organization, especially in the era of remote work, business growth, and companies looking for ways to reduce their expenses.
In the past few years, the rise of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology has enabled companies to transform how they interact and to improve in-house and external relationships as a result. Understanding how VoIP-based phone systems can benefit your own organization can help you make the switch and enable your teams and your customers to enjoy the many perks of streamlined communication.
Lowering your expenditures
Perhaps the main reason why so many companies are switching to VoIP is its cost-effectiveness. Companies today fear that they’ll have to cover large utility bills for phone calls that last long, and it’s often difficult to predict those expenses from month to month for smaller, new businesses. With VoIP, you pay a fixed monthly fee depending on your number of users, and thus have greater control over your budget.
Not to mention being able to use your existing devices such as smartphones and computers instead of investing in costly and not very durable hardware and phone systems. Cutting costs in this way means that you’re able to allocate your funds elsewhere without jeopardizing your communication quality.
Multiple functionalities in one system
When you switch from your regular phone system to VoIP, you’ll notice the immense effect on your space: no more clutter of hardware and wiring taking up all of your office space. Unlike cumbersome phone systems that have only one purpose, these sleek small business VoIP solutions actually offer a wide array of added benefits to expand your communication from calls to texting, emails, and video calls.
It’s one solution packed with options that can streamline any small business’s communications and help improve how your customer support teams operate every day. It allows you to check your voicemail via your email account or set up a video call with dozens of participants. Data from built-in analytics tools can be used to improve your calling experience over time.
Enabling remote collaboration
On one hand, you have your PM tools for efficient collaboration among your in-office staff and remote employees or freelancers. With VoIP, you can include all of your remote staff in any interactions relevant for their work. That means that they can use their smartphones or their own computers at home, and not have to be present at the office to work productively. All they need is a stable Internet connection wherever they choose to work, and they’re all set.
Such high levels of flexibility help businesses communicate with their remote teams more easily, all the while enabling greater productivity, and motivating remote employees to collaborate with your office staff. Additionally, if one of your employees heads to a conference, using a dedicated app for your VoIP system allows you to communicate freely or at a very low cost at any time, with the same call quality, making these trips far less stressful for all those involved.
Increased call quality
The technology used nowadays to build a VoIP system for your small business greatly surpasses the old-school technology used in your traditional landline systems. This allows you to improve the call quality when using these advanced solutions. Your customer support teams can have an easier time resolving customer queries, while your remote teams can communicate easily with your office staff.
The end result? Increased satisfaction on all ends, since a customer that is able to reach your agents and communicate without disruptions is a much more satisfied one. Plus, your employees can seamlessly interact, via any available VoIP feature in your system, be it calling, faxing, emailing, or texting.
Security and stability
What many business owners fear is that Internet-based interactions can be jeopardized both in terms of stability and security depending on your network quality. However, analog technology is overwhelmingly outdated whereas all things digital advance at a staggering rate, enabling more refined encryption solutions for the information exchanged through online channels. At the same time, the quality of your Internet connection will determine the call quality, and most small businesses initially invest in superb Internet packages since their operations already heavily depend on the Internet.
Since VoIP allows you to make calls from any device you have and to anyone in the world, using the Internet as your means of communication is the most stable and secure manner to do so. Plus, you can have your phone calls recorded in case you want added security and more detailed records for your business.
Small businesses need reliable, cost-effective solutions in order to grow and provide an even better service to their customers. Boosting internal relationships for small-scale organizations is another necessity so that employee retention increases and they can continue focusing on innovation and issues at hand. All of that is possible with VoIP technology, which will transform how you communicate inside and outside of your business, hence the need to consider implementing it in the months to come.
