The success of any startup, small business or enterprise depends on flawless communication channel with the customers and among internal departments. If you’re facing issues with costly equipments, dropped calls or a lack of features like call recording, call forwarding etc., it’s the best time for you to switch over to a virtual business phone system.
What is a Virtual Phone System?
A cloud based virtual phone system, is a communication bridge crafted especially for businesses groups that need a variation in calling services, such as call recording, voicemail, call queuing & call extensions.
The major difference between virtual phone systems and traditional bulky phone systems is that you don’t need to setup clunky hardware or spend on hard phones for your team; a virtual office phone system is entirely wireless and can work with your existing phones.
If your business relies on personal hard phones or Skype, a virtual phone system can be an affordable and most convenient way to optimize your business communication. Many virtual business phone service are developed specifically for small business to reduce the cost of telephone bills.
VoIP Based Virtual Phone System or PSTN?
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is an affordable advanced version of traditional phone systems, led by apps like Skype & Google Voice. VoIP provides calling over the Internet connection, rather than over the historical Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)—the system which is being used on most traditional phones.
While VoIP may be affordable, it does require Internet connectivity to make or receive calls.
What to consider while selecting a Virtual Phone System
Selecting the right service provider can be cumbersome task. There are various companies that offer virtual phone systems and other phone platforms. Each company has variety of features and functionalities that you should take into account.
Some major brands—like CallHippo, Aircall and Grasshopper—offer business plans through which you can setup your support center in less than 2 minutes without any hardware.
Here are several points to consider while selecting a cloud business phone system that’s perfect for your business.
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Business Type/Size
Your business is unique and your phone system should cater to your requirements. Luckily, there are several plans and pricing for all kind of businesses.
For instance, if you are looking for service provider who works well with small businesses, startups or enterprise you should prefer CallHippo or Grasshopper. If you and your employees need to travel for business, you must consider they have a unique feature by which you can forward calls to your cell phones and never miss a business call again even on the go!
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Extensions
If your business is multifaceted or has various departments within the organization, you may want to use extensions. By joining a short number after the main phone number, you can divert calls to unique departments or employees.
No matter how complex your business becomes, the extensions will keep your customers reach right person from the right department.
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Simplicity
No one wants to deal with intricating interfaces and complex technical details. You need a simple phone system so you can make calls and keep your business running smoothly without facing any technical issues.
CallHippo’s free plan may be the best choice for beginners who only want a virtual local number and handful of features. It also has variety of plans for those who want bunch of useful features.
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Customer Service
Make sure you choose a company that provides support when you need them the most. How easy is it to connect with them for help?
If you would consider yourself as beginner, CallHippo is definitely a good choice for you. They pride themselves on building strong relationships with their customers and for quick support at your disposal.
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Disaster Recovery
A priceless attribute of a virtual phone systems is it allows your business to assist customers even if your premises experiences a disaster like fire. Call forwarding can be set up easily so, if anything happens, you can just forward your virtual phone number to your cell phone with just couple of clicks and never miss a call.
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Price
Don’t let your telephone bills dry out your business funds; scrutinize providers to see who can offer you the most affordable plan which fulfils all your requirements.
Businesses with lot of inbound/outbound phone usage may need to get an enterprise plan, which comes with lots of features and unlimited minutes to make or receive calls.
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Call Recording
Call recording feature allows to record each business call and in one or the other way it can be productive. You can record and listen to all inbound & outbound calls to improve the quality of customer support provided by your employees, you can review data and make data driven strategies or even use it to win a legal dispute!
If calls are the center of your business, Call Recording is an essential feature for you.
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CRM Integration
In every business, CRM plays the vital role to manage the client’s status and integrating it with the virtual phone system make this work more hassle free.
“You can make your calls without leaving your CRM”
It offers to place the call directly from the bowser and all the notifications can be managed from the single interface.
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Call Forwarding
Call forwarding or call diversion is a feature in which call can be routed to a different destination. This means that office phone will be available 24/7 even at the outer or remote location. Through this clients can be directed to correct representatives to resolve their issues.
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IVR
IVR stands for the Interactive Voice Response, it’s a automated reception system which connect the correct department through input by keypad. It is smartly deployed to handles the calls in the bulk quantities.
Recommended reading: Why You Should Choose VoIP Systems for Your Office?
The tips you shared here were very useful. It helped to select the best virtual phone system for a business. Thanks