Small businesses have to review their costs *very* carefully.
Phone services, for example, can easily run into the thousands for a small business. Which is too bad – imagine what improvements you could make with that money otherwise…
Well, you might still be able to access that cash. An innovative service like a VoIP phone system (Voice over Internet Protocol) may be the exact alternative you’re looking for.
What is VoIP? And… why should anyone care!
VoIP is a kind of phone system that uses the internet rather than traditional phone lines.
Ten years ago, that might have been a mind-blowing concept. But these days, anyone who’s used WhatsApp, Skype or Zoom (so, everyone) has used internet telephony before.
Businesses can use VoIP with special works ‘softphones’ or via any computer or smart device.
Alternatively, you can purchase an analog phone adapter that connect with Ethernet cables directly into your computer network.
Key VoIP Features
Businesses often switch to VoIP because it is so much cheaper than landline systems.
In particular, outbound calling becomes so affordable that a blended call center model – making and receiving calls – is suddenly within reach.
That’s far from the only benefit though… here are a few others.
- VoIP is very easy to set up and maintain. There’s no need for an engineer to install anything at all; generally, setting up VoIP phone lines is about as challenging as setting up a Netflix account!
- If you’re switching, you can generally keep the same phone numbers. Or, you can choose new phone numbers with *any* area code. These are known as “virtual numbers” and they can help to give your customers peace of mind (because people tend to feel more comfortable with local area numbers).
- The price of long-distance calling falls through the floor. Since VoIP operates through the Internet, there are no long-distance fees, and that saves small businesses an absolute fortune.
- VoIP sound quality is better than traditional phone systems. (So long as you have a ring fenced network for voice only – and you’re not competing with the people downloading documents or streaming TikTok videos!)
- Small businesses can make simple changes to their VoIP system requirements without extra costs or installations.
- It’s usually very easy to add and remove phone numbers, making it easy to scale call center services up and down. It’s also simple to route calls to any location, and use a call center IVR (interactive voice response) without any extra fees or hardware.
- VoIP is superbly cheap for small businesses. In fact, new businesses tend to save 90% on setup costs; existing businesses with 30 service agents save around $1200 per month by switching.
Additional benefits include: 3-way calling, caller ID, call forwarding, call waiting, click-to-dial, paperless fax, voicemail to email, follow me, video messaging, alerts, screening, music-on-hold, and other unique features based on the requirements of the business.
Yeah – it’s a lot!
It is these cost-saving features that are attracting small businesses away from traditional phone systems and towards a VoIP business system. Further, the VoIP cloud/internet system can be designed to be a phone assistant for a small business.
A customized voice recording is called an auto-attendant recording method. Callers will be given options that will walk them through the type of process that a small business has devised in how they operate. This system frees up time for employees to take care of other productive activities.
To further save money for small businesses, a VoIP telephony internet connectivity saves infrastructure costs. There is no need to set aside a small room for complicated traditional phone wiring and equipment. VoIP equipment is connected to your Internet broadband network. The VoIP will grow with your small business without extra fees, charges, installation costs, and more.
Employees Who Work from Home
The move towards the virtual call center has been massively accelerated by Covid. Employees are working from home, and some of them may not want to return to the office – at least, not full-time.
A VoIP system allows employees to make and receive business calls, using the same telephone number from the office rather than using their own devices.
That makes remote working an awful lot easier! It also opens up the particular benefits of virtual call centers, like wider hiring pools and lower overheads.
Small business owners will feel more secure knowing that a remote VoIP system in an employee’s private home is a safe system. When a small business employee working from home uses a virtual private network connection with the VoIP method, all conversations are highly encrypted.
Integration to Save Money
Small businesses must remain competitive to survive. Because of their size, they can adapt far quicker than their larger competitors. By integrating more systems like your auto dialer software, and varying platforms this increases and improves efficiency.
For this reason, a VoIP system has the ability to integrate flawlessly with other business solutions and communication tools. Using a VoIP interconnective telephony system helps costs by streamlining the overall enterprising organization.
Conclusion
The VoIP technology has evolved quickly over the last few years. Its low costs to have a telephony phone system is gaining popularity with businesses of all sizes. The many telecommunication features and its mobile communication features make the innovative VoIP telecommunication system a must-have.
VoIP can enhance a small business’s customer base by its low cost on long-distance calls. For its future, a small business may wish to think outside the box and consider going global. When a small business uses the VoIP system communicating internationally is easy to do without the high price of long-distance prices.
About babelforce
babelforce is a global cloud communications platform focused on No-Code integration and automation. It allows non-technical people to build even the most complex integrated processes for customer-facing teams, particularly in the call center.