9 Must Have Features of Phone Systems for Small Business [2019]
Phone Systems for Small Business Don’t Have to be Void of Enterprise Features & Functionality
Most small business phone systems are packed with advanced features that are often never utilized to their full potential.
Once you understand how to navigate a multi line phone system you can empower your employees to be their best.
Just take a look at the 9 must have features of phone systems for small business.
When you’re done contact us to see how you can leverage all the amazing capabilities below to grow your business.
1.) VoIP or IP Based Functionality
The truth is if you are using a legacy analog phone system you’re going to want to upgrade to a VoIP based phone system since VoIP is usually 40-80% less expensive than traditional phone service.
Not only are analog phone systems for small business going extinct but analog landlines are projected to be obsolete by 2020.
It’s time to cut the cord.
If you don’t want to upgrade, why should you?
You WILL save money by upgrading your core technology. An IP Based Phone System saves money by eliminating outdated finite physical infrastructure.
Do you really want to waste money paying for both VOICE & DATA?
Bundle Vive SIP trunking with an IP based phone system to leverage amazing cost savings and cut out the waste. The savings inherent in Cloud based phone systems continues to skyrocket into 2019.
2.) Auto Attendants
An auto attendant has all kinds of benefits for phone systems for small business; a professional greeting, call routing to cell phones (or twinned desk phone) and voicemail to email to name a few.
While most companies prefer to have some live interaction with customers, an auto attendant can be used in a perfectly complimentary role as well.
The bottom line is that using an auto attendant for phone systems for small business will save money, allow for sophisticated call routing and put customers at ease 24/7.
An AA is perfectly suited in a small office environment or can even be used to supplement agents in a call center.
Without question your current phone system for small business is already configured with the advanced functionality of an auto attendant.
Speak with our remote support group today to see how you can unleash the power of your AA and transform your small business phones.
3.) Mobile Twinning
Mobile twinning allows you to reduce the costs and administrative burdens usually associated with remote workers.
This sophisticated feature allows you to use your mobile devices as an extension of your business telephone. In other words, it’s like you’ve never left the office.
Without missing a beat you can transfer, answer or make calls from your cell phone all while using your business infrastructure and configuration.
For Instance, see how you can benefit:
- Roaming – Twinning gives you the ability to roam around the office
- Save on data & calls – Cut data costs by twinning off your WiFi
- Mobile remains 100% active – Your mobile remains fully active
- Save capital on international calls – Use your WiFi to save on calls
- Strengthen your communication – Never miss a call again
- Access to outlook – Access outlook from your mobile
If you are unsure about the cost and administrative burden that comes along with mobilizing your workforce, let us show you how mobile twinning reduce costs while enjoying a full suite of unified communications.
4.) Voicemail to eMail or Text
The average person checks their email about 15 times per day. The folks who limited their email checking also felt that they were more adept to complete their most important work.
Having your voicemail sent directly to your email address can help increase efficiency. Explore just a few of the benefits of having your emails sent to your mobile phone.
Go Mobile: Benefits of vmail to email
- Faster Retrieval of Messages
- Improved Responsiveness
- Mobile Listening
- Record Keeping Enhanced
By sending voicemails to an email box you can make them accessible no matter the location, ultimately improving collaboration.
This service isn’t new or difficult to implement, but it’s one of the biggest upgrades you can make to add value to your phone systems for small business.
You can improve your customer service efficiency, help cut down on mistakes and improve response times with customers by enabling and above all, empower your employees.
All VoIP based systems possess this functionality so there’s no reason not to put it to work for you today. Contact our remote support team to learn how.
5.) Conference Bridges
The advancement of technology continues to bring forth a huge change in the nature of the evolution of business.
For instance, a conference bridge is a highly innovative service by which a business or company can organize a virtual conference with a group.
What’s wrong with convenience, saving money & security?
If you have something very important or urgent to discuss with your delegates or your team collaborating by means of a conference bridge saves time and most importantly saves money.
You can host a video conference or a voice call conference with the help of the conference bridge. See how we enhanced the collaboration possibilities of a global leader by doing just that.
Don’t leave your employees nor customers in the dark. Gone are the days where the phone vendor would set it and forget it.
Protect yourself by being smart and most of all position your company to adapt to the demands of a constantly changing workforce.
Focus your resources on revenue generating tasks and allow your business to grow to the next level.
6.) Tailored Music & On-Hold Messages
Let’s face it you don’t ever want your callers to be on-hold with nothing but silence wondering if they have been disconnected.
It’s been proven callers will hang up with no audible cues well before they reach 40 seconds.
Avoid losing callers while projecting a professional image via a tailored greeting or custom music on hold.
If you are waiting for agents to become available you can use the on hold time to sell your products and services.
Now that you have the callers complete attention use this unique opportunity to educate your callers about all of your current marketing needs, corporate branding as well as timely promotions and events.
Add music to the equation and you can inform your customers, up-sell your customers and keep your customers engaged until your hard working agents can get to the call.
This functionality is available with virtually all VoIP based phone systems for small business. In other words, it’s time to take advantage.
7.) Call Accounting & Recording
Small businesses are always in search of ways to better understand and meet customer needs while remaining on budget and adhering to the core principles of the company.
By dissecting the minute details and nuances of customer conversations, companies can attain that elusive level of understanding.
This is where call recording really shines.
The bottom line is that call recording and accounting functionality is going to improve the overall experience for customers and empower your employees to be better at their jobs.
Why wouldn’t you want your employees to be in a position to succeed?
A small investment can provide exponential benefits to companies of any size.
Pro TIP: Call Recording Can Provide Huge Benefits
- Allows for effective team coaching exercises
- Capture missed or forgotten details
- Enhance customer satisfaction
- Promote regulatory compliance
- Gauge marketing objectives
Want to see how you can leverage this functionality to grow your business. Our business partners at Xima Software offer a fully functional trial version for free!
By opening up the lines of communications across the company you can get instant team feedback and share in the evolution of your employees customer service skills.
8.) Remote Support & Warranties
Chances are if you’re a small company you are not in the position to hire a dedicated IT staff for your company.
In this scenario a remote technical support is going to be the best fit for your company.
Even if there is simple administrative changes to the phones it’s best to leave those changes up to the engineer who programmed the systems to being with.
Click the image below to see 8 vital benefits of a remote support solution.
Most small companies don’t have a dedicated IT staff. Instead a few knowledgeable employees get designated to fight the uphill battle of trying to understand the nuances of their business phones.
This is simply inefficient and a waste of time. Let the expert team at Vive do what they do best and free up critical IT resources.
Enjoy the benefits of improved performance and stability and enjoy new features as they become available.
Save thousands by optimizing the workflow of your employees and internal resources alike.
9.) Multi-Linked Sites / Remote Workers
As long as there is a connection to the cloud you can mobilize your workforce in way that was never before possible.
Most noteworthy is that your employees have access to all the services and features your company needs to stay productive regardless of location.
A new global, mobilized workforce is now free from the restraints of traditional hardware, instead empowered by the flexibility of the cloud.
The movement is happening, whether you choose to make the transition sooner rather than later is up to you.
Hardware and infrastructure are unnecceary expenses and burdens that stunt the growth of small businesses.
The concept of the office space has taken on an incredible new meaning with the influx of new technology.
Hit the play button to see some of the collaboration tools now available in your market space today.
10.) BONUS #1: Disaster Recovery
The Vive cloud solution, yields significant cost savings and affords phone systems for small business to failover to a backup in our data center.
Learn more about the benefits of our colocation services.
In conclusion, down time for any company whether big or small can cripple your bottom line.
Surprisingly, most companies do not have a contingency plan in place so when an unseen event does occur (which it most likely will) they have to scramble for a fix.
Obviously this can be incredibly costly and adversely affect customer satisfaction.
With a hosted phone system the recovery plan is already in place and can be replicated instantly as a mirror image.
Call us today to learn more!
Contact our team of experts who are excited to show you how making a switch to a hosted phone system can transform your business.
Where do you want your company to be in the coming years?
Let Vive engineers show you how your company can take advantage of the full functionality of your IP based phone system and start empowering your employees and serving your customers.
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