In an era where businesses are continually looking for ways to cut expenses, we take pride in helping organizations meet their goals. Reducing recurring expenses, such as monthly utilities or communication bills are great for staying within your operating budget. That’s why this article is exploring VoIP’s; a reliable, high quality phone system that can offer your business more, for less.

HOW DO VoIPs WORK?

Voice over Internet Protocol is a system that allows users to place calls over the internet. Your phone (which looks and behaves like a typical office phone) converts an analog voice into digital signals that use bandwidth to travel across networks to the telephone carrier used by the person you’re speaking to. The person on the other end is unable to differentiate between VoIP calls and landlines.

As long as you have access to high-speed internet, your office can benefit from a VoIP configuration. In fact, as you continue reading, you’ll learn more and more reasons why it’s a great option for your business.

QUALITY COMMUNICATION

How your team communicates can make or break any business operation. Productivity, collaboration, and morale can all be improved with the right phone system. With so much depending on communication, it’s no wonder so many organizations are choosing VoIP.

Call quality remains high, which is especially beneficial for employers who have staff that work remotely or are often conversing with long-distance teams. The ability to connect and collaborate as a group over VoIP saves an organization a lot of time and stress. You can easily share voicemails, calendars, and contacts with your team.

LIKE A GREAT ASSISTANT

A VoIP phone system isn’t just about connecting with people outside your organization, it also comes with some of the features of a great office assistant. The ability to set up rules applicable to your incoming calls is a convenience you’ll appreciate.

If you receive a call, for example, that has blocked caller ID, you can create a rule to always send those calls to a specific voicemail. Or, put it on the “reject” list, which are calls your VoIP will blacklist, preventing them from even ringing your phone.

Your VoIP system can also send and receive digital files, or act as a fax machine for hard copies. You can even tie it into your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions. That means linking inbound calls to your desktop, displaying customer records easily as they’re needed.

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR VoIP

There are a few things for you to take into consideration when planning a new VoIP telephony system.

• THE USER: Above all else, your VoIP system needs to be useful to any employee that uses it. That means looking at how your organization currently communicates, and where it’s lacking. It may turn out that the entire organization can get away with the same basic VoIP system and features, but some employees might need features that others don’t. Determining that in the beginning will help reduce costs.
• YOUR BUDGET: Speaking of costs, budget is usually the second priority when it comes to choosing a phone system. Making the switch from landlines to VoIP will incur some expenses, but those are usually mitigated over the time that you use your VoIP. Not only is the monthly fee cheaper than most landlines, but calling expenses (such as long distance) or features (such as voicemail) are reduced as well. A VoIP phone system also eliminates the installation and maintenance of regular phone lines.
• YOUR CONNECTION: Wi-FI has been widely accepted in many workplaces especially in this BYOD (bring your own device) day in age. However, traditional ethernet is still preferred in many professional organizations. Knowing which one you’re working with can make a difference in the VoIP solution that’s right for you. If some employees are out of the office a lot, either working remotely, or attending meetings, then a VoIP that can be connected to cell phones will be beneficial.

These are the top three considerations when investigating a VoIP system for your business, but there are other characteristics that may affect your decision, such as using your VoIP to connect softphones (computers acting as telephones), or your specific integration.

A free consultation with a VoIP system expert at Canquest can help. You’ll be able to discuss your current concerns such as budget and call features, and find solutions the entire organization will appreciate.