Today’s business needs have evolved dramatically as new and innovative technologies are introduced. It is no surprise telephones would start to see transformations as tech standards change. Communication needs are still as important as ever—and today’s small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) benefit tremendously from the expanded options available to us. Not to mention, VoIP phones have the same quality and function as traditional landline phones do, along with some great bells and whistles.

SMBs looking to receive superior telephone service at an affordable price should consider combining their phone and data networks by looking at modern VoIP phone systems. Here is what you need to know.

An overview of VoIP

VoIP stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol” and it is an alternative telephony service that enables companies to make telephone calls through the internet rather than over traditional phone lines. All you need is to be connected to the internet. This type of telephone technology adds numerous benefits for businesses. Advantages SMBs will quickly see include the following:

  • Cost-effective. VoIP phone lines decrease phone bills significantly, about 60%. Prices are set and SMBs can predict how much they’ll pay for their telephone services each month.
  • Flexible. Businesses can pick and choose the tools they need to support their daily activities, including video conferencing and messaging, as a part of their modern telephone system. VoIP also provides a great convenience for SMBs running and supporting remote workforces, an increasingly growing trend in today’s world. Essentially, VoIP affords people to take a business phone on the go!
  • Fewer outages. VoIP enables businesses to quickly reroute calls if phone service goes down; this is not typically an option with traditional telephone services. Rather, businesses have to wait for services to be restored with a landline.
  • Features. VoIP offers numerous convenient features businesses need to provide optimal customer service. These options include email voicemail, voice call button in email, and an ability to send a fax. Call forwarding and routing are other popular benefits of using VoIP. All of these features can immediately boost the quality of customer service.
  • International calling. Costly international calls are a thing of the past with VoIP. Many modern businesses, large and small, do global business and VoIP can significantly bring down the costs associated with these calls.
  • Virtual assistant accessibility. VoIP goes beyond traditional voicemail in that it offers an ability to offer pre-recorded options; callers can choose what action they want to take when the person they are trying to reach is unavailable.

Unified Communications

Unified Communications (UC) is the integration of communication methods within a business. UC is a huge up and coming solution in the business environment. The ability to combine communication and collaborative tools and services under one system helps SMBs optimize processes, boost productivity, and improve their customer service.

As the communication world goes more virtual and gravitates towards cloud technologies, UC is going to become even more powerful. How it works is UC enables users to control all of their communication tools–both real and non-real-time–from a singular platform. This unified approach:

  • Increases presence and mobility
  • Offers flexible options
  • Provides good scalability
  • Is financially feasible

Unified Communications and VoIP have some commonalties, but they do split when it comes to the span of services they are equipped to provide. UC takes things a step further by incorporating real-time communication and collaboration (e.g., messaging, screen sharing, etc.) into a singular and seamless interface and experience. VoIP can be a part of UC, but it cannot offer this wider scope of services on its own. This makes it more of a cutting-edge experience when contrasted with Unified Communications.

Calling Features

To be more efficient and productive, there are several features available SMBs should consider utilizing to make the most of their telephony investment. They include:

  • Voicemail. Never miss a message; opting for traditional, along with visual voicemail, allows for multi-tasking when on other calls.
  • Call forwarding. Important calls are never missed because they can be forwarded to other phone numbers–especially helpful for SMBs who have a limited number of people available to answer the phone.
  • Manage calls from the web. Simple point-and-click movements can enable users to set up their phone service to access via an interface online from wherever they are.
  • Hold message (or music). Statistics indicate people are more likely to hold if they aren’t met with silence.
  • Caller ID. A must in any environment in the modern world.
  • Multi-party conferencing. Add additional people into conversations for seamless collaboration.
  • Auto-attendant. Serves as a virtual assistant to route calls without the need for human intervention.
  • Headset enabled. A hands-free work experience increases productivity and efficiency.
  • Hunt group. This feature enables SMBs to take more calls without customers and clients being placed on hold since calls are routed to the next available person.
  • Microphone mute. An important feature to have to filter out unwanted sounds.

When choosing a modern telephone system, SMBs should make it a priority to consider scalability. Your needs will likely change as your business grows and it is more cost-efficient to invest in a flexible system that not only meets today’s needs, but tomorrow’s as well. Choose the features needed now but leave room for expansion so additional features can be added in the future as needed.

If you think your Philadelphia-based small- or medium-sized business would benefit from a VoIP or Unified Communications system, contact KDI Office Technology today to learn more about your options and we’ll be happy to help you identify the right phone system for your business.