Long gone are the days when businesses required an onsite phone system with expensive, dedicated circuits — now VoIP business features allow you to send and receive calls over your existing network. And, by leveraging your existing equipment and Internet connection, your costs stay low — a necessity for small businesses!
With Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone systems you have all the benefits of an old-school, onsite system, and more, including calling anyone with a telephone number, long-distance, local, mobile, or even international. Some options even allow you to connect a traditional phone to a VoIP adapter so that you can use your VoIP services anywhere.
While there are many advantages of VoIP business systems, such as lower calling cost, greater manageability, and enhanced mobility, there are a few features absolutely essential to any small or medium business.
The Top 5 Must-Have VoIP Business Features
Extensions
Firstly, your phone system must have multiple extensions. Having the ability to receive multiple calls and route them to other people or message systems is vital for any company. Virtual extensions allow a single phone number to receive multiple calls which can be answered by a “live” person or by system auto-attendant and then properly routed to the desired department or staff member regardless of whether they are in the same building or physical location. These are a wonderful bonus to companies like non-profits and medical centers that field many daily calls. And, when you use a provider like Net3IT with managed services offerings and support, you receive added integrations with some of the newest technologies. For example, Microsoft Teams is a collaborative secure environment for shared files, screen shares, notes, chats, and information logs integrated into Net3IT’s cloud phone solutions.
IVR or Attendant
The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) or system auto attendant feature can eliminate the need for a receptionist and make even the smallest business big. The IVR acts as a virtual assistant to answer incoming calls with a custom greeting. From there, callers can select departments, extensions, or pre-recorded messages. Depending on how you customize your IVR, clients could use a dial-by-name or dial-by-extension option.
Find me/Follow me
Find me or Follow me refers to a list of preset numbers the system will try to reach you through. When you are away from your desk or on the road, you no longer have to worry about missing calls. If you miss a call to your desk phone, the system will push the call through to the next number on your list. If you’re still unavailable the call is routed to your voicemail, automatically and can be emailed directly to you for convenient listening. With this feature, you’ll never miss out on an important call again.
Call Recording
Next, your phone system should have the ability to record your calls. Whether the message contains vital details you may need later or is used for training, recording is a vital asset. With VoIP services, recording can be accomplished with the click of a mouse. You won’t even have to have set up something prior to the need. And, once recorded, the message can be stored and easily retrieved later. This gives you the ability to check the quality of your work and make sure it always stays high.
Conference Calling
Finally, conference calling is an obvious necessity. With built-in conference features, you’ll be able to organize calls and access them inside or outside your company through the conference line. You can access conference calls at any time simply by entering a password. This is just an added layer of security for you and your clients. Additionally, you can easily connect to your remote offices or add an unlimited number of participants to your calls.
While these are the top VoIP business features your business needs, there are many others that you take your company to the next level. Other VoIP features to look for are:
- Application Integration (MS-Outlook, Salesforce, URL based, Click-to-Dial)
- Voicemail
- Call forwarding
- Caller ID
- Intercom/Paging
- Free domestic long-distance calls
- International calls
- System management
At Net3IT, we’ve installed VoIP for businesses of all sizes, across a range of industries. Of our existing clients, all have made the switch from traditional to VoIP because of its features. The best VoIP business features include cost-savings, scalability, robust feature set, and ease of use. Contact us to learn more about what VoIP phone services can add to your business!