Businesses of all sizes are now moving to voice over ip for their prefered communication methods. There is a broad range of benefits for businesses that choose to switch to this form of communication. Depending on the size of your organisation, will depend on your specific calling needs and requirements.
VoIP has grown significantly over the past couple of years, which is why it has become to so popular. A business that has also looked at installing VoIP has also installed fibre cabling for a more speedy and reliable way of communication. Many businesses we have spoken to are often first a little wary about installing VoIP due to the lack of technical expertise. Others have also said that their lack of budget also prevents them from doing so, but what many do not realise is the savings VoIP will provide you in the future.
Advantages of Voice over IP
1. Management
Installing a traditional phone system into an office can take a considerable amount of time. Not only does it require an appointment with a vendor as well as booking a scheduled day for them to come in and install it but it also requires more cabling than VoIP would.
When you want to install VoIP into your office space getting started is easy. All you will require is handsets, as VoIP installations use your existing wiring as well as switches from your LAN. If you do not have internal expertise, it also won’t cost you a lot of money to get some from an external company.
2. Contact Centre
For those businesses that have customer services desk, VoIP caters to the needs of any size customer service team. It allows you to provide a well round customer service experience for customers and clients. Not only can customer service representatives chat with them over the phone but they can also discuss via live chat and emails.
Many VoIP services also have analytical tools which allow you to monitor and measure calls, providing you with smarter ways of staffing and great ways of showing you where someone may need training.
3. Add on features
We said it earlier, and we will say it again, VoIP is flexible for your business and will work to your specific needs and requirements. Smaller businesses may need minimal features which will help to make the systems as cost-effective as possible.
Now you may be wondering what the add-ons are, here we have only mentioned a few. However, there are many more you can unlock:
- Data Integration – Voicemails can be transcripted into emails
- Interactive Voice Recognition – Smarter call routing, specific software which helps divert calls
- Remote Management – You can create additional phone lines at any point
- Chat – this can be used both internally and externally to provide additional ways of communicating with staff and customers
4. Flexibility and Scalability
When it comes to using a normal phone system adding an additional phone line can sometimes be hard, especially when you have to deal with a vendor. When you have VoIP, you can add new phone lines at any point without any of the hassles. The flexibility and scalability of VoIP is great for businesses that believe they will grow but also those who may have seasonal staff.
5. Data Integration
Provide your customers and clients with the best “customer experience” by integrating your communication across a range of channels including live chat, social media, email, phones and voicemail. You can also find a range of VoIP systems that work with your CRM tools; this will allow you to analyse how every form of communication is working for your business and ways you can improve it.
6. Unified Business Communications
By having all your communications systems integrated with your internet connectivity all on the same network, you can troubleshoot quicker if you ever have any issues. It has been known to increase employee productivity as they can access different form of communication and are more likely to complete a task at a quicker rate. VoIP has been proven to improve team collaboration as well as the customer satisfaction rate due to transparency.
7. Cost
One of the best benefits of installing VoIP in your business is the cost it will save you. Of course like anything there is an initial investment to purchase the handsets as well as the bill; however, your bill will be for your internet and phones rather than being with two different providers. According to Tech.co Small businesses that switched to VoIP services managed to reduce their call cost by up to 40%. The same small businesses that would have been making international calls, which we all know cost a fortune also managed to save up to 90%.
8. Mobility
When your first sign up to VoIP one of the first add-ons you will be offered is mobility, this is a great feature which you should really consider. Not only does it mean you can have handsets and mobile phones ringing simultaneously, but it also means if you have staff that work from home or travel they can still be reached. Mobility is a fantastic way of increasing productivity as well as your communication.
9. Customer Service
We have previously mentioned this point, but its imperative you understand how beneficial VoIP is to your customer’s experience. Customers love VoIP; it enables them to reach and communicate with customer representatives on a range of different platforms.
With the right add-on features, you can ensure your clients or customers reach the right person, the signal is not as busy, you provide higher quality calls, but the response you provide will also be much faster. Most VoIP providers will also help install the system to work with your CRM tools, which helps you give top quality customer service.
10. Productivity
Productivity certainly increases with VoIP, not only can your employees access every call, but they can also access voicemails they may have missed by voicemail transcripts being accessed through emails. You will notice that there are no longer missed calls, and you can also have data integration which provides you with the analytical tools. This also allows you to see where different employees may need training in specific areas.
Do you now want VoIP?
VoIP has been installed in a range of businesses both big and small, all of which have experienced all of the benefits mentioned in this article. If you are looking to cut down costs, increase productivity and provide your customers and clients with a better experience, then VoIP is for you.
