A Complete Guide To VoIP For Small Businesses

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. The VoIP for small business is a technology to place and receive calls over the internet. VoIP does not require the traditional phone landline system to place a call. VoIP is considered more reliable than traditional telephone lines. One is able to place calls through a broadband internet connection. Thus, to ensure a smooth call, all you need is a strong internet connection. Mostly, you will be able to call anyone with a functional mobile number through VoIP. 

What are the advantages of a VoIP System?

One of the most basic advantages of using VoIP for small business is that it can offer some extra features and services which are not usually included with traditional phone services. Avoiding paying for both a broadband connection and a traditional telephone line is also possible

Some of the services offered in VoIP Systems include : 

Lower Cost

As discussed earlier, VoIP systems make use of Internet Connections to place call. All businesses already have an internet connection in place, so no extra money in terms of resources is expended on deploying the VoIP for small business.

Cost of placing calls on traditional phone systems is costlier than what is used for VoIP calling. Placing calls over traditional phone lines means that one phone line is occupied by two callers using it to communicate. Since there can be only a limited number of lines that can be installed, calls placed over landlines, especially if they are long-distance, are expensive. In contrast, using the Internet to relay call data circumvents this problem, making domestic and long distance calls cheaper overall.

Conferencing Features Made Simple

VoIP calls are made through one common data network as opposed to traditional phone lines. This helps make conference calls much easier.

Although conferencing is also available with traditional phone lines, you will have to play additional charges to host multiple callers.

With a converged data network, these features are typically native and the cost is built into the already lower price of the VoIP service that you’re already paying for.

Apart from this, you can also use VoIP services to make video calls as well, a feature far from available with traditional phone lines.

Improved Mobility

You are no longer tied to your desk with VoIP phone services. This means that you can place or take calls from anywhere, as long as you are connected to the internet.

On Traditional phone lines, each one is assigned it’s own number. This means that whenever a call is received on a particular line only that line receives it. To forward the call, one needs to remember right codes or keys to dial on your phone.

In contrast, with VoIP services calls can be received from anywhere, by anyone.

Extensive Additional Features

VoIP systems can be connected to varied devices to keep your business’ productivity high.
Features like  caller ID, virtual numbers, contact lists, voicemail etc are also usually included with VoIP services. IVR responses can also be initiated wih VoIP services. This means that calls can be routed to the desired department directly by the caller themself. Voicemails and messages can be forwarded to multiple colleagues with a single click, and voicemail-to-text transcriptions can be sent directly to your inbox so they can be reviewed while on the go.

Why should you use VoIP for small business? 

Reliability

An understandable objection to Voip for small business operations is that if the internet connection fails, the phone system would stop working too.  Although the physical desk phones at the location would fail, a major benefit of a VoIP system is that in the event of office phones going down because of an internet outage, calls can continue to ring on a mobile app or PC softphone. If those services are not enabled, then you can activate them in a matter of minutes for little or no cost.

2. Scalability

Highly efficient business systems scale with the needs of the business, but traditional phones systems are far more difficult to scale. Scalability is one of the benefits of VoIP that supports your efficiency and productivity while remaining highly cost effective at the same time.VoIP systems allow you to add a line as you hire a new employee and eliminate lines in the case of downsizing. You’re only ever paying for what you need.

3. Affordability

Whether your VoIP system is hardware based or software based, a major advantage of it over the traditional phones is its affordability. Since in both the cases calls are made over the internet, you need not bear the cost of  the call rates of telephone service providers. You would be able to place calls at significantly lower rates or even free. Installation of the hardware or software based VoIP system is also hassle free and doesn’t cost a fortune. If you choose a cloud based VoIP system there is no need to install any extra equipment or appoint employees to install and maintain it.Even hardware based VoIP systems need only the VoIP phones that are then connected to the router with an ethernet cable.

4. Real Time Metrics

Using Landline telephones for business communications limits you from understanding the call metrics. With VoIP, one can easily track important metrics such total call time, average handle time, hold time etc. These will help you to understand how you could handle calls better. Customer experience can be significantly improved once you are able to measure your performance. Emitrr allows  VoIP for small business through it’s software service. You can place a call by either :1. Going to Conversations in the main panel, selecting a conversation and then selecting the ‘call’ icon beside the contact name. 

Going to ‘Calls’ in the main panel and selecting the call icon on top. 

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