Must-Have Features for Your Company’s Phone System

Posted: May 13, 2021

One of the biggest lessons businesses have had to learn over the course of the pandemic is just how vital good communication is. Being able to effectively communicate with customers, team members, suppliers, and everyone else you do business with can make all the difference.

Older phone systems can be expensive when it comes to adding more users or extending their capabilities, so most businesses find it cost-effective to upgrade to more modern Voice over IP phone systems. Before you do though, here are some features and drawbacks to look out for.

The Best VoIP Features for British Columbia Businesses

Low Upfront Costs

This isn’t always a feature for all VoIP systems, because there are VoIP platforms out there that require the installation of a server much like a traditional phone system. There are going to be situations that require this type of setup, but for most businesses, VoIP’s biggest setup cost is the configuration and potentially upgrading any desk phone that might need it. This is much better than having to purchase a new phone system, run new cables, purchasing additional trunks (outbound phone lines), and the ongoing costs that come from the telephone company.

In fact, many businesses usually just start with a monthly fee per seat and can purchase new handsets as needed. The reality is, VoIP can save your business money.

You do need to have enough bandwidth on your network to support VoIP and a good QoS (Quality of Service—a term for how dependable your internal network is). If your network is a little old or not well-maintained, you may need to budget in some upgrades to get the most out of your VoIP system.

Email Integration

Email is the backbone for many workers, and having the ability to listen to a new voicemail right from your email on any device helps ensure that communication points don’t get missed. Most VoIP systems have this capability, but you’ll want to check and make sure before you sign a contract. Plus, you’ll want to make sure that the feature is enabled and set up for all of your users.

Conference Calling

This is huge for sales teams, customer support, and for internal teams alike. Being able to quickly pull in other team members can change the way you collaborate. When account managers can bring in customer support staff on the fly, or sales people can conference other users in to answer questions, the level of customer service you can provide increases tenfold. Some lesser VoIP systems require you to set up conference calls in advance—it’s a nice feature to have, but what you really want to look for is reservationless or on-the-fly conferencing.

You should also make sure that your new VoIP system supports barging, recording, and call transfer. These are pretty basic features that most systems have covered, but you don’t want to get stuck with a system that doesn’t include these or hides them behind hidden fees.

Flexible Mobility

Don’t keep your employees stuck behind a desk in order to stay connected. Whether you have staff that needs to travel, salespeople who make onsite visits, or a fully remote workforce, your VoIP system should be able to accommodate.

This means staff should be able to make and receive calls from any device as long as the VoIP client is installed and configured. There should be no compromises in functionality either: you should get the same features from your desk phone as you do on your laptop and smartphone. This truly sets a VoIP service apart from others and should be a key feature to look for.

Automatic Updates

Like any new technology being added to your business, you’ll want to have a clear understanding of what it will take to manage and maintain your new VoIP phone system. Fortunately, many solutions offer automatic updates and don’t require any interaction.

Before You Call a VoIP Service Provider

At Digital Sky Solutions, we’ve been working with businesses throughout British Columbia with their information technology. This includes helping organizations establish or upgrade their VoIP phone system. We can help you sift through all of the options available so you can choose the system that’s best for what you need. VoIP is a smart business technology for today’s business environment.

We’re also proudly partnered with Shaw, which means we can help you negotiate the best contract while skipping the tedious paperwork and long on-hold lines. We’ll also keep track of your contract for you so that it doesn’t expire or increase in price by switching from a yearly contract to month-to-month.

Don’t get put on hold—give Digital Sky Solutions a call at (250) 483-5623 today.

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