More companies are making the transition from analog phone services to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). This innovative telephony system — which is becoming the new business standard — offers feature-rich, adaptable communication technologies.
Although many businesses first consider VoIP because of its cost savings, it’s the radical improvements over traditional phone systems that make them happy. Companies get to select and implement the features best suited to their business. And with cloud-based phones like those offered by Vodigy, features can be added or subtracted with almost zero interruption of service.
The only downside to cloud-based phones is that productivity-enhancing functionalities may be released that you’re not even aware of. Here are seven overlooked VoIP features that are ideal for SMBs.
Device compatibility
VoIP systems are designed to be flexible, so you can basically install them in any digital telephone or device. The possibilities range from desktop business phones to computers, mobile phones, and even tablets. Products distributed by Vodigy let you switch calls between a mobile device and landline anytime with a push of a button, and you can also listen to voicemail from your inbox.
Do not disturb
The name of this feature says it all. You can activate this feature to stop your phone from receiving incoming calls for a limited time, making it valuable for times when you have a meeting or conference to attend. Cloud phones take this feature one step further by letting you forward incoming calls to various colleagues depending on certain variables, like the time of day or who’s calling.
Conferencing
Many people know that VoIP is great for conference calls, but do not make use of all its capabilities. You can take advantage of this feature by setting up a digital conference floor monitor to manage things like muting individual speakers, screen sharing, and invitations. Online conferences can get chaotic if not properly managed. This tool is the solution.
Auto-attendant
Although this used to be a feature reserved for large enterprises, it’s now well within the realm of SMB budgets. Auto-attendant helps callers get to the right person quickly with recorded prompts that can be answered with a key press. Having this electronic receptionist managing the phone lines will impress your customers and add a touch of professionalism to your office. And best of all you can tweak and update your auto-attendant easily and remotely so everything is always current! Cloud phones by Vodigy have a “Queueing” feature where incoming callers don’t hear a busy signal and are lined up until they are able to speak to the employee or agent.
Coaching tools
If your office has a call center, these features can help the Quality Assurance people monitor and train their employees for better results. For example, the “Whisper” tool lets the QA team provide information, tips, and advice to employees as they are talking to clients without clients noticing the employee being coached. Or, the “Barge” tool lets authorized personnel listen to a call between the client and employee without disrupting things. If you’re more interested in post-call coaching, detailed reporting features allow you to analyze dozens of data points for each call.
Reports for Inbound/Outbound Calls
Your business needs data tracking tools to know where to effectively focus energy and time on. A managed VoIP service that is cloud-based can offer information on inbound and outbound calls for the cost, origin, and duration of the call in the call history details. Cloud phones distributed by Vodigy offer historical and real-time reporting so your company gains insight on its performance.
Call screening
As one of the most underrated features of VoIP services, this lets set up rules for how a call is handled based on the caller ID. If for instance the wife of the boss is calling the company line, call screening can forward her to the boss’s mobile phone. Another possible application is sending annoying telemarketers straight to a “special” voicemail.
At this point, VoIP systems are so much cheaper than the alternatives, there’s no reason not to make the switch. But with a small investment in flat-fee support from a managed IT services provider, you can enjoy all the latest and greatest features without rolling up your sleeves and diving into complicated configurations.
Do you have questions or need more information about our business? Feel free to call us today and talk to us!
