Small Medium Business Voip Phone System

If you’re a startup or small business, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) can help you in lots of different ways, from saving money to providing your employees with better technology to use.

Want to learn more? This guide is going to cover everything VoIP-related in detail.

What is VoIP?

VoIP is a smart technology that allows you to make calls over the internet instead of traditional landlines. Because of this, VoIP is commonly referred to as ‘internet calling’.

Is VoIP Popular?

VoIP is experiencing positive growth with small and medium-size businesses. Here are some fun facts that you’ll find useful.

By 2025, SMBs will be responsible for 15% of growth in the VoIP market:

SMBs are investing in VoIP due to small budgets and the increasing number of people that are working from home
31% of all-size businesses now use VoIP

Clearly, VoIP has become a big force in the world of business. However, it still has a long way to go, as there are millions of businesses that have yet to adopt it.

Small businesses are turning to VoIP by ditching their landline providers and switching to VoIP ones, instead. Their VoIP providers supply them with the software and apps they need which then get added to the relevant business devices, such as computers and smartphones.

Benefits of VoIP for Small Businesses

If you’re a small business owner, you will want to know exactly how VoIP will benefit you. Luckily, VoIP phone systems are packed with benefits.

Let’s take a look at some of the best ones.

Cost Saving

Every small business on the planet wants to save more money – especially during these tough economic times.

With a VoIP phone system, you’ll be able to save potentially thousands of pounds over the coming years.

VoIP is always cheaper than a landline. Why? Because it uses the internet.

So, in comparison to traditional landline calls, you’ll be saving a ton of money. Plus, if you tend to make a lot of international calls to customers and clients, you’ll be saving even more money.

As you probably know already, making international calls using a landline is going to rack up a scary phone bill. With a VoIP system, it won’t.

Due to the fact that you’ll be saving all this money thanks to VoIP, you’ll then be able to invest your savings elsewhere, such as:

Sales
Marketing
Recruitment

It’s the smart way to operate a small business, as you’ll save money in the short and long-term.

Accessibility

Because VoIP phones use the internet, it means employees can access them anytime, anywhere.

For example, if you have phone agents who work remotely from home, they will be able to connect to their VoIP phones using their home internet connections. From there, they will be able to speak with customers as if they were sat in an office. The only difference now is that they’re at home.

It’s important to recognise that working from home is the future, particularly for customer service and sales representatives who speak with customers over the phone. Of course, the only way these employees will be able to work remotely is by using a VoIP phone system. Otherwise, they’ll be stuck in the office using a landline, instead!

Scalability

Whether you’re hiring or firing employees, VoIP phone systems can scale up or down with you accordingly. All you will need to do is add and remove users from your VoIP userbase: it’s that simple.

Generally, most owners want to grow their small businesses. However, you can only successfully grow a business when it’s possible to scale your resources at the same time.

For example, let’s say you want to hire 100 new employees. This is great, but there’s no logic behind this if you aren’t going to upgrade your office space to accommodate them all!

The same applies with your phone system. If you’re going to hire lots of new phone agents, then you need a scalable phone system. In today’s world, VoIP phone systems are the most scalable option available.

Auto Attendant

Have you ever called up a company only for the line to ring and suddenly end? That would be an example of poor-quality customer service.

Now, when modern customers call companies, they want to be handled in a professional and friendly manner. Auto attendants are a big part of this.

VoIP phone systems all come with the option for auto attendants. What this means is that you can instruct your auto attendants to behave how you want them to.

Typically, an auto attendant will greet a customer, give them optional departments to choose from, followed by predicted waiting times until a real representative can answer the phone.

Auto attendants are great tools for reducing the amount of dropped calls and unhappy customers you encounter, which is definitely something for you to bear in mind.

Wide-Range of Features

In addition to the auto attendant, VoIP phone systems provide businesses with a variety of other game-changing features. Here are some that might capture your attention:

Call recording
Voicemail forwarding
Video conferencing
VoIP switchboard
Call queuing
Hold music

Plus, because VoIP systems can be continuously updated with new features over the internet, you can expect a lot more features to come in the future. For now, though, it’s recommended that you make the most of the existing features.

As an example, call recording is an amazing tool for training new and current employees. All you have to do is sit down with your employees and listen back to the recorded calls together. When doing this, you will be able to provide them with hints and tips about what you expect them to do better. A common piece of feedback for customer service representatives is that they’re not professional enough when dealing with customers on the phone, or that they need to be more friendly.

Also, don’t worry: it’s 100% legal to record customer calls providing that they give consent.

Happier (and More Productive) Staff

When it comes to your small business, the most valuable assets you have are your staff.

Phone staff are especially important in the modern age of customer service, which is why it’s important to keep them as happy and productive as possible. This way, everyone wins.

Naturally, phone staff are only as good as the tools at their disposal. If you provide them with clunky and old landline phones, they’re going to struggle. But with a modern VoIP system, they’ll be able to perform to their maximum capabilities.

From forwarding calls to putting customers on hold, VoIP makes life easy for staff. Plus, it alleviates stress (particularly for those who work long hours).

Modernise How You Operate

Lastly, VoIP can modernise how your small business operates. You’ll be able to handle customers in an efficient manner, speak to clients like professionals, and have all the features at your disposal that you could possibly need.

On top of this, traditional landline systems will soon go extinct when the ISDN switch off happens in 2025. What this means is that most businesses will quickly jump ship so that they can get access to a VoIP system before everyone else does. Otherwise, they’ll be stuck with landline phones that no longer work!

The Future of Your SME and VoIP

Now that we’ve covered everything in relation to VoIP, you should now have a much better understanding of why it is so important – especially for small and medium-size businesses.

No matter how many employees you have or whether they work in the office or remotely, you should make it your main focus to get a VoIP phone system. This will massively benefit you and your customers, as you’ll be able to provide modern and efficient customer service.

Remember, VoIP will:

Save you costs
Future-proof your business
Allow you greater control over your phone activity
Enable you to grow your business more quickly
Provide you with an excellent range of features not available with traditional landline phones

In an area of business where it’s key to save costs and operate in a modern way, VoIP will help you to tick all the key boxes. The fact that it’s relatively cheap makes this a no-brainer.

Conclusion

If you’re now interested in getting a VoIP system for your small business, you’ll need to find a reliable VoIP provider – such as wayv. Get in touch with us today and we will provide you with a quote that’s centred around your type of business and the number of employees that you have. After an initial consultation, our engineers will be able to come and set you up in no time, meaning you’ll be able to start operating like a modern business without having to wait too long.

Don’t worry if you currently use a landline-based system, as these can quickly be replaced by VoIP. Best of all, VoIP requires very little hardware, meaning you’ll also be able to free up lots more space in your office