A virtual phone system comes in the form of a singular platform which combines the functionalities of traditional phone systems into one, allowing users to have access to them whilst also being able to use additional features. Virtual phone systems make it easy for a business and its employees to be able to communicate with each other in an efficient way, while also being able to communicate with clients and customers at the same time. They are also able to access helpful features such as transferring calls, holding calls with music, having automated messages set up and having an instant chat feature. All of these features are beneficial to any business which is customer facing, and any business in general. This is because it is essential for any employees to be able to communicate with each other and across departments, in order to share real time data and information. A virtual phone system makes this possible, and as such they should be treated as an essential asset for any business.

If you are a business and still using traditional phone systems, then you are definitely behind on the times. You should be considering moving to a virtual phone system if you are reading this article.

Here are some of the different functionalities that virtual phone systems can bring to businesses which make them valuable.

Daytime and after hours greetings and automated messages

Daytime and after hours greetings and automated messages are a great feature of virtual phone systems. This can be argued to be one of the most important aspects of the virtual phone system. Day and night greetings ensure that your business will never miss out on any calls and ensures customers will get the service that they want. If a customer calls after business hours, then it looks much more professional for an automated message to let them know or refer them to a bot which will help with their enquiries. This is such a simple functionality, but it is so effective in its purpose. It makes such a big difference to have an automated message, regardless of whether the business is within or out of hours. Some of these virtual phone systems can even handle multiple callers at once, which makes staffing easier as you do not need to hire as many staff to handle the same amount of work. Regardless of the situation, you will never miss an opportunity when it comes to answering customer calls.

Call redirection

Call redirection is important for any business, especially one that will need to be able to face customers and clients. Customers will often call to enquire about topics that may concern other departments, and as such, they will need to be transferred. Being transferred using traditional phone systems means you will need to remember individual extension numbers, and because of this it can be difficult to do within a large corporation. As such, a virtual phone system can be used to differentiate users and contact them, while being able to transfer calls and add people to calls. This also makes its easy to have meetings with clients where multiple callers are on one line, rather than using multiple different platforms.

Call recording

Analytics and reporting is one of the most important things to do in any business in the modern age. Big data reigns supreme over the business world, and as such, it is important for any business to be recording, analyzing and reporting on any and all data. For that reason, you should be recording your calls and the data associated with it, such as how many calls you do, how many your receive, how many people call back as a conversion and so on. This data can then be analyzed and reported on in order for the marketing team to be able to make strategic decisions based on this data that will then bring in more clients or customers.

Increased communication

Increased communication is a key benefit of having virtual phone systems within your business operation. Increased communication is the crucial aspect for any customer facing business and having virtual phone systems is the way to go when it comes to increasing communication. Being able to make outgoing calls is important and being able to receive them whilst also adding people and transferring calls is also equally important. A customer facing business will do a lot of this, and as such, a virtual phone system can help. They can add features which can help users to be able to call and message between departments, as well as share data that is needed for decision making. Many businesses have the issue of ‘data silos’, where departments do not communicate with each other enough, resulting in silos where data is not transmitted enough, and poor decisions are being made. This is because there is no real time communication between departments, and they do not know what is going on with each other.

Decreased costs

Decreased costs are a big part of why people use virtual phone systems. Traditional phone systems involve using new hardware and installing it into a building for users to access. This means you have to buy new hardware and pay someone to install it into a building with wiring and such. As the business grows, so does the need to do this over and over. With virtual phone systems, you cans imply just buy the software, then install it onto existing hardware devices. It is usable on a variety of different types of devices, and any user who wants to access it can do so by accessing the software. Accounts just need to be bought by the business, which is usually priced into tiers. Tiers determine how many users can access the software and what functionality may be required. As a result, smaller businesses can opt for lower tiers and only pay for what they actually need, whereas bigger corporations can opt for the higher tiers to access more user space and increased functionality. Decreased costs is something that every business is trying to achieve, as it means that they can use their income for a variety of other reasons, including an increased profit. With virtual phone systems, they are cutting out the costs of buying hardware and installing it into a system and are there decreasing costs significantly in the long run.

Scalable for business

A business must be scalable, especially in the beginning stages. In the early stages of development, a business will experience a large movement of growth if it is successful. As such, a business must be scalable according to the growth. With traditional phone systems, scalability is hard to do and expensive as it means you need to buy new phones and pays someone to wire them in and install them. With virtual phone systems, you are able to just add more users, and they can then access the software.

In summary, virtual phone systems are perfect for any business, but especially those which are customer facing. They have many benefits and functionalities that come with them that make them ideal for these situations, and should be heavily considered.