Traditional landline phone systems may never entirely disappear, but for companies that have discovered modern-day VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone systems, the old way of making and taking calls may as well not even exist anymore.
That’s because VoIP makes installing, managing, and expanding one’s telephone service much easier. And, its array of features and functionality helps employees work more efficiently, giving business owners very little reason to ever turn back to POTS.
POTS refers to the “Plain Old Telephone Service” that we all know involves more than a few hassles and headaches. So ridding yourself of the complex setup, inconsistent call quality, complicated invoices, and shoddy customer service seems like reason enough to make the switch; but today, we’ll focus on how switching from POTS to VoIP boosts users’ productivity.
Features Overview
Your Voice-over-Internet phone system will be set up so your users can make and take calls using software. This may not sound like such a big deal, but the huge benefit is that it’s not only simple for you to install -- or have installed for you by an IT service provider -- but it’s simple to use.
Just like any other software app, VoIP users can point and click in a browser to take advantage of all the neat features. These include a sophisticated virtual receptionist with a seemingly sixth sense for routing calls; unified messaging tools that send voicemails straight to users’ email as text; easy-to-use browser-based video conferencing functionality; and more, all aimed at improving office workers’ efficiency.
Virtual Receptionist
Also known as the digital receptionist or auto-attendant feature of a VoIP system, the virtual receptionist serves as a stand-in for whoever would otherwise be physically answering telephone calls in your company.
Not having to answer calls can free up quite a bit of time for employees to stay on task with whatever they’re working on. And they can personalize the virtual receptionist to answer and distribute calls according to certain criteria, such as time of day, day of the week, where the call is coming from, and who’s calling.
“Find me / Follow me”
This feature allows employees to assign themselves a “virtual phone number” and have calls into the company VoIP system routed to different locations and devices.
So, whether a user is at their desk, another branch location, their home, or on their mobile device at the airport -- and since you can select for only specific incoming calls to be routed to the virtual number -- calls will always go to the right support staff and cut down on calls taking up the wrong person’s time.
Unified Messaging
Voicemail used to be a futuristic feature of business phone systems, but it honestly hasn’t changed much from what it was initially intended to do. Today, it still records messages and saves them for later listening, with a few improvements like more robust management tools and forwarding ability.
But how about forwarding them not as audible recordings, but as text messages? That’s exactly what VoIP allows with its voicemail-to-text transcription function. Just imagine: Instead of listening to a two-minute voicemail on your iPhone and then tap-tap-tapping a summary into an email, the VoIP system does the work for you so you can simply copy and paste the bits you need.
Video Conferencing
This is another familiar aspect of business telecom that VoIP makes easier. Rather than having to set up a bunch of expensive peripheral hardware and install additional software on your phones, VoIP contains just about everything you need for video conferencing, built-in and ready to go on all your devices.
You’ll be able to dial into a virtual conference room from a desktop, tablet, or smartphone, which means video conferencing is available on demand from inside your business phone system. Plus, you can easily share documents, videos, screenshots, and other media during your conference call because VoIP seamlessly integrates with other apps like Salesforce CRM and Microsoft Office 365.
Overall Benefits
If we wanted to be clever and come up with another descriptive acronym -- one that pertains to the overall benefits of VoIP compared with POTS -- perhaps it would be SAP.
Simplicity -- VoIP systems are browser-based and require minimal effort to set them up and add new users.
Accessibility -- All your users need is an Internet connection and their PC & headset or their mobile device.
Productivity -- Does your traditional phone system use an AI to answer and route calls, turn audio files into text files automatically, and provide everything you need for high-quality conference calls? We didn’t think so.
Or maybe we should rechristen VoIP so it stands for something else, like Very obviously Increased Productivity. If you like the sound of that, and if you like saving money, give us a call so we can assess your business’s VoIP-readiness!