In this day and age, we see several business communication systems pop up every so often. This makes it difficult for business owners to make a selection that is effective and the closest fit to what they want.

It is particularly tricky when choosing VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) as it has a significant prominence in the marketplace. Below is a guide to help you buy the correct business communication system for your company.

1.  Are The Calling Features Relevant To Your Needs?

This is one of the key questions a business owner must answer. Learn about the features offered in each phone system and consider all the possibilities. Almost all systems have primary features: call forwarding, call hold, voicemail, call reporting, etcetera. But not all functionality for these commonly named features is the same!

Hosted VoIP systems offer additional features that the traditional phone company and cable bundlers tend to ignore. It offers call recording and computer desktop integration with tools like voice, video, fax, texting, instant messaging, and much more.

Modern business communication systems provide powerful call reporting capabilities that help employers evaluate trends and employee activity while they offer insights enabling managers to identify new opportunities. The Clarity Voice cloud-hosted system comes with over 100+ calling features, including mobile apps, desktop plugins, voicemail to email, eFax, text messaging and more.

2. Customer Support

Most small to mid-sized businesses are on the lookout for technical support. They don’t have a designated IT staff that maintains the phone’s function. Hosted VoIP providers manage their phone systems virtually, unlike traditional telephone companies that require on-premise maintenance and troubleshooting.

Their cloud-hosted PBX, allows them to maintain, troubleshoot, and secure their system virtually. This resolves problems quickly and efficiently. Even though some providers offer support through websites, customers prefer talking directly to knowledgeable representatives to resolve their issues in real-time. A common complaint that global VoIP brands receive is support agents that have significant dialect differences and/or lack of expertise. Look for service providers whose support staff speak native English and possess technical know-how. When your phones are down, the last thing you want is to talk to someone who takes extra time reading a manual to you with a thick accent – this will be the moment you wish you hadn’t picked the cheapest VoIP provider.

Business owners should be extremely vigilant about fully understanding the services provided by each communication system and take that factor into account when making a decision to buy what they are offering.

3. Reliability

Reliability means customers have continuous access to their phone system. Today, most providers have significantly improved their overall reliability, especially the hosted VoIP providers.

Unlike traditional premise-based solutions, like downed telephone lines, fire, and flood, a hosted system operates in data centers, containing redundant power and cooling.

VoIP providers also have fail-over solutions to guard against local internet or power outages.

4. Information Security

Regardless of whether communicating with traditional copper wires or over the internet using VoIP, businesses must consider the security and stability of their system. For example, if you choose to use call recording – can you redact credit card data or store HIPPA protected files in secure systems?

Surprisingly not all business phone providers today have invested in maintaining superior security and deliver solutions to customers with confidence. VoIP security should be a priority to safeguard both your business data and your customer conversations.

So much so that even small to mid-sized businesses are choosing to go the cloud system route rather than take the on the liability associated with on-premise PBX management.

5. Focus on NEED, not price

This may not seem like a strategy, but unfortunately, many providers market themselves solely to save business owners some money. However, this way of looking at products or services will only undermine your ability to maximize revenue, which is VoIP’s actual value.

Call handling can have a direct effect on sales and customer satisfaction that drive repeat purchases. Tools like text messaging can speed approvals increasing your ability to serve more customers, in-ring messaging can prompt add-on orders and upsells, and better communication with customers certainly correlates to better ratings and reviews. To gain a competitive edge, businesses that prioritize their call-in customers will have a higher sales conversion rate.

Cost-saving is a calculated decision; however, it should never be solely based on this factor alone. You must understand how your business wants to use its telephone service. VoIP can:

  • Help eliminate interruptions for busy teams
  • Speed callers to live-answer agents sparking higher sales conversion rates
  • Promote, prompt and educate callers about new products or service
  • Provide management with key insights that can help improve staffing, training, selling and service

How you choose to set-up your VoIP system is unique to you and can create a competitive advantage too.

Ultimately form should follow function, and price should be balanced by benefits when buying a business communication system.

If you’d like to learn how to gain more customers by utilizing Clarity’s best-practices guide, please call us at 1-800-786-6160.