SystemsNet Blog

Category Archives: VOIP

What Can VoIP Offer You?

February 22, 2018VOIPOffice Phones, Phones, Telephony, VOIPSystemsNet Administrator

Woman using internet based phone services

Voice Over Internet Protocol phone systems

We are sure you have been told about the numerous benefits and advantages of Internet-based phone services and features. However, are you aware of how impactful these services and features can be to your business? Voice Over Internet Protocol phone systems can offer your business a variety of benefits, including the following:

Getting notified of your voicemails through email or cell phone notifications
On-hold music that you can customize
Auto attendant services
The ability to make changes to your telephone
Cordless telephones

While these features and services are great for helping your business for the entire year, the VoIP services can greatly impact your business during the holidays. During the holidays, many businesses will have different opening and closing hours than they do for the earlier part of the year.

Business Hours

If you have plans to close your business during the holiday season, change your hours, or schedule events for certain days, your customers can always be in the loop. You will not have to worry about your customers being placed on hold or being sent to voicemail because VoIP will allow you to remain in contact with them at all times. It does not matter if your business will take a break during the holidays or if you will have events scheduled, you can answer your customers’ phone calls even when you are not in the office.

Route Your Calls

If you will have a business event or a Christmas party on a particular day and you do not plan to take any phone calls, you will be able to route your office phone calls to your cellular device. If you receive phone calls that you do not want to answer, you can route those phone calls to your voicemail. You can answer the phone calls that you feel are important and should be answered immediately.

Take Your Work Home

If you have plans to work from the comfort of your own home during the holiday season, you will be able to do this and not worry about the progress of your business. You can answer your office phone calls on your cell phone from the VoIP control panel in your office. You can also make the decision to take the office VoIP phone home and use it on your home’s router.

Who’s Working?

Not only will you be able to answer phone calls on your cell phone while you are home, you will also be able to use your system so your loyal customers do not think you are not accepting any business during the holidays. You can make sure all of the phone calls are routed to the employees who are working. You will not have to worry about phone calls being sent to employees who are off for the holidays. Your customers will always have their questions answered when you ensure that you are routing your phone calls to the right people.

You Have A Message

One of the great things about VoIP is that it will allow you to customize your business message. You can even record a holiday greeting for your answering machine or your voicemail settings. There are various things you can include on your answering machine or voicemail, including announcing sales, promos, etc.

VoIP gives any business the flexibility, dependability, and reliability they need in a service. If you want to ease the pain and frustrations of the holiday season, VoIP can certainly alleviate some of that stress for you. If you want to keep up with the holiday pace, please do not hesitate to contact us today for additional information about VoIP.

7 Reasons Voice Over IP is Great for Your Call Center

February 1, 2018VOIPBusiness Phones, Office Phones, Telephone Service, VOIP, VoIP ServiceSystemsNet Administrator

Call center representatives at a help desk using VOIP

Flexibility is a given fact with VoIP

The purpose of your business call center is to be communicating constantly. As the central point of contact for your help desk support, the call center deals with the steady incoming press of clients calling for either customer service or technical assistance. Your talented and indomitably cheerful staff members are on the phones all day long, chatting with customers, sorting out problems, and creating a positive support experience. A common and very recently outdated misconception is that any company that wants a call center will have to pay the usual hefty phone bill and go through the rigors of line installation. Fortunately, as the world of incredibly efficient software grows, new solutions to old questions are being discovered. VOIP, or Voice over IP, is gaining popularity as a practical and cost-effective replacement to the classic business phone system. Here are seven key reasons why your call center could benefit from replacing the old phone lines with VOIP.

1 Smooth Setup

The first thing to realize about VOIP is that it’s completely software based. All that hassle about phone jacks and special wiring has finally been obsoleted by the new SaaS internet world. No wires, proprietary boxes, or unfamiliar installation guys coming over to put in the wires. Installing VOIP onto one machine or hundreds of them requires nothing but a little configuration. Many VOIP services are, in fact, 100% cloud based meaning there’s not even any software that needs to be installed on each machine, simply an intuitive online interface that manages your calls.

2 Hassle Free Scaling

One of the hallmarks of a growing business is the need to add more people and teams to an already established task. With physical phone lines, every time you want to add five more call center support techs, you would need to either already have phone lines paid for that were not in use or bring in the installation guy again to wire up five more phones. With VOIP, all you need to do is add five new seats to your dashboard and get your recruits logged into their new phone system. The same principle applies to shrinking a team as well, simply remove the extra seat from your VOIP management interface. You never need to have more access points open than you have employees to fill them.

3 Mobile Flexibility

Almost every VOIP platform has complete mobile access in app form. This allows you to extend assigned phone numbers to employee mobile devices because the phone numbers are connected to a cloud service and not any brick-and-mortar location or phone line connection. With this kind of freedom, if you’ve been thinking about change then this is a great time to look at your call center policies. With diverse and mobile VOIP, your call center could work from home, be ‘remote only’ or even take working travel vacations because they will be able to answer their call center assigned phone numbers from anywhere with wifi or data access.

4 CRM Integration

Unlike phone lines, VOIP shares the same kind of data as your CRM and other business management software, and is quite inter-operable. This means you can integrate the calls made through your VOIP service with CRM data, logging who is contacted, when, and for how long. More intuitive software can even auto-transcribe the conversations and log that as well, creating a truly comprehensive client contact history through the beauty of unified systems and automation.

5 Cost Effective

VOIP services are usually based on a modest subscription fee and low per-minute rate and all together it’s still nothing compared to the exorbitant prices of phone companies supporting multiple lines. VOIP, on the other hand, runs on a surprisingly small amount of bandwidth and you’re already paying for company-wide high-speed internet. To top it all off, even international calls are less expensive with the cloud-based VOIP because the internet is a more universal system to work with.

6. Cloud Services

Most if not all VOIP providers adhere to the Saas philosophy that their clients accessing the cloud also deserve service and support of the software they’re providing you. This means that any trouble you might ever have with the VOIP function or service will be quickly and professionally addressed if taken back to your provider. Cloud services are an increasingly popular way to cater to customers and your company could profoundly benefit from the B2B support provided your chosen VOIP service.

7. Overall Better ROI

Comparing the two systems, starting from scratch, the first thing that becomes apparent is all the extra little costs that come with a traditional phone line system. The PBX, dialer, installation appointments, and necessary physical equipment are all added to the initial setup fee and then monthly costs of maintaining a traditional system. Setting up a VOIP call center, on the other hand, requires a business subscription plus a simple fee for each seat in your call center. No extra equipment is needed, though you may choose to equip your team with headsets, and if there is per-minute fee is is usually quite low. The two systems side-by-side make the comparative ROI incredibly apparent.

VOIP takes less setup, less equipment, less monthly overhead, and comes with its own SaaS support service. Whether you’re about to open a new call center or are thinking about renovating an existing office, you have every reason to invest in VOIP as your primary voice contact system. For more information on Voice over IP services, contact us today!

Answers To Your Hosted VoIP Questions

January 18, 2018VOIPbusiness phone system, Office Phones, Telephony, VOIPSystemsNet Administrator

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Dialing on phone system

What are the most common VoIP questions?

VoIP(Voice over Internet Protocol) has been around for many years now, but many business owners and business managers are just now gaining an understanding of how essential VoIP can be to their business models. More businesses are adopting VoIP solutions so they can reap the benefits that their competitors are reaping.

We know there many things that you will need to consider before you make the decision to use VoIP for your business. It can be a tricky process for many business owners, but we hope we can make the entire process a little easier for you.

How Quickly Can You Get VoIP Services?

We recommend that you avoid rushing into the process of implementing VoIP services, especially if you do not have the full understanding of VoIP, as well as the equipment and infrastructure to support it. If you want to avoid a huge letdown and if you want to avoid seeing VoIP services in a negative light, you should ease into the implementation process.

We would not recommend installing a new infrastructure overnight, so we do not recommend switching to VoIP overnight without knowing the ins and out. Your business needs to make sure all the pieces are in place. One of the best things you can do is to connect with the staff of the VoIP provider you are considering using. The expert staff will be able to answer any question you may have, and eventually lead you in the right direction. You may find that you are not quite ready for VoIP, but you can still get everything prepared for when you are fully ready.

Will I Need Backup?

VoIP is known for its reliability, but we all know that natural disasters and accidents can happen at any given moment. A hosted VoIP solution will still be impacted if there is a power outage in your area. Power outages do not occur often in many areas, but power outages can occur more frequently during the winter. Will you have the equipment you need to manage power outages when you implement your hosted VoIP solutions?

What Type Of Hardware Do I Need?

When you use Hosted VoIP infrastructure, you will definitely phones. So, it is important that you have a clear idea of how you plan to connect with your staff. If you want to use soft phones with USB headsets, you will have this option. You will also have the option to use digital IP phones. If you have employees who are working from home, you should make sure they will have the necessary equipment as well.

Can I Use My Current Equipment?

Many businesses have quickly discovered that their VoIP solutions have been negatively impacted by their decision to use old equipment. In order for your VoIP solution to be effective, your routers will be a critical part to your infrastructure. If you want VoIP to be installed in your entire workplace, we would suggest that you stay away from the cheaper routers. You will discover that you can find great quality routers that are in your budget range. You will be able to find various sites and reviews that will give you insightful information on affordable and high-quality routers.

When it comes to VoIP, many people think that this solution is only for the larger business. However,this is not true. If you have a small business with only a few employees, you will find many benefits to using a hosted VoIP solution. You do not need to have hundreds or thousands of VoIP users in order to enjoy the benefits of VoIP. Even if you have a few users, you will still be able to find a VoIP solution at an affordable rate.

For more information on VoIP services, contact us today.

Starting Your Business Right with Affordable VOIP Phones

November 9, 2017VOIPOffice Phones, Telephony, VOIPSystemsNet Administrator

Are you still using traditional phone services?

Thousands of new businesses are founded every year, from groundbreaking indie startups to privately owned franchise locations and every one of these new business owners is seeking the most efficient and affordable startup model possible. In the first few years after opening your doors, overhead is everything. Building up a loyal client base takes time and keeping your costs down is a great way to reap the rewards of your hard work sooner. One of the major expenses for any small business getting established is installing and paying for the phone lines. Every business needs at least some form of phone contact as one of the many necessary avenues of communication. Fortunately, there’s a new alternative to the costly traditional telecom systems.

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)

Your business already needs high-speed internet in order to run non-optional functions like email and online services, which means you already have everything you need for fast, convenient voice communication. Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP for short, is exactly what it sounds like, the ability to make phone calls from your internet connection. Think about it, in a post-Skype world, why would anyone pay the exorbitant prices for traditional business phone lines? Of course, Skype isn’t the only game in town, there are now many online VIOP services available including a few that have been specifically crafted to work well with modern business software like CRMs.

The Benefits of VOIP

Besides being more affordable than normal telephone services, you may be wondering if there are other selling points for a VOIP business system, and there certainly are! To start with, the only physical equipment you need is a phone connected to your computer, no installation necessary. Because VOIP is entirely internet based, you can also receive phone calls to your work number from any of your devices. This means that you can be reached at your work number from any computer or mobile device with internet connection, and your employees can too.

VOIP is also completely scalable, leaving you able to add or remove numbers and logins from your business account at any time, as you need them, leaving you free to grow, downsize, and split into multiple facilities over time. Finally, with VOIP, you’ll never have to miss another call again. Even if the internet or all the power goes out in your office building, the VOIP provider is still online and able to send your clients and business partners to voicemail while you get your business back online.

Opening Shop With VOIP Phones

So why found your business with VOIP instead of traditional phone lines? Sure, your venue may have come with a few cables pre-installed and cordless phones have gotten pretty cool these days, but does your new business really need the hassle and inflexibility of a telecom account? With VOIP, you can get exactly as much phone service as you need with your startup team and expand as you go with simple, easy to use online services. You can even switch providers with relative ease if another package comes along that would work better for your company.

Founding and running a small business means making the right decisions for what your company needs at each stage of growth. Putting value on advancement and innovation means that tradition should never hold you back from doing what’s best for your company. If you want a modern, flexible, access-anywhere phone system, VOIP is the perfect solution for any small and growing business. It can keep overhead down during the early years and then expand with you, right up to multiple facilities full of call centers. For more information about your VOIP options, contact us today!