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Choosing the Best Small Business Phone System
Get smart about small business phone systems. The first personal point of contact a potential customer has with you might be through the phone. So it's important that you provide a positive and professional experience. And it's not enough to make do with personal phones. If you really want to make your business ready to compete and meet customer demands, you need a dedicated small-business phone system. There are lots of options out there, but many are geared toward businesses with hundreds of employees and multiple locations. While small businesses need to provide the same high-quality interactions as larger businesses, they have smaller budgets. It can feel like a tall order, but it's important that you make the right choice for your business. To help you evaluate your options, here's a brief look at what to consider in today's business phone systems, some common choices for small and medium-sized businesses ( SMBs), and why a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solution might be the best fit for you. What to look for in a small business phone system,No two business phone systems are the same. There are many options out there to choose from—and often there are huge differences between the quality and capabilities in each. You need a small business phone system that helps advance your specific business goals. Here are a few basics to consider when evaluating small business phone systems:,Take stock of what you have—and what you need. Do you need a solution that only uses desk phones, are you fully mobile or are you a mixture of both? And if you're only using desk phones now, do you have plans to integrate mobile in the future? The system you choose should address your immediate needs, but also be right for where you hope to take your business in the future. Along those same lines of making sure the equipment will be right for your business in the future, you'll want to make sure the phone system you choose will easily grow with you as you want to add new lines. Only you know what your budget is, so you'll want to make sure you choose a solution that fits within it. But it's not enough to just look at the upfront costs of a business phone solution; you'll want to look at the monthly fees and long-term maintenance costs to make sure that you are getting the right value for your investment. With so many advanced calling features available, you'll want to look for the ones that align best with the way you work. If you field a lot of customer calls, you may want a solution that offers a virtual receptionist. If you have field teams working with office-based teams, then you could probably benefit from a solution that makes it possible to easily share screens. Just make sure the business phone system meets all of your needs. If you're a small business with limited IT resources and expertise, you want to make sure that the small-business phone system you choose will be easy for you to deploy, maintain and manage. And if you do run into issues, will you have access to the support you need to get things fixed?,What is a business phone system?,Different than a home phone system, a business phone system is built to:,There are two basic types of networks that you can use to operate your business phone system:,Types of business phone systems for small businessesA landline is what you'd most commonly call plain old telephone service (POTS). If you are looking for a straightforward system that lets you make and receive calls and requires no additional training to use, a POTS system might be worth considering.But for budget-conscious SMBs, the costs for landlines can escalate quickly. In addition to installation costs, there are monthly service fees per line, new-line fees, long-distance fees and more. And because landlines are physically connected by wires, they don't allow for any flexibility; if you want to answer the phone, you must be by the phone, wherever it is plugged in. For growing businesses, flexibility could be the key to growth, so landlines might be too restrictive an option. However, there are limitations to this option. The quality and reliability of your calls is totally dependent on the quality and reliability of your service provider's network. Plus, your provider will have complete control over managing the system, which could make it more difficult for you to customize an experience that's best for your business. While there are pros and cons to each of these options, we think that most small businesses could benefit from a VoIP business phone system. Why VoIP is a versatile option,Not only is VoIP a good first step to creating a more modern business, it also addresses many of the common concerns for growing businesses. First of all, VoIP is budget-friendly. Because it uses public internet, you can get all the calling capabilities you need, without the additional costs of a private network. And as far as equipment goes, you can purchase VoIP phones if your budget allows, or if it doesn't, there are adaptors that can be used to modify your existing phones. Or you could leverage your business computers and employees' mobile devices. When it comes to flexibility, it doesn't get much better than VoIP. You can build your VoIP system using any combination of desk phones, computers and mobile devices. And it's easy to add new lines as needed, so when your business is ready to grow, your VoIP solution scales with you. Your customers keep you in business, so it's important that you be there when they call. But what happens when there's a power outage or other emergency situation? Because it's cloud-based, it's easy for your VoIP service provider to redirect calls to a backup number in the event of a service outage, which can help reduce downtime and keep your business operating as usual. And those are just some of the benefits you could enjoy by choosing VoIP as your business phone system. The full range of advantages depends on the VoIP solution you choose. A solution like Verizon is designed to address many of the concerns of small businesses. If you're looking to improve the user and caller experience, Business Digital Voice comes with more than 30 advanced calling features, such as automatic call forwarding, voicemail to email, seamless call transfer and more. If you're primarily looking for something that's easy to use and manage, Business Digital Voice has a simple app and online dashboard that gives you intuitive control over call management. Whatever your specific goals for your business, the phone system you choose will serve as the foundation to get you where you want to be. It's a big decision, and one that should not be taken lightly. But once you understand your needs—and your options—you'll be able to make the right call when it comes to selecting your small-business phone system. Create better customer experiences with VoIP,Give your customers what they want—and then some—with a VoIP system that lets you:,* Business Digital Voice is available in select areas of nine states and the District of Columbia. Tell us about your business, then meet with our professionals to ask questions, get advice, or obtain a quote. These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information. These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. We use both third party and first party cookies for this purpose. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly. These cookies may be set through our site by Verizon and third parties. They are used to present Verizon advertising on third party sites that you may visit. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising from Verizon. BackClear Filters,All Consent Allowed
Learn moreChoosing the Best Phone System for Your Business
How to choose the best VoIP provider for your business,You've done your research. You know that a business Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system is an efficient, simple and affordable communications option that can help keep your growing business competitive. And you've decided to make VoIP part of your operations. Now you have another decision to make—which VoIP service provider to partner with. There are many VoIP solutions out there, but not all are created equal. When choosing the best VoIP service for your small business, you want to make sure you're getting a solution that meets more than just your calling needs. Here are a number of things you should consider when evaluating VoIP solutions and providers. Reliable VoIP needs a reliable network. A good VoIP solution starts with a strong foundation. Because VoIP calls are routed through the internet, it's critical that your VoIP solution runs on a network that gives you reliable connectivity and coverage where you need it. You should never have to worry that you're missing important communications because you can't trust your network. Your VoIP system should grow with you. One of the best benefits of a VoIP solution for small businesses is that it is scalable. A complete VoIP solution should be able to easily expand as the number of users changes. Adding new lines or devices—or even locations—should be virtually effortless, and not cause any disruption to your operations. Competitive features can help create better experiences. Your customers have come to expect a certain level of service from the companies they do business with. When they call a business, they expect to reach someone who can help them—and they don't like to wait. So your VoIP solution should come with a rich variety of business features that can help you operate more like a bigger business without costing a lot. Features like automatic call forwarding, seamless call transfer between devices, virtual receptionists and more that make it easier for your callers to quickly connect with the person best suited to help them. Not to mention features like visual voicemail, virtual meeting rooms and personal phone directories that make it easy for your employees to do their jobs. VoIP should make your job easier, not harder. An efficient communications solution should allow you to monitor, fine- tune, streamline and manage your network assets. And you should be able to do it all easily. If you don't have a dedicated IT department, or if your IT resources are just stretched thin, you want to make sure that your VoIP solution won't create a management headache. Look for a solution that comes with an intuitive web-based management system, so you can stay in control of your communications from where you're working. Customer support should be available when you need it. A good VoIP solution should be easy to manage and deploy. But in times when you could use a little extra help, you need a comprehensive VoIP solution that comes with access to professional support throughout the design, implementation and management phases. You need your communications system to work around the clock, so it's only fair to expect that your VoIP customer service does, too. The bottom line. The communications system you choose for your business will play a pivotal role in building relationships with your vendors, partners and customers—and those are the relationships that will determine how successful your business can be. So you need to partner with a service provider that will help you strengthen those relationships at every turn. Many small businesses have put their trust in Verizon because of our proven ability to deliver effective . We continually invest in our VoIP network, and we have the expansive reach your growing business needs. Verizon ,* our VoIP business solution, offers more than 30 features—including Auto Attendant, Hunt Group, Extension Dialing and more—to help you control your communications, improve customer experiences, streamline your business and simplify your day-to-day. By choosing the right VoIP solution, you're taking the first step toward a productive and competitive future for your business. So you need to make sure you choose a provider that has the experience, reach and range of services that will support your growth. * Business Digital Voice is available in select areas of nine states and the District of Columbia. Tell us about your business, then meet with our professionals to ask questions, get advice, or obtain a quote. These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information. These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. We use both third party and first party cookies for this purpose. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly. These cookies may be set through our site by Verizon and third parties. They are used to present Verizon advertising on third party sites that you may visit. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising from Verizon. BackClear Filters,All Consent Allowed
Learn moreAlley-Cassetty Builds a Better CX for Wholesale Building Materials
We've got some great deals going on right now exclusively for our online customers... chat now to hear more! Alley-Cassetty Companies, Inc. may be known as a provider of materials such as concrete blocks, stone, brick, mortar and sand, but the team's mission is really about helping its customers build the American dream. This includes supporting residential and commercial projects, from the construction of homes and schools to hospitals and countless other businesses. Fulfilling that mission requires an outstanding customer experience, where orders are easy to place and customers can remain confident materials will be delivered in a timely and efficient manner. As it continued to build on nearly a century and a half of growth and success, Alley-Cassetty realized it needed to rethink the way the team communicated, both internally and externally. This led to a partnership with Verizon that helped Alley-Cassetty transform its key processes and, in so doing, better serve its customers. Based in Nashville, Alley-Cassetty began as a pair of coal suppliers that merged in the mid-1960s and diversified into brick and material delivery following the acquisition of a building supply firm a few years later. By the 1980s, Alley-Cassetty had also launched a trucking division and is now one of Nashville's largest private companies, serving 14 different locations across Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia. Despite that storied history, Alley-Cassetty is more focused on its future. President and CEO Sam Strang wants to continue to evolve and enhance the way it serves its customers. The 145-year legacy is the past, and our job going forward is to modernize and grow into the opportunities of the future, he said. Supply chain disruptions and other challenging global events of the past few years made Strang realize that Alley-Cassetty would benefit from some outside perspective to complement the expertise of those working in the family business. This led to the recruiting of Patrick Spear, who joined as Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Bill Westman, who is now Alley-Cassetty's Director of Finance and IT. For Strang, the mandate for Alley-Cassetty's expanded C-suite came down to answering a simple question. How can we be the best, not just in our category, but the best business possible in customer service and customer communication? he said. As we [asked ourselves] that, we looked at our strengths and weaknesses.,, Chief Marketing Officer, Alley-Cassetty Alley-Cassetty is not only managing a lot of materials—there can be 8 to 9 million bricks in the yard on any given day—but also a lot of people who need to perform as a cohesive team. Drivers, forklift operators and office workers have to be well-synchronized to prevent delays or incorrect deliveries. We are constantly bringing in loads, and we're constantly taking out loads. So, the challenge is to get out as many truckloads as possible per day, and then also unload inbound trucks that come in here, said Marvin Eaglen, a Division Manager for Alley-Cassetty in Murfreesboro, Tenn. This isn't easy, given the company has to oversee deliveries scheduled in advance and those from walk-in customers. We can have a load that's been promised to go out today and then we get a call from the contractor or the project manager and he says, 'Hey, hold up, don't bring that load,' Eaglen said. Sometimes even on the truck, we will get a call from dispatch that says, 'Don't load that.' All of a sudden you've either got to unload it or you've got to change your load.,Kyle Hill, one of Alley-Cassetty's dispatchers, added that deliveries have to be made on time regardless of these issues because contractors are often paying masons or concrete finishers by the hour or even overtime. Plus, some products are perishable, and delays could mean they spoil before they arrive on-site. A second or a minute is invaluable in the dispatch industry, because one minute or five minutes or ten minutes may make the difference between you getting a load out or not getting a load out, he said. Until recently, dispatching and coordinating deliveries at Alley-Cassetty was largely a manual process. Drivers would be handed a slip of paper, for example, with a printout from Google Maps and a hand-drawn circle around the dot showing where to go. The office staff, meanwhile, were using a complicated mix of three different phone systems that made connecting within the organization and across its locations difficult. If yard staff couldn't effectively relay information to the office or vice-versa, delivery times might need to be extended, jeopardizing customer trust. Sometimes you don't realize you have a problem until you realize there's something better that maybe you haven't experienced before, Spear said. This really is where we started that conversation about how we could enable communication to reduce the need to run into the office or to try and physically find someone across 15 acres. Westman said there were basic aspects of communication that simply weren't meeting expectations. We couldn't just transfer (calls) within the company. We couldn't get in touch with our yard guys who were 100 yards away on a forklift, Westman said. We didn't have a common thread—that same line that we could use to just talk to everybody within our company.,Solving these problems would ultimately ladder back to what customers need from Alley-Cassetty and its team, said Randy Huffman, the company's Chief Marketing Officer. One of the biggest things with the builders is their ability to get the house done on time, get it sold, move on to the next one, he said. When we're a good supplier partner, we're helping them to complete their end goal, which is to sell more houses., Dispatcher, Alley-Cassetty Alley-Cassetty initially considered canceling some of its phone lines to save money, but conversations with the Verizon team pointed to a much bigger opportunity to leverage the latest in communications technology. The Verizon team, Chris Prater and Bart Robinson, assessed Alley-Cassetty's biggest problems and helped design a strategic roadmap to help them improve staff communications, shorten customer delivery lead times and ultimately deliver a better customer experience. Strang said he was familiar with Verizon's product and service capabilities at a high level, but he was stunned at the Verizon team's consultative approach to helping Alley-Cassetty modernize. "We really didn't talk about specific services or contracts at all. We talked about how we could best be a modern company promising customer expectations and delivering on them," he said. "Verizon brought a variety of different solutions to us, which integrated other aspects of the company into our business.",For those working in the office, Verizon equipped Alley-Cassetty with Verizon One Talk, a mobile-first phone system with 50-plus features that helped unify the business across its multiple locations. Now, employees are just one touch away from talking to anyone in the company—regardless of their work location. And, as Hill observes, this saves a lot of time. With dispatchers getting 75–100 phone calls a day, seconds really, really matter.,Field employees, meanwhile, were equipped with Verizon's, which gives them the ability to communicate in near real-time when out for deliveries and send alerts when a route has been completed. This means less time waiting for a load. In addition to text and voice messages, this new solution enables field employees to share photos, video files and locations to demonstrate proof of service. And instead of just one-to-one messaging, there is an option to quickly communicate with groups, or even broadcast critical information. Rugged smartphones were also mounted in-cab with a CB radio-style receiver to let drivers operate them in hands-free mode. As Eaglen notes, team communication is critical. It's really important that we communicate together as a team and stay connected with each other, as far as knowing who's getting what, when they're getting it and making sure they have the right thing.,Spear was convinced that Alley-Cassetty had chosen the right partner when it came to porting lines over to Verizon. They notified a previous provider of their intent, expecting a 30-day transition. Instead, they shut us down that day, he recalled. Literally at 5 o'clock on a Thursday afternoon, we were notified that by the next morning—in our main headquarters and our busiest yard—there was going to be no way to communicate with our customers calling us.,Verizon worked quickly—and late into the night—to collaborate with Alley-Cassetty on ensuring the new lines would be physically configured and ready for staff by 7 o'clock the following morning. We didn't miss a beat. It was at that point we knew we had a true partnership, he said. Quite frankly, it was above and beyond—something I've never experienced before.,This partnership led way to a digital transformation that enabled:,For those on the front lines like Hill, Verizon's communication solutions are helping to orchestrate its workforce, from dispatch to drivers to yard to delivery. With Push to Talk, you're instantly communicating with either one person or your whole team if you need to, he said. That's very advantageous because there are messages that come across all the time, whether it's an accident that's happened out on the interstate or just traffic being backed up on the way into Nashville.,When scheduling changes need to be made on the fly, Eaglen said the process of notifying all parties shrank from 10-15 minutes to 1 minute. Everybody's on the same page and everybody's working together, he said. Adjustments are a lot easier for us now than they were.,Spear said the transformation has been equally impressive within offices that are now using One Talk. We can transfer calls across locations, he said. We can have direct dial four-digit extensions across the entire organization, enabling better communication, when we've never had that before.,The math is pretty simple: The more deliveries Alley-Cassetty's team can make each day, the greater the company's opportunity to grow revenue. By using One Talk and Push to Talk to reduce breakdowns within the team's workflow, employees are able to know the instant materials are ready for pickup, and delivery times are shortened now that routes don't have to be dispatched using paper. What it allows us to do is make more turns in a day and ultimately make more deliveries, increase customer satisfaction, and quite frankly, make more money because we're selling more, Huffman said. Reduced out-of-service times on vehicles and equipment also boosts efficiency. As drivers now perform daily inspections, they can use Verizon-powered smartphones and tablets to upload photographs that feed into dashboards reviewed by Spear and his team. This makes it easier to be proactive in tasks such as scheduling oil changes that help avoid unexpected breakdowns. Salespeople have also been equipped with tablets where they can access real-time customer data from Alley-Cassetty's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, accelerating their decision-making. Evidence that a delivery was made matters a lot at a business like Alley-Cassetty. It allows customers to rest assured the right product was brought to the right location and is ready for use in a building project. Drivers and members of the field team can now do that by uploading photographs when they complete a delivery. Spear is well aware that employees are often reluctant, or even resistant, to using new technology as part of their day-to-day work. In this case, though, Verizon Push to Talk and One Talk have had a demonstrably positive impact on team morale. It's been remarkable to see how the team has embraced it, he said. In fact, Eaglen tells how it has created some healthy competition among the drivers. They share pictures of their job site deliveries to show how well items are placed, then try and outdo each other to go one better. Eaglen notes now the drivers are doing a better job than they were before because it is on camera.Alley-Cassetty's drivers aren't the only ones constantly in motion. The company plans to move forward in its strategic use of technology. This could include deploying manufacturers' RFID tags for inventory management or to create a smart yard. Regardless of how it evolves, Spear said the company has come to recognize Verizon as much more than a vendor. Just as our relationship with Verizon has been long term and will continue to be long term, we want that with our customers, he said. I think from the standpoint of technology and the platform upon which we serve our customers, Verizon is going to be foundational.,When it's time to modernize the communication systems in your organization, Verizon can help. Learn more and get connected with an expert. 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They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly. These cookies may be set through our site by Verizon and third parties. They are used to present Verizon advertising on third party sites that you may visit. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising from Verizon. BackClear Filters,All Consent AllowedWe use technologies to collect and share information about your use of our site. By continuing, you agree to the use of these capabilities for a better experience and other purposes. Learn more in our .
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