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. 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