If you own or run a business, you’ve probably heard of VoIP. Sometimes it feels like everyone else has switched over from traditional landlines. Maybe you think it’s too much of a hassle to move over all your employees to a new phone system. Or you’re wondering if the hype is real. Even if you’re convinced of the benefits of upgrading, you may not know when is the best time to do so.
If you’re still debating whether to make the move to business VoIP, here are 5 signs that you are ready for it.
1. Your phone bills are high or increasing
Your business is expanding, your employees are happy, and profits are good. But if only you could reduce your sky-high bills somehow. Or your business is going through tough times and you’re looking for ways to cut costs. You notice your phone bills are very high, much more than you can afford comfortably. And what’s more, they have been increasing slowly over the years. The increase has been so gradual that you barely pay attention. But what you’re paying for phone service is so much more than you used to.
If your business is facing similar issues, then it’s time to consider switching to VoIP. Won’t upgrading to a new technology be even more expensive? Here’s where most people are wrong. Getting started with VoIP phone service is quick, straightforward, and cheap. In some cases, you don’t even need a credit card! Just sign up for a cloud VoIP service and start using it. You don’t need fancy new equipment (although you could always invest in good quality phones) or software.
Even your monthly bills will shrink after switching to VoIP. Many businesses find their bills reduce by 50 more than half after the upgrade. That’s for 2 reasons – internal calls become free and international calls cost much less with VoIP. No matter where your employees are working from, any call made to an internal colleague is free. VoIP phone service is a great way to cut costs without sacrificing features, quality, or productivity.
2. Your business is missing too many calls
As your business grows and calls increase, you may find that your employees are struggling to keep up. It’s not their fault, it’s just that your current phone system isn’t equipped to handle it. Your business could be missing calls for multiple reasons including:
Clients hang up due to long hold times.
Service agents can’t keep up with calls, especially during peak times or unexpected situations.
Employees waste too much time matching customers with the right person to solve their issues.
No one has time to check the voicemail inbox and follow up with customers who leave messages.
Employees are busy dealing with simple issues like account status or billing inquiries and don’t have time to handle more complex problems.
The consequences of missing calls can be dire for any business. You may lose crucial contracts or large clients. If the situation persists, even loyal customers may go elsewhere. You are so busy catching up on yesterday’s work that you don’t have time to explore new opportunities or grow the business. If such situations are happening daily in the office, it’s about time to switch.
How can VoIP alleviate these problems? VoIP phone systems come with many features to help users manage large call volumes. For instance, you can combine auto-attendant with a simple Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. The system can:
Greet callers.
Give them basic information about your business like hours of operation, directions, holidays, etc.
Answer simple queries like account status, current bill amount, package tracking, and so on.
Direct them to an appropriate employee if the query is too complex for the system to handle.
An IVR is not the only feature you have at your disposal. There are others like visual voicemail, automatic transcription, call queues, etc. You can use as many as you like to ensure your business never misses a single call again.
3. You are ready to expand and grow your business
But your phone system isn’t. Sound familiar? You might be looking at opening a new branch, store, or office location. Maybe your business is ready to expand to a new state or country. Or you want to create a new product and expect calls to increase exponentially. In any of these scenarios, you need a phone system that can keep up.
Traditional landlines require specific infrastructure to be installed somewhere in the office. So your employees cannot start working until the phones are ready. What if you want to test a new location before making a commitment? Or you would like to conduct market research to see if a new region will be profitable. It would be almost impossible with a landline unless you are prepared to spend a lot of money and potentially lose it if the opportunity doesn’t work out.
VoIP systems do not require physical wires. All they need is an internet connection and a device capable of making calls. The device could be a mobile phone, a tablet, a desktop, or a laptop. Your employees can start working from home, from a coffee shop or even the old office with a new phone number for that region. You don’t have to wait for installation, expert technicians, or find the budget for it.
Thanks to the innovative features found in cloud VoIP services, you can transfer calls between various locations quite easily. You can move employees to the new branch and they can take their phone number with them. Adding new lines, removing old accounts, and managing hundreds of users takes minutes through the web dashboard.
4. Your employees are working from home
The current pandemic is forcing businesses to adapt to the realities of work in the 21st century. Even before the ongoing crisis, quite a few organizations recognized the need for remote work. Allowing employees to work from home or remotely can increase their productivity and motivate them to give their best. It also ensures companies can recruit talent from any corner of the world.
But the current crisis means that all businesses are having to re-arrange the way they work. How can you keep employees connected when everyone is working from their homes? You cannot take a traditional landline home with you and you do not want employees using their personal number for work purposes.
A VoIP phone service provides that flexibility. An employee can simply unplug their office phone and take it home with them. They can now answer incoming calls and contact customers with their work number showing up on caller ID. Customer service or tech support agents can work from home. So can sales teams, HR departments, and practically anyone whose work needs nothing more than a computer and/or phone.
Mobility and flexibility are crucial for modern business. You can no longer afford to rely on old technologies to keep up with the competition. A business needs enterprise systems that integrate with each other. You need the ability to move data from one system into another as quickly as possible. You can find all these qualities and more in VoIP phone systems. If mobility is important for your company, then switching to VoIP is the right move.
5. You are creating a disaster recovery plan for the business
The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the critical need for businesses to have a disaster recovery plan. A pandemic is just one of the many disasters that can befall a thriving organization. From fires and storms to server breakdowns and criminal hacking, there’s a lot that can go wrong in an instant. To weather those events, you need a clear and concise plan to bounce back.
It’s unfortunate that many businesses still do not have a comprehensive recovery plan. They are woefully unprepared when a crisis occurs. So if you’ve started working on one for your own business, you’ve probably realized the need to have a solid communication plan as part of it. There’s no point in having a plan if you can’t communicate with your employees when the need arises.
Every business needs a reliable phone system to communicate effectively before, during, and after a disaster. It’s the quickest and easiest way to stay in touch with everyone. You also need a system that can help you get back to work as soon as possible. A VoIP phone system allows employees to work from home, even if the office is inaccessible. It allows you to continue handling customer calls and provide service.
Developing a disaster recovery plan often drives home the need for a better phone system than your current one. But if any of the above signs sound familiar to you, then it’s the perfect time to upgrade. So why don’t you sign up for a free 30-day trial and make the move to VoIP!
