Modern Day Office Telephone System

Traditional phone systems are designed to carry incoming and outgoing calls nothing more and nothing less. However, the demand and competition in today’s market is more complex that what it used to be 20 years ago. Luckily, modern day office telephone systems are now offering smart features that will not only improve the way businesses communicate with customers but also aid in the ever changing demand of today’s fast paced environment.

Modern day office telephone systems still perform the most basic yet most important function of a phone and that is to transmit calls. Today’s office telephone system can either use traditional analog lines, an ISDN circuit and even the internet to deliver calls. The method of transmission may differ that of 20 years ago but still the overall function is the same and that is to offer business grade quality every time you place or receive a call.

So what’s so different in today’s solutions? Office telephone systems today offer more features that will allow businesses to tender their products and services more effectively. Here are some of the features that nobody thought possible years ago.

Better call forwarding options – Today office telephone system are capable of transferring calls between extensions, to a mobile or to a landline with just a press of button. You can also do it automatically by tweaking the settings so that the PBX will automatically forward calls to a mobile or another landline number when your business is out of hours, on holidays or if everyone is busy to pick up.

Smarter IVR options – Interactive Voice Response or IVR is probably one of the most flexible features you can have. You can use for a greeting message, a menu system, an on hold message and even for an automated booking system. Not only that it will assist you in streamlining your processes but it will create a sense of trust in customers. Phones are the doorway to customers and it is just a must to impress them during the initial contact as it will reflect on the way the business is managed.

Multiple locations – Did you know that extensions or handsets can be placed across the globe and work as if all are under one roof? Thanks to VoIP technologies distance is no longer a problem. By using the internet instead of traditional copper lines extensions can be situated anywhere in the world. This means that your support staff in the Philippines can answer calls coming in from your Australian number the same way your sales agent in New York can answer sales related calls.

Not only that this feature will allow you to work from home to give you and your staff a flexible working environment, this will also open your doors to outsourcing options.

CRM Integration – Tired of having to scribble a customer’s number on a piece of paper only to find out you forgot where you put it? Then worry no more. Today’s telephone systems are capable of integrating with a client management software that will let you store vital information such as number, address, email address and even invoices. You can even have your CRM engineers to program it for you so can directly dial from the software or even load all the numbers you need to call out using an automated dialer.

The possibilities are endless with today’s communication solutions be sure to discuss with your chosen provider all the nuts and bolts of your requirements and what they can do for you to ensure that you acquire a solution is best suited for your business.

Virtual Business Office Telephone System

In today’s business world it is quite common for businesses to establish a virtual office rather than a physical rental. It is fairly logical though because of the many benefits that it brings. A virtual office would eliminate the costly monthly rentals of an office, infrastructure cost like electric bills, internet and so on. Additionally this will allow you and your staff to work at the comfort of your own home and spend more time with your family.

However, like any good business solution there are also some difficulties that you will encounter before you can fully wield its benefits. Having to work away from each other will pose a communication breakdown, in an office you can just easily talk to your staff or even observe them whilst they are working. In a virtual office that will be quite impossible. Your communication will now boil down to the office telephone system that you’ve got, so it is a must for your virtual business to acquire an office telephone system that will breach the gaps between you and your staff to effectively carry out all your business procedures. 

Fortunately, today’s PBX’s are no longer confined in a closed enterprise. A cloud PBX office telephone system allows businesses to practically situate any extension or handset in any part of the world and will work as if all are under one roof. The system uses the internet to connect your phones to a central server, pretty much how websites work, and from there calls will be diverted accordingly. This will give you the capability to call between extensions for free, transfer calls and even put the system on queue. Generally everything that an on premise based PBX can do is achievable in a cloud PBX system.

Cost wise, the system will save you an average of 50% on your phone bills compared to traditional systems and since the system is comparable to a website or an open source programming system you can literally customized every aspect of it based on your preferences and needs. This will give you enough flexibility to run your business the way you want.

Just take a look at this simple diagram how the system works.

 

Choosing the Best Business Phone Plans and Office Telephone System

Choosing the best business phone plans and office telephone system is crucial for any business because communication is vital for any enterprise to succeed. Whether you are a starting business or switching providers it is important to be very careful in choosing the appropriate solution for your business to avoid costly mistakes.

Choosing the Best Office Telephone System

There are several considerations in choosing the proper office telephone system for your business however it can be broken down to what you require and what your customers require. Below is a handy breakdown of the merits of a good office telephone system.

Capacity – You should have enough capacity to accommodate all incoming and outgoing calls.

Feature set – Your phones should be a tool that helps streamline your business processes and as such a set of features like a greeting message, voice mail, menu system, on hold messages, out of hours features and many more should be supported otherwise you cannot consider it to be a real solution.

Top end quality lines – Remember you are running a business and you can’t afford to have a call that is breaking up or worst get disconnected after a few minutes. The quality of phone call especially the initial one contact is very important to build rapport with customers.

Flexibility – We know that nothing is constant in this world except change, so you should be able to modify your office telephone system without any hardware upgrade or replacement to accommodate new requirements and or to suit your new processes.

Choosing the Best Business Phone Plans

Like the actual system that you will the business phone plans is equally important because it will dictate your ongoing monthly cost. There are several options in the market today and one way or other you will be able to find a business phone plans that suit your needs and budget.

Pre paid plans – it is ideal to use a pre paid plan for VoIP users for security reasons, it will also help you monitor your expenditures fairly better than post paid and will you give full control on how much you can spend in a month for your calls. Probably the only consideration you need to bear in mind is the credit alarm and the reloading process. You should be informed about your credits when it hits a certain amount to avoid a complete halt of your calls and the reloading process should be as easy as one, two and three.

Dial rates – The dial rates should also be competitive, today it is common to find free calls for certain amount, unlimited calling plans and bundles. However, the reality is it is better if you just a provider with a competitive rate and just pay for the actual calls you put up. Just make some quick calculations and you’ll see. Also the downside of fixed plans is that you will still pay that amount regardless of whether you use it or not, a waste of money during holiday and lean seasons.

Cloud PBX Office Telephone – Common Questions

Despite the worldwide popularity of the cloud PBX system there are a handful of entrepreneurs and business owners who are a bit cynical about how the entire solutions works and often have unaddressed questions bothering their minds. To assist you in making the proper decision for your business communication system below are the common questions that business owners have regarding a cloud PBX office telephone system.

Is the solution dependent on the internet? – Yes, all VoIP systems including the cloud PBX office telephone are dependent on the quality of internet you have in place. However, with the continuous development of the Internet and networking technologies it is quite unlikely that you will difficulty in securing a good connection.

Do I need to acquire a separate internet connection? –This will depend on the number of handsets and the number of pones connected to your internet. Speak to your service provider about the internet requirements of their system and seek assistance regarding your requirements to be able to maximize VoIP.

Can I use any IP phone brand? – Yes, basically IP phones run using the identical firmware. However, your cloud PBX office telephone provider may need to reconfigure the IP phone to suit their networks and platforms. Depending on the provider they may or may not charge a service fee for it.

Do I need to acquire a new number? You may or you may not. Through a process called number porting you will have the luxury to move your existing number from your existing provider to your new provider or just acquire a brand new one. This mainly depends on how well you have advertized your existing number. Ideally only the numbers that people call you onto should be moved to cut down on set up charges.

If I were to move offices do I need to any modification? No, since the system is situated in the cloud, you can practically move or situate your phone system anywhere provided that there is an internet connection in place. You will find this powerful features handy if you are always on the go and or if you need to work in different places. All you need to do is just plug in the IP phone or log in to your account (for soft phones) and it will work as if you are in the office.

Why should I switch phone systems? – The main benefit of VoIP is cost reduction, through cheaper call rates and lower line rental fees businesses can save an average of 50% per month. Feature wise all PBX features can be integrated with the system plus other smart features unique to VoIP.

Cloud PBX Office Telephone – Extra Features

Apart from being a cost effective business phone solution, a cloud PBX office telephone system also has a set of extra features that businesses will find handy in carrying out their processes and follow ups. Faxing and SMS has been one of the most sought after communication medium after calls. A cloud PBX office telephone system offers both platform under a single account so all your communication system is under one central place for convenience and further savings.

Faxing – Sending and receiving documents is a must for all businesses, thus faxing has been a number one requirement across sectors. However there are a few downsides with this solution and that is you need to pay your office a visit before you can view important documents. With a cloud PBX office telephone system faxing is revolutionized to be integrated with your email. The sender will still send it as per normal means through your fax number but the difference is you can view it anymore around the world as long as you can open your email. The documents are sent in a PDF format so you can easily view it on your web browser and download it for printing.

As for sending documents, there are actually two ways of doing so. You can do it via traditional means by hooking your fax machine and send it directly from there or scan your document and send it via the web portal that your cloud PBX office telephone provider will give you.

SMS – There are about 6 billion mobile phones in the world today and statistics reveal that by 2014 it will reach more than 7.3 billion, more than the world’s population and guess what most of this mobile are active and always on the user’s pocket or purse. Businesses can capitalize on this fact by sending information where it is readily accessible. SMS is one of today most effective communication because of its easy accessibility. So why not use it for your business?

Through computer software you can instantly load all your contacts and leads to it and send SMS in bulk, in groups or individually depending on your preferences. With the help of SMS you can follow up with your clients, inform of them of your new promotions, new products or anything that you wish to convey to them. Sending SMS is cheap, convenient and time saving way to communicate with your customers thus businesses worldwide are now starting to capitalize on this avenue.