A business without its customer base is an empty vessel making too much noise. Customers are the lifeline that plays a crucial part in the growth of any firm. So it is needless to say that a business has to have exceptional communication systems in and around to provide superior support solutions to their clientele.
And to achieve this, a company needs to have a phone system that is always reliable. Especially for the small and medium business startups, they are not just simple phone systems as they soon become the heart of the business. So what does it take to choose an excellent virtual phone system for small business in 2020? There are a few factors owners look forward to while choosing a communication system for their small and medium businesses, and those factors will be our consideration for this article today.
Factors to Contemplate While Choosing The Best Virtual Phone System
Well, most small and medium business owners consider a few factors before they end up investing in the best virtual phone system for small business. These factors are:
- The growth of the business where expanding the customer base through excellent customer support is the only motive.
- To become more efficient by increasing the overall productivity and pleasing customer relationships.
- To eliminate any risk associated with the operations of the business, including a phone system that fits within the budget.
Having said these, one needs to understand that the older and conventional analog phone systems are getting obsolete with every passing day, and their availability is merely a matter of luck. Virtual phone systems work into upgrading the overall business architecture by potential cost-cutting, and a significant gain in productivity. They are even more efficient and often provide a ton of functionality that an analog phone could never provide.
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Understanding a Virtual Phone System
Virtual Phone Systems work on the private branch exchange architecture without having the physical presence of the phone hardware peripherals in the place where the business is situated. It typically runs on the Voice over Internet Protocol feature that allows a business to have several virtual numbers all over the internet. However, to have one such system for your business, there is no need to host the entire VoIP architecture at your business premises. Thanks to cloud technology and good virtual phone systems service providers to have hosted this themselves and allow a business to use it.
Additionally, there are different definitions of a virtual business phone system for different service providers. Some provide an application on the agent's mobile, and there is no such option to use voice headsets in-office computers. Therefore, there are different meanings of a virtual phone system for small business in 2020, depending on the type of features your business wants.
Features that the Best Virtual Phone System for Small Business Must Have
Ability to Add Users Quickly
One of the most fundamental features that the best virtual phone system for small business must have in it is the ability to add more users quickly. With small businesses having a restricted budget in their hand during the time of their startup, they are not always sure about their staffing requirements. Hence, they can always start with, let's say four or five call agents and later increase that to a number they require. Consider this factor while choosing the virtual phone system for your business as all service providers won't facilitate this option with them.
More than Just Communication
Customers are used to multiple call options while talking to multinational brands. They expect the same from small businesses as well. To them, it doesn't matter whom they are talking to as they are used to interact with a customer support agent who can navigate their account easily and get to know the history of their orders or something of a similar sort. Therefore, for a small business to keep up has to opt for a virtual business phone system that provides such add-on features and CRM integrations for a few extra bucks.
Security
If you have been wondering about the fact that only top brands like Amazon, Target, and Walmart are susceptible to information breaches and all the small businesses are safe, then as it seems your guess isn't that right. U.S Federal Communications Commission or the (FCC) has a cybercrime law for all the small and medium businesses as well. Small businesses deal with a lot of information, and data from large businesses, as in most of the case scenarios, it is outsourced to them. Hence your virtual business phone system should have a method of protection to such insecurities. The solution is to choose a VoIP vendor who offers secure business phone systems.
Flexibility
As already said earlier, virtual business phone systems provide more than just communication these days. If your VoIP service provider isn't flexible, then probably it is of no good. The best virtual phone system for small business, has to be flexible with all the features it has along with competitive pricing to make it a complete package. Not only should the business get to integrate their CRM into the dashboard of the virtual phone system, but also queue or forward calls with a tap of a button. Virtual business phone systems should even have their mobile applications to make the remote work process simpler and streamlined. Also, they should additionally have a great IVR option for customers to self-serve themselves during peak business hours.
Customer Service
Here comes the decision making a feature for a virtual phone system for small business and that is customer service. The most concerning part for the business owner when it comes to picking up the phone system for the business's contact center is how good the customer support is of the service provider. There is no point in buying an incredible virtual phone system and wait for days to set it up. Thus, it is always immeasurable to choose a service provider who has an excellent customer support team and something just like what your business is going to set up.
Hassle-Free Virtual Phone Systems Service Providers
CallHippo has to be a remarkable name as long as we remember. With great customer satisfaction report and small businesses relying on the service provider for years now, it has to be the best for your needs. Apart from that, CloudTalk, 8x8, Grasshopper, Air call would be some other good service providers in the business.
Still choosing a virtual phone system for your business can still be a challenging part to overcome, we would suggest you ask your fellow small business startups regarding the same query before you settle on with your one. Apart from that, you can always contact us to know more.
