Do you want to know more about the VoIP phone system?, We have gathered all the information about VoIP to help you understand how it can be beneficial for your business.Particularly, in this era where several companies have remote or hybrid work ecosystems, using a VoIP system can provide you with the comfort of working from anywhere without changing your telephone number.
Is your business still using a traditional landline to contact your customers? Are you struggling to handle the current remote working environment due to the conventional infrastructures of these regular telephone lines?
If yes, VoIP (Voice over internet protocol) can solve your problems perfectly.
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Many businesses have recently shifted from traditional telephony to VoIP telephone systems. Due to this high rate of VoIP adoption, the number of VoIP service providers has increased dramatically.Â
According to a Grand Research report, the global market for VoIP services is estimated to register a compound annual growth rate of up to 20.5% by 2028.
A significant benefit of VoIP is that it is hosted on the cloud, so there is no need for specific infrastructure to make phone calls. Your employees can use smart devices such as laptops or mobile phones to make calls on the go. However, you need a reliable internet connection for efficient performance.Â
Let’s start with the basics of VoIP phone system to understand it in a better way. VoIP is an acronym for Voice over internet protocol, and it is a technology that allows you to make calls over the internet. It offers you convenience, and you can streamline your business communication by using this technology instead of using traditional phone lines in your organization.
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VoIP phones are based on open standards; you can call any number without a physically established telephone system.
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In addition, with a VoIP system, you can manage multiple calls at the same time. To provide more ease, your VoIP providers help you to route your incoming and outgoing calls through your existing telephone networks. Â
VoIP phone systems function on the internet protocol. It converts your Voice into small data packets that transmit over the internet. When you call a regular phone number, these digital signals are converted to standard audio signals before reaching their destination.
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Your conversation is exchanged in the form of digital signals or data packets and allows businesses to communicate worldwide within milliseconds. In the case of internet telephony, these data packets travel between a VoIP provider and another provider via the internet.
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You can make calls using a computer, mobile app, desk VoIP phone, or a regular phone connected to a specific adopter.
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Here are a few steps that can easily explain the workflow of a VoIP system:
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Keep in mind that you can use a VoIP phone system as long as you have a reliable internet connection because data signals are transferred over the internet as described above.Â
When it comes to getting a VoIP service, you may be concerned about cost. It is the most common question by business owners because they need to know the return on investment.
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The cost of a VoIP phone system varies depending on several factors like the number of users in your organization, the location of your business and the features you want to use. Therefore, there is no specific range of costs for VoIP software.
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Of course, the final cost also depends on your chosen VoIP service provider. The more popular providers charge more, while small providers may charge less for the same features. So, it is essential to do your research and keep in mind all these factors when choosing a VoIP service provider.Â
You can get many benefits by using a VoIP phone system over a conventional one. Let’s take a look at the benefits of VoIP:
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A significant advantage of the VoIP system is its affordability. It offers your business cost-saving opportunities in different ways. There is no need for additional hardware for connectivity purposes, so you do not need a huge upfront investment to set up VoIP. Moreover, it saves costs on maintenance because of minimal infrastructure.Â
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On the other hand, traditional phones require physical devices and dedicated cabling to make and receive calls. The maintenance of this infrastructure is also costly and takes time. So, VoIP can be a perfect option to reduce setup costs and other recurring expenses while enjoying better services at the same time.Â
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According to research, businesses lowered their phone bills up to 60% by using VoIP services.
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VoIP providers usually charge bills on subscription bases, and you will get features according to your selected pricing plan. With VoIP, you can enjoy lower calling costs because it offers lower rates for international and long-distance calling as compared to other phone systems.
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Most VoIP platforms are user-friendly and intuitive. You can easily install it; you must download the VoIP app or contact your VoIP service provider to port over your current business number.
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If you have any physical phones, you have to connect them straight to your internet router through an Ethernet cable. Then, you have to create accounts for your employees through VoIP software, verify connectivity via test calls and activate your features to complete the setup.
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No particular hardware is required to make or receive calls. Even if you are not much tech-savvy, learning this system will not be difficult for you. Thus, you can learn and operate the VoIP Phone system much easier way.
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When you think of using a system that relies on the internet, the first question that comes to your mind is, what if you lost internet connectivity? For example, it might happen due to bad weather conditions or technical issues.
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For instance, you may not be able to use your softphone due to a poor internet connection. To avoid losing potential customers, you can use the call forwarding option and forward the call to any of your team members or another device that have an internet connection.
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You can also redirect calls when you are not busy or are not in a condition to attend the call. So, with VoIP, you will not miss any calls again. These features make VoIP phones a reliable service.
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Another benefit of using a VoIP phone is that you can adjust it according to the changing needs of your business. For example, you can easily add new phone lines and start using them if the numbers of employees increase in your organization.
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Moreover, VoIP allows you to access advanced call functionalities. Most VoIP phones are designed in a way that they can easily scale up. VoIP providers offer a wide range of pricing plans that introduce more features to support complex communication requirements as your business grows.
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This scale-up is smooth and hassle-free. You can easily upgrade your VoIP phone system and further increase your business’s productivity.
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In addition, you do not need to purchase new equipment or invest money to expand existing infrastructure to scale up your VoIP system.
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VoIP phone systems have many advanced communication and call managing features such as call analytics, call forwarding, IVR, messaging and many more.
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You can also record customers’ calls to use them for training purposes. This way, new employees can have a look at the actual work ecosystem and the challenges they have to face in future.
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In addition, these recordings can help you identify common issues and frequently asked questions from your customers. You can take appropriate actions to reduce these issues and provide appropriate information to respond to customers’ questions. This way, you can improve customer efficiency.
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As VoIP systems consist of advanced features that help businesses to have a better hold on the process and provide opportunities to identify functional and operational challenges.
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For example, through real-time call monitoring, you can find if a representative is facing difficulty in handling a particular type of query, and you can conduct appropriate training to improve the efficiency of your employees and sales growth. Â
After reading the benefits of the VoIP system, let’s have a look at some important features of VoIP.
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An auto attendant is a feature that is similar to a virtual assistant. Both systems offer the same benefits. They can attend your business calls and route them to the right agent at the right time. Auto attendants help you save the time your agents spend attending incorrectly routed calls and increase customer satisfaction by matching them to the right agent.
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Call recording is a feature that allows you to identify potential customers and increase leads. You can listen to call recordings to find important information that you might have missed during a live call.
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It also helps you to pick out trends and patterns across all calls. Moreover, you can use this feature to monitor your agent’s performance and training according to their performance.
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Call monitoring and analytics go side by side and help you improve the efficiency of your business processes. Â
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Call analytics allows you to review the performance of your calls, get real-time insights and help you find the underperforming employees. This way, you can improve the functional and operational performances of your employees.
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If calls remain unanswered, it can create a bad impression on the minds of customers and adversely affect business growth. Â
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For example, if a customer needs urgent help, but your agent is not available to respond, it reflects your business in a negative light. You may lose your customers as they feel disappointed and frustrated.Â
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In such cases, call forwarding helps you to redirect calls to any other team member or available agent to increase customer retention and satisfaction.     Â
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When it comes to dealing with customers, you will find that customers are of different types. Some customers prefer to talk on call, while others feel comfortable texting.
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VoIP offers you a unified communication system where you can communicate with your customer through any channel, including calls, video calls or messages. Furthermore, you can also keep your customers updated through broadcast messages.
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The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is an advanced feature of the VoIP phone system that provides self-service options. It helps customers to reach the right agent and find quick help to resolve issues.Â
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The IVR consist of a menu of numbers, and customers need to enter the right option to contact the right agent. It is a beneficial feature for your business as it helps in saving time, reducing call queries and improving customer satisfaction.
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Virtual phone numbers are also known as cloud-based numbers that allow your business to be reached without having any traditional phone system. Your VoIP provider should allow you to purchase additional numbers when you need to scale up your business. It will be a plus point if your provider offers you different types of numbers, such as toll-free or vanity numbers.
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Another important feature offered by VoIP providers is a mobile app or softphone. Along with the freedom of connecting with your colleagues and customers, you can use the VoIP app to stay connected from anywhere through any device.  Â
VoIP providers offer softphones that are compatible with most operating systems and devices
VoIP Business is an emerging name in VoIP phone system service providers. It comes with a unified communication solution for small, medium and large businesses. You can also get a customized plan as per your business needs. You can get advanced communication tools such as call queue, auto attendant, call forwarding, call analytics, music on hold and many others.Â
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In addition, you can use their services free of cost but with limited features. You can purchase multiple virtual numbers for your business and use VoIP business mobile or desktop app to manage your business communication anywhere at any time.
RingCentral is a VoIP service provider operating globally and has so many customers across the globe. Although it is challenging to offer high-quality services to every customer, the company has positioned itself as the largest VoIP provider and has a massive presence in the UK, US and Europe.Â
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It provides businesses with advanced communication tools to manage their business communication. The only downside of RingCentral is that its customer support is not satisfactory. However, you can get all the advanced VoIP features from RingCentral.
After thorough research, we can say that overall, 8×8 is one of the best VoIP providers in the UK. Their VoIP service is packed with full features that it is difficult to list them all. It offers a business suite full of communication tools that you can use to manage calls and improve the efficiency of your employees. With a phone, messaging, video calling, call forwarding and many other features, 8×8 empowers your employees and delights your customers.
Vonage is one of the leading companies in unified communication. It can be a suitable option for small businesses. It is a hosted VoIP service that consists of numerous features that allow you to integrate your communication platform. Streamline your business communication with team chat, calls, video conferencing and other advanced communication tools.
What makes bOnline to be on the list of our top VoIP providers is its fifty-plus features, including a call reporting dashboard, unlimited calls, and a mobile app. You can also use this service for 30 days as a trial free of cost. It can be the best option for small businesses. It is very easy to set up even if you do not have enough knowledge about advanced technology.
Dialpad is a cloud-based platform that is powered by artificial intelligence. It allows you to take notes and analyze your customer’s sentiments even when you are on call. The voice intelligence features are helpful for call centres and sales agents of any company. Dialpad comes with standard call management features along with the integration of multiple applications. In addition, it offers video conferencing in its free plan.
VoIP is different from traditional landlines in several ways, and the most significant difference is that the VoIP phone system needs internet to make and receive calls, while landlines use copper cables. It means you can make VoIP calls anywhere as long as you have a reliable internet connection. On the other hand, landline calls are restricted to a specific geographical area.
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Furthermore, copper cables’ performance is not as efficient as fibre optic cables. Copper cables are affected by weather conditions and transfer only a certain amount of data and cause dropped calls and many other problems. In contrast, fibre optic cables transmit data with the speed of light.
Another big difference is that the traditional phone system is expensive as compared to VoIP phones. It is because you need a huge investment to set up and maintain hardware and infrastructure for the landline phone system. VoIP offers an affordable option as it does not need any particular hardware or infrastructure. You can make calls from any device, be it a computer or smartphone. Furthermore, VoIP lets you make local and international calls at a lower rate compared to landlines.Â
In addition to cost-effectiveness, VoIP telephony offers more advanced features, better functionality reliability and scalability. For example, VoIP transmits Voice over not only the internet but also video and other multimedia content. So you can get all the functionalities of landlines along with advanced communication tools without investing a huge amount of money.
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