A VoIP phone system can offer a great deal of benefits for your company. If you own a small business, some features can make it appear that your office is larger than it actually is. With a smooth running phone system equipped with excellent features, you can deliver the outstanding customer service your customers deserve. These are just a few of the VoIP features that can benefit your business.

Auto Attendant
Receptionists are becoming rare, as the tasks of these individuals are usually spread out among team members. While some businesses still retain receptionists, others find that nixing an extra employee can save money. With an auto attendant, calls are routed to the appropriate person faster, and it can provide assistance to whomever is on receptionist duty.

Music On Hold
This feature is not limited to music only – you can provide helpful information regarding your company while a caller is on hold. Be sure to keep this information up to date to avoid any misinformation.

If you choose to use music, be sure to have the proper licensing or search the available “royalty-free” music. But note that “royalty-free” doesn’t necessarily mean “free.”

Call Basics
Call waiting, hold, park, pickup, and transfer are all extremely helpful whether you have a large or small office. Call waiting and hold are fairly standard. Call park is similar to hold, but you can access a call from any phone within your system. Call pickup allows you to answer someone else’s call at your station. Various types of transfer functions enable routing calls to the appropriate extensions or mailboxes easily.

Follow Me
There are two options when it comes to the Follow Me feature: multiple ringing (where all the lines are ringing at once) or sequential ringing (if the primary line isn’t answered in a given time, the next line in order is tried, and so on). This is helpful for those who work at home or odd hours, eliminating the need to constantly change settings.

Hunt Groups
These work like the Follow Me feature, but somewhat on a larger scale. For example, you can assign a phone number to your sales team, and incoming calls will be routed to members simultaneously or sequentially. They can even call a specific team member to speak directly with him or her.

Selective Diversion
While diverting calls is nothing new, selective diversion provides you with the ability to route calls according to specific criteria. These criteria can include time of day, day of week, and even a caller’s number. For example, a business that offers emergency services or after hours support may opt to set up a schedule for nights and weekends to divert calls to the mobile phone of the person who is on call at that time. Depending on the time or day, calls that would normally be handled within the office would be diverted to a worker’s mobile phone.

You can also divert calls from your important clients to your private mobile number on weekends or holidays, to ensure that they can contact you in case of emergency from a single number.

Please remember that diverting calls to a fixed line, mobile phone, or a number on another VoIP provider’s network, you will be charged at your usual rate for such calls. You will not incur charges if you are simply diverting calls to another one of your own VoIP lines.

Conference Calls
Three-way calls, or conference calls, let you connect two calls into one. Some systems permit you to add additional parties, which make collaboration easier without having to meet in person.

Call Recording
With this feature, you can record calls as necessary. Within your area, be sure to fully understand the audio recording laws. Also, as common courtesy goes, you should always inform the person if you will be recording the call.

Dial Extensions
Often overlooked as a benefit, dialing extensions allows you to contact other lines easily, without having to dial a whole phone number or use up space on your speed dial list. With VoIP plans, you don’t pay for calls to the same provider, essentially making all of your lines ‘extensions’ in the traditional sense.

Voicemail
Fairly commonplace, voicemail ensures that you don’t miss an important call or message. Voicemail to email is sent as an attachment and allows you to replay the message as often as you’d like without incurring additional fees (especially helpful when overseas).

1300/1800 numbers
Rather than distributing a local line, a 1300 or 1800 number makes your business seem larger and more corporate. Also, they are more flexible if your company decides to move or opens multiple branches. You can point the 1300 or 1800 to your new number, or the caller can be directed to the nearest branch based on location.

Does your small business use a VoIP phone system? What other benefits have you experienced? Share with us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and Pinterest.

For an excellent selection of VoIP phone systems, parts and accessories, please visit us online. If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to call 1-800-564-8045.

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