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In business operations, phones may be one of the most important systems you put into place. Choosing the right phone system can help you work more efficiently, give customers better service, and grow your business. On the other hand, a phone service that doesn’t meet your needs can result in wasted time and annoyed customers.
When comparing business phone systems, identify how your options compare across these categories:
- Call quality & reliability
- Out of the box features
- Advanced or premium features
- Technical support
Call Quality & Reliability
You want your customers to see you as professional and reliable. If your phones make you sound far away, tinny, or hard to understand, it can cause frustration for customers. And these bad experiences add up. 9 out of 10 customers will leave a business for a competitor following a bad customer service experience — even if that competitor costs more.
You can increase the sound quality of your calls by switching to a VoIP system. VoIP stands for Voice over IP, which simply means that your call is carried over the internet instead of a telephone line. VoIP systems are reliable, fast, and clearer than landline. Plus, they have the added benefit of allowing you to be connected to your phone line no matter where you are. With VoIP you can route calls to your cell phone or plug your phone in anywhere in the world and still access the same line.
Competitive Features
Businesses today rely on much more than just calling. Online and cloud phone systems give you access to features like voicemail to email and text, automated call routing, and custom hold messages. You should get access to a wealth of features out of the box from your business phone provider. Find out before you sign up which features are included and which you will have to pay extra for.
At Vonix, we outline our plans simply, but we can also build a custom package based on your needs. Consider what features are a must-have for you and decide which provider offers the most of those in your service plan.
Advanced Features
Different businesses have a wide range of needs, and you need a phone service provider who can grow with you. If you employ a support team, then you might need call transcription and recording services to both monitor performance and keep a record of conversations. Or, if you’re training new team members, then you may want to add on live call monitoring so you can hear the conversation in real time. Businesses with a larger client base or those coming into busier times of year may want to invest in call queuing so they never miss a caller.
There are so many possibilities when it comes to ways to improve your business with phone technology. Before switching phone providers, think about what times customers and employees are the most frustrated with your current system, and investigate if other phone systems have solutions. A new phone provider likely has solutions in place that you didn’t even know existed for small businesses!
Technical Support
Have you ever worked with an attentive sales representative, only to feel forgotten once you sign the contract? When choosing a phone provider, don’t forget to read the reviews and ask your network first. Find out what other business owners have experienced when switching to a provider, and how their support has been over time. You never want to be in a bind where you can’t get a hold of your provider in the case of an issue.
Before going with a big box company, consider going local. Rather than being stuck yourself in a web of phone trees, you’ll likely be able to reach a real person much sooner with a local provider. Vonix offers customers on-site installation, training, and troubleshooting free of charge. Make sure you can rely on your phone provider as much as your customers rely on being able to contact you.
Don’t rush into a contract with a new business phone provider without doing the homework first. Your phone service is so much more than simply how many lines you get and which hardware you’ll buy. Learn everything you can about the call quality and reliability, features, and support before signing on the dotted line.
Ready to switch to a phone provider who’s focused on customer satisfaction? Make the switch to better call quality, better support, and better conversations with Vonix.
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