You need a Virtual Business Phone System… Here’s Why!

Have you ever wondered how a business with locations all over the world can have a single phone number to handle all of its customer calls?

• How do they do it?
• How do they manage so many calls to, and from, multiple locations?
• How are calls routed to dozens, or even hundreds, of employees?
• How can a business have call centers across the globe? in countries like India, Mexico, or the Philippines?
• How can a business phone system be so complex, yet, as simple to use as dialing an extension?

The answer to all of the above is VoIP.

And… with service from smpl, You can too!

Let’s find out how by answering a few questions.

First of all… What is VoIP?

VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a method of making telephone calls using an Internet connection instead of landline phone systems. The technology converts voice signals from a telephone into digital data that is transmitted over the Internet, and then converted back into voice at the receiving end.

Since 1995, Voip has been replacing large and small business phone systems. One of the main advantages of this type of virtual phone system over landline phone systems is that it uses the Internet for communication instead of analog signals sent over copper wire or fiber optic cable. This allows for greater flexibility and accessibility, as calls can be made from anywhere with an Internet connection, even WiFi.

Additionally, with the improvement of Internet speeds, the quality of VoIP calls has significantly improved. This type of phone system is able to provide real-time communication without the static or delays that can be experienced with a landline based phone system.

VoIP has proven particularly beneficial for businesses, allowing for improved communication and collaboration between remote employees and colleagues in different locations. For example, Our mobile phone app “Voice App” enables routing of calls directly to a user’s smartphone, making it easier to stay connected and communicate effectively on the go.

Who is smpl?

smpl is a Business Communications Software company that is passionate about connections. Whether it’s people or businesses, they believe that every story matters.

For over 10 years, they’ve made it their mission to equip people and businesses with a suite of products that help enable them to tell their stories.

Their powerful flagship suite, smpl Office, includes Voice, Messaging, Video Calling, and more. Their offering is easily customized to suit businesses of all sizes and in every stage of growth. From solopreneurs to Fortune 500 companies, smpl’s suite of products can help them tell their stories.

What are the benefits of a Virtual Business Phone System

There are several reasons why a business would want to switch to a VoIP phone system, some of the most common ones include:

+ Business phone features

+ Usability

+ Mobility

+ Scalability

+ Cost Savings

+Integrations

Phone System for Business Features

One of the biggest reasons that businesses switch to a VoIP phone system is for its features!

These phone systems are inherently designed to make life easier not only for the business but for its customers. The most popular features include:

• Auto Attendant: Also known as Automated Attendant or AA, is a phone system feature that greets incoming callers with a pre-recorded message. The message guides the caller to select the desired extension or department by using touch-tone commands or voice recognition. The caller is then automatically connected to the selected extension or department, eliminating the need for a live receptionist to answer and transfer calls. The auto attendant feature can also enhance the professional image of a business, as callers are greeted with a polished and organized message rather than a busy signal or ring tone. Lastly, an auto attendant can provide options for callers outside of normal business hours, such as after-hours messages, alternative business phone number, or voicemail options.

• Rule-Based Call Routing – This is a feature that allows calls to be routed according to a rule or set of rules for phone calls. For example, a call may be routed to a receptionist or auto attendant during work hours but to a mobile device, smartphone, cell phone, answering service, or voicemail box, after business hours.
• Call Transferring – A feature that enables the transfer of ongoing phone calls from one person to another, either within the same organization or to an external number. This feature allows employees to redirect calls to the most appropriate person or department, improving the overall efficiency of communication and reducing wait times for callers.
• Extension Dialing – This is a feature that assigns extensions to business phone system users to receive phone calls without the use of an assigned phone number. These extensions can be reached from within the organization by dialing them directly, or from outside the organization by dialing the main number followed by the extension.
• Voicemail Transcription – A huge time-saving feature that transcribes voicemail messages and sends them to your email for reading at your leisure. Voice files can also be sent to emails or groups of emails for team monitoring.
• Call Recording – This is a feature that allows customer support to record business phone calls for quality control, training, auditing, compliance, or security and safety. Phone recordings are kept on servers owned by the requesting customer for privacy.
• Analytics – are a group of features that give smpl customers insights into their call logs. They can help determine things such as call wait times, call drop reasons, average call lengths, and much more.
• For a full list of features please visit smpl.co/features

Usability

When it comes to user experience, a cloud based phone system is much more versatile than a traditional business phone system. VoIP is easy to configure and, in the case of smpl, the phones are plug-and-play, meaning that no additional setup is required.

Any changes to configurations are done via a web browser or, for some business phone service providers, from an application that makes it very easy and user-friendly to make changes to your phone system in real-time.

smpl’s drag-and-drop call flow configuration tool allows you to design the perfect call flow for every scenario simply with the click or swipe of a mouse. You can even update greetings, set call rules, check voicemails, and set do-not-disturb for any line, all from the online smpl Voice platform.

Mobility

A cloud based phone system is designed to work everywhere and from anywhere. The same great phone system handset that sits on your desk, can also be used across the globe as if you and your co-workers were in cubicles across the hall. Since a cloud phone system works over the web, you can take your business phone with you anywhere, in the world, you can get a solid internet connection. Simply plug your handset into a live ethernet port and start dialing. This ability makes a virtual phone system perfect for employees constantly on the move, such as a sales team, or in the age of global pandemics, a remote customer support team.

If lugging around a headset is not your jam, just download one of smpl’s mobile apps from the iOS or Android mobile apps store, enter your username, and password, and away you go. Make and receive calls from your mobile phone app as if you were in the office.

A VoIP business phone system can also help you keep in touch with all of your employees without incurring long-distance charges and it’s useful for your customer to have a single point of contact that they can use to reach you no matter where they are located, which is great for marketing.

BONUS: smpl offers video conferencing and Messaging as well

Scalability

Every business aims for growth and wants to be able to expand regardless of its current size. These are the best business phone systems and play a crucial role in supporting this growth by being infinitely scalable. This means that it can accommodate an increase in the number of lines and users as the business grows independent of the business location.

A virtual phone system is particularly advantageous in this regard, as it allows for the addition of new lines as needed, ensuring that the organization never runs out of capacity. The flexibility and scalability of a business phone system like this have made them a popular choice for modern customer support centers, which often use VoIP technology to set up their call centers.

The ability to add and remove capacity as required gives businesses the flexibility to adapt to changes in demand and to continue to provide high-quality customer support. The scalability of a business phone system can help to ensure that organizations are well equipped to handle growth and that they can continue to meet the needs of their customers, even as they expand.

Cost Savings

The cost of a virtual business phone system will vary depending on the features and number of lines you need. However, it is generally much less expensive than a traditional phone line.

A recent customer estimated that they would save over $400 dollars a month by switching her service to a smpl business phone system. Others report saving as high as 60% on their monthly bill, even more if you take advantage of paying for an annual subscription up-front.

Compare your pricing to smpl here.

Integrations

smpl integrates with many popular apps and software to accomplish more than just business communications. Some integrations allow you to track data points such as Incoming and Outgoing calls through dashboards on televisions for employee tracking. It can include things such as Data Analytics for call-drops, failed connections, average length of calls, just to name a few. We also integrate with other popular communications apps such as Microsoft Teams, for customer calls without leaving your workflow and much more.

Requirements of a VoIP Business Phone System

There are two main components to a virtual business phone service: the hardware and the service.

The hardware for a virtual business phone system consist mainly of a VoIP phone handset and an internet router. Most modern Voip handsets plug directly into your router via an ethernet cable, some may even connect wirelessly via Wifi. Depending on how many voip phones your business requires, you may need a switch to handle the connections. To keep thing neat and tidy, many businesses opt to use Power over Ethernet, or POE, to run both power and internet connection via a single ethernet cable to a VoIP enabled phone.

As for the service, you’ll need an internet connection, preferably something with a high-speed connection and a subscription to a VoIP service provider who will give you a virtual phone number and provide the necessary services for your business. You can check out the 3 different tiers of service that smpl offers here: smpl.co/pricing

Most providers will provide you with everything you need to get started, from apps, to service, and some may even include phone handsets and adapters.

So what’s the best business phone system for you?

With features such as auto attendant, voicemail transcriptions or one of the many other benefits a VoIP business phone system offers, you can rest assured that you are making the right choice. It can save your organization money, it can make it easier to manage multiple locations or remote teams, it can provide features that traditional phone lines cannot, the service is easier to manage, it can scale with your business, and it offers data integrations that allow you insights into how your business is doing. All things considered, it is clear that a virtual phone system for business is the winner here, but we leave the final decision up to you.

If you haven’t made up your mind, you can always speak to our amazing customer support team @ smpl.co/meet