5 Must-Have VoIP Features for Business Communication
The best VoIP telephony solutions help businesses enhance call center performance and boost customer satisfaction. AI-powered queuing systems, fast transfer to the right agent, smart call screening, and other advanced features improve call efficiency.
Cloud PBX
With a cloud PBX system, the PBX server resides at the provider’s data center, and users connect via VoIP. This eliminates hardware costs and makes upgrades more affordable than traditional on-premise PBX systems.
Additionally, maintenance is minimal. The service provider’s team handles changing call routing, adjusting VoIP codecs, and updating software. This frees up your IT staff for other projects.
Look for a provider that offers integrations to essential business apps like CRM and help desk tools. Dialpad, for example, has a robust suite of integrations, including voice transcriptions, post-call notes, and live speech coaching. This helps businesses make informed and data-driven decisions based on the insights from their calls.
Auto Attendant
This business VoIP feature helps companies manage high call volumes by routing customers to the right agents or pre-recorded information. It eliminates the need to delegate internal resources for handling incoming calls, reduces costs, and increases customer satisfaction. For example, suppose an inbound customer calls to troubleshoot a specific issue. In that case, they can be directed to the appropriate department by dialing a pre-set menu such as “Dial 1 for technical support” or “Dial 2 for sales assistance”. Additionally, many VoIP platforms, such as the Ooma VoIP phone system assistance, provide auto attendant systems in their basic plans and do not charge extra premiums for advanced options. This allows even smaller teams to implement this feature, saving time and money. It is also a great way to reduce the cost of traditional landline phones by using only a business phone number and a broadband Internet connection.
Voicemail
When someone calls a business, they may leave a message requesting more information about a product or service. Sometimes, they may even request to talk to a customer support team member.
Checking voicemail, much like checking emails, can be a huge productivity killer. It takes a person away from their day-to-day workflow and can take up to 20 minutes for one message. A VOIP phone system provides visual voicemail that streamlines the process and allows people to access their messages more conveniently. They can do this using a special VoIP desk phone that looks like a traditional telephone or a softphone app on their desktop or mobile devices. The software identifies your callers and connects you to them over the Internet.
Call Routing
Call routing software sends calls to queues, departments, or ring groups based on several pre-set conditions. This feature can help to reduce wait times for customers, improve call center metrics such as AHT (average hold time), and even help to prevent sales staff from becoming overwhelmed by high volumes of incoming calls.
Typically, this begins with an audio phase where the system welcomes callers and gives any relevant information or instructions. This can include a custom script, a quick and simple greeting, or any other audio the company chooses. Some call routing options may also be available such as round robin, which distributes calls evenly among team members. This helps to prevent individual team members from being overburdened with calls, which can lead to a lack of quality customer service and increased costs for the business.
Call Forwarding
With call forwarding, incoming calls can be routed to other numbers or contacts. Setting up and managing from the PBX dashboard, mobile app, or online portal is easy. Simultaneously ringing, which forwards calls to multiple phone lines simultaneously, is also a great feature. With VIP alerts, incoming calls from high-profile customers can be directed to specific employees immediately. This helps businesses avoid the distraction of crank calls and focus on serving customers better. VoIP business communication systems offer various advanced tools and features that provide cost savings, flexible scalability, mobility, enhanced security, and improved productivity.