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Thinking about making the switch to a virtual phone system? You’re not alone. Due to a few important factors, such as cost, simplicity, and the ability to run your business from anywhere, many businesses, no matter how large or small, are moving away from conventional systems and on to greener pastures–and it is greener on the other side. A virtual system is less expensive, more versatile, easier to control and manage, and free of constraints imposed by the traditional systems to which we’re all accustomed. Now that there is a greater demand for them, there is no shortage of virtual service providers. This post, while not intended to go too far in-depth, will give you a crash-course in the 3 main types of virtual phone systems and provide a few cautionary points to help prepare you in your search for the virtual system that best fits your business. Not All …

A PBX is one of those things that a lot of businesses are using without realizing that that’s what they’re using. When a business has at least a couple of employees, it has always been kind of a staple for offices in the past. It’s still widely used because it’s such an effective system, but there are now other options, including a PBX that is completely virtual. Let’s look at exactly what this system is, and how you can optimize it for your business. The Private Branch Exchange In basic terms, a private branch exchange (PBX) is the underlying infrastructure of a phone system that makes it possible to have multiple lines in an office or other setting, which lines are localized to that specific setting. Anyone who has worked in an office in the last 40 years or so has probably used a PBX. They have been the preferred …

If you have never heard of a cloud-hosted phone system, or a cloud-hosted PBX, and you’re a business owner, then it’s definitely something that you should give a try. Also known as a cloud-based, or virtual phone system, it can change the way you manage calls for the better and make it far more simple. Below, you’ll find 8 ways that this type of system can make a very positive change in your small business. 1. Cut Down Your Phone Bill The big phone companies charge way more for an on-site office phone system than you will pay for a cloud-hosted system. A provider like Verizon or Comcast can definitely build a PBX for your business, possibly using the phones you currently have, but they may need to send in technicians to set it up at a not-so-modest price. Using a virtual service provider to set up a cloud-hosted PBX …

For businesses who have traditional phone systems in their offices, the ability to transfer a call is something they take for granted, and for new businesses today who are running their businesses from a cell phone, they find a way to make due without that feature. The point is that live call transfer is more important than we realize. Customers expect that you have it, and it should always be available and easy to use. Don’t Underestimate the Importance of a Transfer Feature As a new business looking for the right phone system for their company, you may not think about how often you will use live transfer. Even if you only have a couple of employees, you’re going to need to be able to transfer customer calls, as well as transfer calls internally between employees. For one thing, you can’t ask customers to hang up and call back with …

How easily can your team communicate with each other at work? When you take an honest assessment of the system you use for everyone to stay in touch with each other, you might very well discover that you’re wasting a lot of time and energy without realizing it. We’re going to go over a few of the most common mistakes that small businesses make in the ways that they organize their phone systems and other coms, but mainly how the phones are actually designed to complicate things instead of simplifying them. Disjointed Communication is Your Enemy Any business owner knows that all communication in your business has to be well-coordinated to be effective, and this is especially true for your phone system. Depending on how many employees you have, whether they work in a central office or remotely, and how much everyone interacts with customers over the phone. Obviously, many …

Just like when you open a new website for your business, and you’re testing the site in all sorts of different ways to make sure you can’t get it to “break”, you have to do the same for your phone system to check for any weak points that may frustrate or discourage your customers. There are a few problems that commonly occur in business phone systems, which you can easily identify and address so that everyone who calls you has a seamless experience. Don’t let these problems persist any longer because you may be losing customers every day for something totally preventable. Your Customers Should Always Be Able to Get Through Sad to say, there are a ton of small businesses who have problems with their phone systems which are easily preventable and fixable, and the owners either neglect them or are not even aware of them. Many callers trying …

As much affection as we may have for them, the truth is that businesses don’t absolutely need a landline phone anymore. If you love your landline and still want to hang on to it, then of course they still work fine and you can use it with a Talkroute virtual phone system, too. Meanwhile, you can easily manage all of your calls without it, for less money and more simply. Every business has their own way of managing calls, but you may find that there’s a very strong case for getting rid of it. Many Businesses Are Eliminating Their Wired Line Phones It’s been happening for some time now. For the past 10-15 years, businesses have been gradually phasing out landlines in their offices, and that’s been accelerating in the past few years. As pointed out by Business Insider earlier this year, businesses are switching out their landlines in favor …

Today, we are living in a golden era of technology which is making it possible for small businesses to streamline every aspect of their operations with simplicity and relatively low cost. Your phone system is no exception, either, because if you decide to the leap to utilizing a virtual phone system, then there is really no limit to the features and configurations you will have at your disposal, to customize your system in whatever way your business needs. A Quick Breakdown: “Virtual Phone Systems for Dummies” If you are not familiar with virtual phone systems for business, then the #1 fact you need to know about them is that you can take all the phones that you have which receive calls and control them entirely online through your dashboard with the virtual service provider. One of the greatest aspect of these systems is that you can use the phones you …

Many virtual phone systems are known for being compatible with any type of phone, and any carrier. That’s a great asset for small businesses, but how is it possible? If you’re unfamiliar with virtual providers like Talkroute, then this fact can sound kind of ridiculous; however, the system truly does work with whatever phones you already have. What does this mean? As long as the phone has active service and its own 10-digit phone number, it will work with the service. Use your personal cell phone and those of your employees, your landlines at home or at the office, VoIP desk phones, Skype numbers, Google Voice numbers, or even a satellite phone if you actually have one. The system can route your calls to any of them, and any mixture of them, no matter what carrier they are with. How Does the System Do It? Instead of wiring all your …

  One of the things that makes a virtual phone system great is that it is so versatile and adaptable, no matter how many or what kind of phones your business will be using. In this post, you’ll find 3 specific configurations that you can use to make sure every business call that comes in will be served quickly and be directed to the correct person, every time.   1. Single Cell Phone If you are currently running your small business from your cell phone, rest assured that there are a multitude of other business owners who are doing the exact same thing. Using a virtual system like Talkroute is the perfect solution for that scenario, and your customers will never know that you are taking every call on a single cell phone. Here’s how it works: Add a call menu It doesn’t matter if you have one business phone …