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When you start your search for a new virtual phone system, you’ll quickly discover that there are numerous options to choose from. What you have to carefully consider is what type of virtual phone system you want because there are a few categories, and the needs of your particular business will determine which type will work best for you. Some of these services are based entirely in an app you install on your smartphone; but others like Talkroute are not tied down to an app. Here’s a bit of a deeper explanation. Types of Phone Services Many people, when they begin to do some research to find out what kinds of phone service providers are out there, they might go in thinking that there are simply regular phone services and virtual services. They come away realizing that there are many iterations of virtual providers. Here are three basic types of …

  The phones that you use to answer business calls are the most essential element and most valuable point-of-contact you have with your customers. Most of the time, you can pretty much set it and forget it, but then there are also those times when changes need to be made. That’s when you need a system that makes it easy to change up the configuration while keeping the calls coming in without interruption. These steps will give you a simple roadmap for managing your forwarding phones as part of a virtual phone system.   1. Make sure your phones are in excellent working order. Find out every person, or every phone that will be taking calls, and then do some testing. Go through each phone that will be on the forwarding list with your virtual system; then, do a series of tests to make sure there will be no conflicts …

The criteria you use to judge virtual phone systems may not include the user interface, or control panel—but it should. Your control panel, otherwise known as your “dashboard”, is how you interact with your business’ phone system and needs to be effective and easy to use. A Component that is Usually Overlooked When shopping around for a new phone system, you’re paying close attention to things like cost vs. value; included features; compatibility with your existing phones, which points are all important, but how easy will the whole thing actually be to setup, adjust as needed, and maintain? You can seek support from the company staff if you need it, but it’s far more painless if you can make changes to your system with a couple of quick clicks. That’s why the user interface has to be accessible to make immediate changes anytime, from an easy-to-use online dashboard. Managing Your …

  Connection quality and excellent phone reception is always a top concern for businesses of any size. Unfortunately, if you choose the wrong phone service provider, you may not enjoy the consistent quality that you need because not all providers can offer that. If you choose the right provider, though, this is not only possible but readily available.   How Do You Get Good Connection Quality? When choosing a phone system to manage your business calls, it’s important to know how your calls are being connected. There are 2 basic methods that providers use to connect calls. The first type of provider routes calls over the Internet, namely a VoIP system. The second kind of provider is a cloud-based PBX system that connects calls using the traditional phone network, and some service providers also use a mix of both.   Internet-Based Call Routing This type has been in use for …

  Voicemail is pretty straightforward. Every business uses it because you just can’t get to every call, but is every business using voicemail to its full potential? Probably not. Put these 4 strategies into practice to get the most out of your business voicemail.   1. Voicemail-to-Email for Automated Ticketing Voicemail benefits from automation more than anything because not only can you use your virtual phone system to automatically route messages to the correct mailbox and receive notifications instantly, but voice mailboxes can be set to create a new ticket for each new message. Simply set the voice mailbox to forward new messages to the email address connected with your ticketing software. It’s a highly useful makeshift integration to help save you some time.   2. Route an Extension Straight to Voicemail There are a few reasons why you would want an extension or menu option that, when selected, routes …

  The messages and audio that people hear when they call into your phone system should be orchestrated in such a way that informs the caller while keeping them calm and interested. If the message goes off the program even just a little bit, people will notice, and it might leave a bad taste in their mouths. Here are a few old chestnuts that you may want to leave out of your audio prompts.   1. Your call is important to us. When you’re setting up your phone system, you’re going to be tempted to insert this famous little phrase into your on-hold program. Resist that temptation. It seems like such a great idea at first, but think about it. What is the first thing that comes into your mind when you call a business and hear a pleasant female voice say, “Your call is important to us,” as you …

  Your business depends on consistent communication, and much of your communication relies on quality phone service. It’s for that reason that the service providing you with a phone system cannot give you a barely adequate, shiny product that has minimal features and unreliable service.   1. Charging by the Minute A staggering number of virtual phone service providers still charge by the minute, and they are getting away with it for the sole reason that these providers have essentially made it customary; so, it’s generally rare to find a virtual provider that does not charge per minute. They use this pricing structure because they stand to gain a great deal of profit from businesses in overage charges. Charging a business by the minute for phone service is like asking a doctor to buy their own gloves and needles. It’s petty and insulting. When you use a virtual phone service …

  Virtual phone systems for business are steadily becoming more popular and more accepted, but they are still vastly misunderstood. This article is an introductory attempt to dispel some of the misconceptions that people have about virtual phone services. When you, as a business, set out to find the perfect virtual system, you might assume that you will be looking only at VoIP services, but today there are more options than that available.   Defining the Terms One of the main issues seems to be that people use the terms, “virtual” and “VoIP” almost interchangeably. To a consumer, the perceived definition of a thing tends to take precedence over the actual definition, which is why many businesses think a virtual phone service is automatically a VoIP service. That’s why it’s important to understand what “VoIP” actually means.   What is VoIP? VoIP literally stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. When …