The most suitable small business telephone system improves and simplifies the working conditions of all employees.
More options have never been available in terms of configuration and functions when shopping for a phone system for a small business. Despite this, many companies are reluctant to upgrade their ageing landline phone systems because they see no compelling reason to do so.
Understanding the benefits and drawbacks of available systems is helpful when shopping for or updating a small company phone system.
Your budget desired features and anticipated volume of inbound and outbound calls are just a few of the factors to think about.
Here, we examine all the factors you should consider to select the best phone service for your small business.
To begin, let’s define a small business telephone system
It’s common to find enterprise-level phone systems tailored to huge corporations with hundreds or thousands of people dispersed across dozens or hundreds of offices.
However, small businesses rarely have the resources for enterprise phone systems, and yet they still want a phone system that allows for constant and adaptable communication with their partners, vendors, and consumers.
It is helpful to have a fundamental knowledge of the many types of phone systems to choose the one that best suits the needs of your small business in terms of features and alternatives.
A small company phone system is, at its most fundamental level, a network of interconnected office telephones that allow for things like call forwarding, call transfer, conference calling, and voicemail.
A PBX phone system with a fixed number of external lines and perhaps a small number of desk phones are examples of this. If your firm receives more than a handful of calls per day, you need a small business phone system.
The correct system will also allow you to scale up as your firm expands, allowing you to support more complex machinery. Meanwhile, it’ll give every department the tools they need to improve their efficiency and the quality of service they provide to customers.
In a nutshell, if you’re a small business, the correct phone system is crucial to your success.
Forms That Enterprise-Grade Telephony Can Take
You need to know the ins and outs of a product or service before you commit to buying it. There is a wide selection of phone systems for small businesses to choose from. Knowing the fundamentally different mechanisms at work in analogue and digital systems is the first step.
An analogue phone system is quite simple. To put it plainly, the copper cables used by older telephone systems carry electrical signals.
Voice data is transmitted as “packets” via the internet in digital phone systems, and special software is required to decode and interpret the data.
The primary distinction is whether your voice signals are sent digitally (in the form of data packets) through the internet or analogously (in the form of physical cables) (electrical current, analogue).
The capabilities of older phone systems, such as landline telephones, are vastly different from those of newer, more advanced systems, such as those based in the cloud. The popularity of cloud-based phone systems is growing because they provide a number of advantages over traditional telephone networks (POTS).
For a deeper dive into the analogue/digital divide, consider these four distinct phone systems and their respective functions:
Analog
Uses copper wiring to transmit audio signals.
Private Branch Exchange
PBE stands for private branch exchange and refers to a system of 23-line analogue phone cables.
IP PBX
VoIP is a PBX version in which voice signals are sent digitally in packets over the internet instead of physical lines.
VoIP
The voice signals in Voice over Internet Protocol are also transmitted in the form of data packets across the internet. A VoIP system, on the other hand, allows for seamless integration of your phone system with a wide variety of helpful applications, enabling you to take advantage of cloud-based calling and improve your customers’ experience across all of your communication channels.
VoIP phones are rapidly replacing traditional landline systems as the preferred choice for small businesses due to their increased flexibility and the ability to support remote employees and virtual contact centres. The only requirements for a remote call agent are access to the internet and, optionally, a headset.
The key to keeping a great team together is the ability to support remote and hybrid work arrangements. According to McKinsey’s findings, 52% of workers said they want their company to adopt more flexible methods. More than half of employees, according to the study’s authors, may even consider looking for a new job if flexible scheduling wasn’t an option.
VoIP conversations provide simple advantages as your company expands and evolves.
Buying a Phone System for a Small Company
Every possible option for a company’s phone system comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Whether you’re starting from scratch with a new phone system for your small business or are looking to upgrade an existing system makes a big difference in how you approach the evaluation process.
You have the option of sticking with your current landline or switching to a more cutting-edge VoIP setup for your business. You may speed up your expansion and keep ahead of the competition by switching to a more advanced automated phone system for small business.
You can streamline your sales and support operations with the use of software solutions, such as cloud-based calling capabilities. This will improve sales and satisfaction levels. It’s crucial since clients can easily switch allegiances to a different brand if they feel you’re falling short of their expectations.
In addition, many hosted VoIP phone systems can connect with and interact with other software business tools, streamlining even more of your company’s operations.
Choose a solution that gives your sales and support employees the same or greater skills as your rivals.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Company’s Phone System
Looking at the broad picture, you may be wondering what use all these bells and whistles and software bundles serve. When integrated into a high-quality small company phone system, these functions become invaluable.
Reduce inefficiencies and maximise output with a software solution that streamlines your customer service and sales operations. This will help you respond to inquiries more quickly and move prospects more quickly through the sales pipeline.
Increase your professional competence: Brand recognition and revenue both benefit from exceptional customer service. A call centre may make your organisation seem established and reputable.
Allows for calls to be made to other countries and handled by foreign call centres: Allows you to attract buyers from any part of the world.
Stop missing calls; doing so means leaving money on the table. You’ll never miss an important call again thanks to the efficiency of a call centre.
You can save time by automating routine tasks like call transfers and updating numerous systems at once, and you can get back to people in the queue without losing their place if they become distracted.
