Business phone systems today are full of advanced features that companies barely use. There is no problem with an advanced business phone system. However, the basics are what matter the most.
The key is to get the most suitable features for your specific business. There are features that every business phone system should have, which include:
Mobility or Call Transfer Features
These days employees are primarily on the move mainly due to the prevalence of remote work. If you want to stay in contact with your employees, you should ensure that your business phone system has mobile features.
Call transfer features enable employees to receive calls on any device they may have with them. You should ensure that you can communicate with your team whether they are at their desk or on the road.
A great example is the ‘Anywhere’ feature is a property of a phone system that allows employees to receive calls on their mobile phones and will smoothly transfer calls from their desk phones. Mobility features are essential for ensuring your team’s productivity, no matter where they are.
VoIP or IP Based Functionality
A VoIP phone is much cheaper than a traditional phone system (legacy analog). Analog phones are largely obsolete, so it is time to cut the cord in favor of a phone system with IP-based functions.
When reviewing the best small business phone systems, they should all have VoIP features such as OpenPhone. You will get to save money plus many automated features such as automatic replies.
VoIP phone systems offer the capacity for scalability, so you do not have to keep upgrading your phone system as your business grows. Moreover, each system user gets a unique phone number so you can reach them directly instead of having to relay calls. VoIP phone systems help your team field calls and texts regardless of their location.
Auto attendant
Your business does not have to miss calls because it is not office hours, and your receptionist is not at the desk. The auto-attendant is a central feature of a sound business phone system because it greets customers, provides them with options or information, and directs them to the right person or department, all without human help.
The last thing customers or clients want when they call your business is to be on hold for hours only for the call to drop, which you can avoid by using an auto attendant. Customer communication is essential for any business. Not to say that live interaction during phone calls is not crucial.
However, unless you can have someone on the phone 24/7, which many small businesses cannot, an auto attendant is one of the best features a business phone system should possess.
Call Conferencing
As stated above, when considering business phone features, you should focus on the basics. Call conferencing is a fundamental feature virtually all phones have today and is especially valuable for a business.
You need a phone system with the capacity to integrate as many team members into a call. Department members may be in different offices, distant remote locations, or doing different activities.
Call conferencing saves you plenty of time by being able to communicate with all of them at once. It also improves collaboration at the office as employees don’t have to be in a meeting together physically. They can call each other and collaborate over the phone.
Call Logging
We live in the age of data, and call data is vastly important and helpful. Therefore, a feature the business phone system you choose should have is the capacity to capture vital data from phone calls. The basic information call logging should provide includes the caller ID, call duration, and the date and time of the call.
It should also be able to show the call status, which indicates whether it was accepted or sent to voicemail. Call logging is especially useful for sales and marketing as the information can make your business more effective at tracking activity.
Today’s business phone systems are very advanced and include many more features than those outlined above. However, you should be good to go if you have call conferencing, call logging, auto-attendant, IP-based functionality, and call transfer features. Evaluate your business and find out which features you most need.
