Posts by Dominique Lee

Customer expectations have become extremely high and demanding over the years. As we become more and more accessible via technology and their advancements, customers expect quick responses and reliable service. Commercial VoIP phone systems can truly be a blessing in keeping customers happy. Implementing a modern business phone system in your office, will allow you to serve your customers better and meet their high standards with satisfaction, and much less costs.

The plethora of features and tools that come with VoIP will only push your business forward. Always advancing and growing. Implementing these simple but classy IP phone features, can make the smallest businesses look large and in charge. Music on hold, conference calling and interoffice communication, are all features that will set your business a part, are now very affordable and are just a few reasons VoIP is better.

The below paints six clear, and frequently used, bullet points to meeting your customers’ needs and keeping them happy along the way.

• Reliable communication connections
• Quick and versatile responses to messages (txt, email, voice)
• Strong help and support teams
• Convenience and advanced features
• Easily accessible onsite or online help
• Stellar customer service support

These are only a few of the ways your business can exceed the standards of today’s customers in using VoIP. In order to keep and maintain happy customers, it’s imperative to have a high-quality phone system that will also make you as efficient as possible. The best thing about a VoIP system, your office number isn’t tied down to a physical landline, it can travel with you wherever you go. Even small businesses can increase their customer service and experience by using a VoIP phone system. It should be expected your customers are looking for reliable, fast, useful, and seamless experiences. The power of commercial VoIP phone systems are in the features which increase customer communication, satisfaction and quality.

The survival of your business, big or small, rests heavily on the way you communicate with customers. A reliable VoIP phone system for your office will allow customers to always be able reach you. With VoIP, in the event of a power outage and/or terrible weather, you can set up calls to be directed to cell phones. This way, your business will never be down, and you’ll continue to thrive. You can set up meetings and conference calls remotely and efficiently, which then in turn, can ultimately cut back on your business overhead.

Commercial VoIP phone systems allows your employees to work from home or on the road in the field. Cuts back on expenses for travel and gas reimbursement. Keeps them accessible to customers, colleagues and therefore, constantly productive. Wherever they are, they can be reached, able to connect and communicate, keeping business moving forward.

One of the most important aspects in owning a business is undoubtedly producing leads that turn into customers and hopefully retaining them. The number one way of gaining customers is through your sales team. The number one way of retaining them is through your customer service team. Whether it’s through the power of door knocking or cold calling, you have to go out there and find those potential customers.

Now that you have leads, how do you keep them as clients? Well, through the wonderful methods of follow ups and of course, follow through. So how do you typically follow up? Email tends to be a great source but can often feel less personal. The crazy convenience of text messaging is rapidly growing, but what about the good ‘ole fashion’ art of picking up the phone and making a personal call?

For those customers who end up finding you, they’ll typically pick up the phone and call your company for information or to have their questions answered. If no one answers, chances are, they’ll just move on down the list of your competitors and phone them instead. Your office phone systems essentially impacts communication with everyone! 

As an owner, there is nothing more frightening than that moment when your phones go down. You’re in the middle of an important conversation and BOOM, dropped call, busy tone – phones are down and out. So what do you do when that nightmarish moment occurs?

Pick up your cell phone, call your provider and sit on hold for about 30 to 40 minutes? Being transferred and shuffled around from person to person. Constantly having to explain the issue your having, all the while feeling your blood boil because – you just do not have time for this – time equals money! Sounds about right, doesn’t it? Then just as you think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, you’re disconnected and your stomach churns because you know, you’re going to have to make that dreaded customer service call, one more time.

So how does one bypass that unfortunate heartache? Why, find a phone provider with accessible and exceptional customer service, of course! Most people end up hiring a phone provider that is a bigger, well known company – AT&T, Spectrum, Frontier. These are just to name a few of the big companies that majority of people feel they can trust service from. However, if they are a big company and have hundreds of thousands of accounts, how important do you think your account will be to them when an issue arises? This is how they are able to shuffle you through person to person, department to department.

In trusting a company to provide you with a phone service, which realistically is the base line of your business, make sure you are not just a number to them. Another small and unimportant account. A solid customer service department will view you as equal to and just as important to even their largest account.

Can you imagine a customer service department where A LIVE PERSON actually answers the phone, and within the first 10 seconds? By just pushing a button already programmed on your VoIP phone? Then properly directs you to the right person to fix your phone systems issues? Not wasting your time and being tied up for hours. Having the confidence that your business phone system, the life line of your company, will be up and running ASAP. All because the person on the other line, answered quickly, responded effectively and is actually doing their job pleasantly.

Ever have a Business Phone Systems issue that needed a technician to come out for service and they end up charging you for it. How is that even fair? Aren’t you already paying them quite a large amount of money monthly? How is a technician service an additional cost?! If a technician needs to come out to your business, it should not be tied with additional charges and fees.

You’re Business Phone Systems should have a customer service department that is quick, efficient, communicative, pleasant and with no hidden additional charges! Don’t just be a number or another small account when your businesses life line is just that – on the line. Protect yourself and company, find a phone provider that is going to offer you not just stellar service, but fantastic customer service for when you need them the most.

VoIP is a type of phone system which was designed ultimately for businesses. It was initially developed in 1995 as a solution for saving money when making long distance and international calls. It is an acronym which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It can be defined as “a technology or set of standards for the delivery of telephone calls and other voice communications over the Internet.” (Webopedia)

When using an internet phone system, you’re using your internet and its’ connection, to make and receive calls by sending voice data in packets across the IP. It offers more flexibility and communication features for your business and employees to utilize. The lure of flexibility is always a very advantageous feature, but it’s only the beginning. You’re able to plug in and work from literally anywhere in the world, and on any device capable of connecting to the internet. This is one of the advantages over using the standard, old analog lines, which confine you to your office desk. You can now take your work with you, virtually anywhere in the world.

With this flexibility it’s extremely important to ensure your internet connection is very reliable. If your internet and/or provider do not offer a strong connection, you may experience choppy or poor quality voice.

Though VoIP has been around for nearly 25 years, it has taken time to evolve to what it is today. It wasn’t until the early 2000’s that telephone equipment companies really started noticing the increase in cloud phone systems in the corporate arena. It’s popularity grew because of increases in speed, lower costs and better quality. Therefore, Voice over internet features and capabilities were added into switches.

What is a “switch” you might ask? Think of a switch, also known as a Central Office, as a hub which all calls travel to in order to call the correct phone number. Back in the day, human operators once worked these switches manually, plugging phone calls into other lines, connecting people across the country. Now a days, everything is done electronically. Every city has at least one switch that transfers calls. If the city is rather large though, chances are they have multiple switches.

So now that VoIP features were making their way into CO’s, broadband Ethernet service started to take off, which only continued to increase it’s popularity. It promoted better connectivity and call quality. This really started to lure business owners to transition from their old analog lines to the wonderful world of VoIP. Using internet based phones gave you fun and fancy features. Such as music on hold, transferring and conference calling. All these were now a possibility. It made even the smallest business, look mighty large using this technology.

VoIP has become such an important tool for developing and growing businesses, especially smaller ones. It’s a wonder why some have resisted the change. There are so many convenient features that are fantastic for owners and their employees. You no longer need to be chained to your office desk in order to receive customer calls or communicate with fellow colleagues. In fact, one of the best benefits of these systems are there internal communication system.

VoIP phones allow you to intercom and page fellow colleagues in your business group from anywhere, and for free! If you have a working internet connection, you can communicate with your employees and customers virtually anywhere. Implementing an internet based phone system throughout your business will also allow you to take calls from your smartphone when you’re on the go. No call left behind!

On an employers standpoint, through a VoIP solution, you can reduce the cost of your overhead by making a virtual office for your employees. It can be an extremely helpful for startup companies and small businesses. Now, you can have remote employees, which help cut costs all the way from office space, to office supplies.

The convenience and lowered costs involved with hosted phone system and its’ services have driven businesses towards replacing their antiquated systems. Enterprises are realizing that they can have easy access to so may productivity apps, contact centers, and so much more. As the telecom world continues to evolve, so do the demands of mobility, video conferencing and flexibility. The power of Voice over internet phones has made this increasingly attainable, affordable and popular with companies everywhere. It’s no wonder the Wonderful World of VoIP is Bubbling at the seams!

One of the best benefits of switching to a VoIP business phone system is its flexibility. As a small business owner, you probably wear many hats throughout the day and are undoubtedly being pulled in many directions. Having a phone system that can travel with you allows you to grow your business anywhere there’s an internet connection.

When you’re starting a business from the ground up, time is money. Being easily accessible to clients and customers is the only way you’re going to expand and continuously grow. Having a VoIP phone system allows you to always be reachable, even in the busiest of times. You’ll never have to miss a call and risk losing a potential client again.

Not only will you have the power of constant communication, but you have fun phone features that will inevitably make your life easier and productivity soar. You’ll have the ability to listen and compose e-mails by phone, check and schedule appointments, create task lists, and launch calls from your cloud stored contact list. A VoIP phone system comes equip with features that will remarkably help push your business in a successful direction. Running a business on the move just got easier.

Another amazing advantage to implementing a virtual phone system, your protecting your company from losing telephone service due to outages and other unexpected incidents. The costs associated with losing phone service could be detrimental, especially when you’re a small business. You risk business hours lost due to repairs. VoIP allows you to reduce the impact it could have on your business by quickly redirecting calls if you experience an outage, or pre-setting routing plans in anticipation for an unexpected power outage.

VoIP allows small business owners to hang with the “big boys” without breaking the bank. Gone are the days of purchasing expensive business phone systems just to have access to certain features. The slick features offered with VoIP such as call waiting, caller ID, music on hold, call forwarding features to cell phones, conference calling and providing an auto attendant for quick customer information, all allow you to really classify your company in a “big” business arena without the upfront costs.

One of the biggest advantages of VoIP for small business owners switching from a traditional analog line to VoIP is cost efficiency. Operating costs for a VoIP phone system are significantly lower than the traditional analog phone lines. Many VoIP providers will offer either international calling plans or low per-minute international rates. Therefore, VoIP will drastically cut down the cost of international and domestic calls, and usually small businesses are very cost conscious.

Another positive in VoIP verse analog lines – there is hardly any equipment needed. With an analog phone system, you’re going to have all sorts of cables, wires and equipment which will need to be installed and stored. Therefore, VoIP can help keep your office way less cluttered and messy. A VoIP number, which is really a virtual number, isn’t connected to a physical landline telephone. Minimal equipment and less maintenance. You simply plug into your internet network and/or connect your VoIP phone device to your Wi-Fi.

VoIP business phone systems offer a huge costs savings for small businesses because it allows you and your employees to take your office phone anywhere you go. Because of this, it eliminates your company’s mobile phone costs. With the ability to teleconference and video conference using a VoIP system, you can increase productivity by cutting down travel time to and from the office.

It is especially adventitious if you have fieldworkers and/or international clients. There’s no longer a need for traveling to and from the office for in person meetings. Therefore, teleconferencing and video conferencing can mean significant cuts in travel cost, whether it’s with a company car or traveling by plane. For virtual employees, you’re even cutting potential costs in office space.

A VoIP Business Phone System comes with many advantages. It can lower overall cost for your business telecommunications, provide features traditionally reserved for large companies, and minimizes the potential downtime involved with dealing with extensive hardware such as PBX systems and landlines. Before you rule out switching to a VoIP business phone system remember that the advantages far out way the pitfalls and that most businesses will employ this technology within the next decade.

A company Sales department is undoubtedly, one of the single most important departments, in any business. It’s the lifeline to increasing revenue. Thus, you need the best business phone system that is reliable and robust so that your sales team is constantly ready to close the next deal.

If you have sales team that is closing deals, your company is generally doing fairly well. The more sales, the more profit and essentially, the more everyone across the board will be making. Win, win! It’s therefore crucially important to take care of your sales team and ensure you are providing them with the right tools in order to set them up for success. So how to do you determine the best features needed to enhance your sales teams success? Turn your focus first on areas that can create efficiency along with fast sales production. Starting with stellar communication.

Every Sales Team and its’ members are fully aware of the amount of time that will be spent on the phone making cold calls, contacting current clients for up-selling purposes, handling follow ups and just plain building relationships. Why not ensure then, that your team is equipped with the best business phone system equipped with all of the features and functions to do their job with the highest level of professionalism? It seems like a no brainier. Wouldn’t you agree?

There are many benefits for a sales team to transition to using reliable VoIP office phone systems. For starters, just on the employee side of things, they no longer have the need to give out their personal cell phone numbers. This is a huge benefit and factor when implementing a VoIP phone system in an office setting. No more pesky clients calling at all hours of the night because they need system and/or program support. That can become a bother after awhile, especially on the weekends, during family time.

Using a VoIP business phone system allows your sales reps to forward all their office line calls directly to their cell phones. Say goodbye to off-hour calls that undoubtedly interrupt valuable time. How convenient is that? Especially since you can turn that feature on and off at your leisure, and not just from a desktop, but also from your smartphone on the go. What might the benefits for the employer be in this case? Well, no more need for employee cell phone stipends! Now every employees cell phone has dual purpose. Benefits all around, wouldn’t you say?

VoIP office phone systems allow for easy interoffice communication. Now, with the wonderful world of VoIP, there are so many inexpensive and/or free ways to communicate with colleagues. Right inside your office network! We now have the capability of getting in touch and connecting with different departments all with the single touch of a button. Video conferencing, text messaging, transferring calls to cell phones, there are so many ways to customize your VoIP system for easy and reliable communication between colleagues.

The best business phone systems have more tools beyond just the phone. VoIP’s online portal, or “safety feature” as we call it at Bubble, has many benefits for both the customers and sales teams. The online portal is such a user friendly and convenient feature, it will undoubtedly make your sales teams lives easier, especially on the go. You’re able to store contacts of potential customers and/or current clients in the cloud, (or the ‘Bubble’ – as we refer to it!). So accessing important phone numbers and keeping in touch, can happen virtually anywhere. It makes follow-ups and closing deals a lot easier, faster and capable of happening at any given moment…any at and given place!

In continuously breaking down the wonderful world of VoIP, you begin to see its’ benefits across the board. Finding the best business phone system for your sales team can be a rigorous process. However, the more you dive in, the more you really begin to see how office phone systems impact communication with everyone, how VoIP is the solution, and ultimately, it should start right within your sales team department.