Voip Phone Systems For Small Business

Why Small Business VoIP is Best for Remote Working

28 October 2021

Small business owners wear many hats. One day you’re at the home office working with your team to finish a big project, and the next, you could be on the road for a business deal. Your schedule is hectic, and staying in communication with your clients and employees is critical to your success.

 

COVID-19 added a whole new layer of complexity. While remote working existed long before the pandemic, lockdowns forced everyone to work from home (WFH), whether they wanted to or not. This sudden shift to remote work exposed the weak points in the communications platforms of many organisations.

 

Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP-based phone systems fared the best. Why? These systems are built from the ground up to be used by an internet-connected workforce. VoIP phone services offer advanced features such as call queues and call monitoring for call centre operations, team messaging and video calls for cross-department collaboration, and an auto attendant and hold music to keep callers engaged when all representatives are busy.

 

VoIP doesn’t require the user to be physically present in the office. Access to the system is granted through a desktop or phone app. Since these systems are typically cloud-hosted, only a broadband internet connection is necessary.

 

With the NBN arriving across Australia, small businesses have the same opportunity to adopt these features once only limited to more expensive business phone plans. The communication needs of a small business aren’t that much different from its larger competitors, and breakdowns and inefficiencies can limit business growth.

 

Small business VoIP, combined with the speed of the NBN, offers these businesses a reliable, modern, and high-quality method to communicate with each other and the world.

What to look for in a small business VoIP phone system

What VoIP features should small businesses look for? Reliability is important. Does the carrier promise uptime? Does it have backup options to keep communications channels open? Small businesses typically don’t have the personnel to troubleshoot these issues, so a cloud-based VoIP system generally is best.

 

With your VoIP system in the cloud, you and your employees can connect from anywhere in the world. And communications are secure, allowing you to use them for mission-critical applications such as video conferencing chat, file sharing, and digital whiteboarding. Once only available as part of expensive business phone systems, VoIP phone systems have brought these collaborative features to small businesses, too.

The best VoIP systems for small businesses are scalable…

VoIP phone systems are known as software as a service (SaaS). SaaS is a software concept where the infrastructure, whether hardware or software, is hosted in the cloud. This method allows a single cloud phone system provider to service, maintain, and update the phone systems of many organisations. Typically, charges are billed per user per month.

 

As your business grows, it is easy to add (and delete) a phone line when you need to. Business Telecom offers a user-friendly dashboard where you can set up and customise your phone system to your business’s unique needs.

 

A traditional business phone system may take days or weeks to install that new line.

…make WFH easy…

The end of pandemic lockdowns doesn’t mean Australia’s all returning to the office. Working from home is here to stay, and employees increasingly demand remote work opportunities. Choosing the right VoIP phone system can allow you to WFH yet maintain access to all the applications you need to get the job done.

 

Modern small business VoIP phone systems offer CRM integrations, which allow you to keep your customer and call data in sync even when you’re not in the office. Apps for iOS and Android let users access all the VoIP features of their desk phones from their mobiles.

… doesn’t compromise security…

WFH has brought the office to wherever your employees are, but in return, it also opened up opportunities for cyberattackers to exploit our rush to remote work. Your VoIP service provider should advise you on methods to keep yourself and your data safe.

 

We recommend our customers set up and use a virtual private network (VPN) in concert with their VoIP service. When set up correctly, all data — including phone calls — is set through the secure VPN “tunnel.”

…and ensures every call is answered.

Nothing else matters here if your customers can’t get through to you. Each time that happens could be a lost sale, whether an unattended call, voicemail, or a busy tone. VoIP phone systems allow small businesses to take advantage of call queues and routing, ensuring every customer who calls in gets an answer and is directed to the right person, no matter where they are.

 

Better customer service equals a better brand image. Acknowledging the caller and asking for their patience while you assist your current customers is often enough to get them to wait. And with music on hold, you can keep their attention (and even intersperse informational messages to keep the caller engaged.

Business Telecom makes it easy.

While changing to an all-new phone system sounds intimidating, VoIP phone systems are far simpler to set up. In many cases, small businesses can set up their phone systems in less than a day (often, far less).

 

However, you don’t have to do it yourself. Our cloud-based solutions allow us to set up your users for you remotely without needing any PBX equipment, and we can send technicians to install your handsets if you’d like. We also offer remote and on-site training opportunities upon request, ensuring all your employees understand the capabilities of your new phone system.


Our VoIP phone systems are scalable and upgradable, ensuring you have the latest remote collaboration tools at your fingertips. Whether 10 or 100 users, our small business VoIP phone solutions make WFH reliable, secure, and easy.