The use of a business phone is essential to many service suppliers. The convenience of a phone system depends on its type. First, you need to figure out if your business requires a full phone system (physical telephones or virtual phone services), a landline service or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), self'-hosted or cloud-based service. Some companies utilize thepay per callservice which is an advertising model, wherein the rate paid by the advertisers is determined by the amount of calls made by the viewers of the ad. Some companies offering this servicealso provide call tracking, pay per call billing, and VoIP numbers for local listings. Let's look at the benefits and downsides of using different phone systems. Virtual Phone Services This type of system works by connecting a business telephone line to workers at a remote location on their home phones or cell phones. The virtual phone system works as a widespread call forwarding solution, where calls a transferred to an employee's designated home or cell phone when a client or customer calls the main business line. The system includes various features, such as voicemail, automated receptionists, call forwarding, online faxing, and call screening. The advantage of having the virtual phone system is that it allows businesses with employees working at different locations (possibly worldwide) to communicate at all times at a low rate. Moreover, it gives remote workers access to many phone system features that home phone and cell phones don't offer. Some of these include ease-of-use, affordability, and feature availability. It can also be managed by someone who has little technical knowledge and expertise, and no capital expenditure is needed. The disadvantage is that this system is not a full-fledged phone system— the calls are being processed on a home phone or mobile network, which means you're using up your home phone or mobile minutes while being charged for the call on the virtual system. Landline Phone Service Usually supported through a regional or local phone company, a landline service is the traditional phone system we're familiar with. It is an analog structure that runs through a Phone Company's traditional copper wiring. To run a landline service, a business will need a PBX device which allows features, such as call directories and call transferring, and is used to create multiple extensions. Landlines are time-tested and very reliable solutions that many companies are comfortable using. However, due to maintenance expenses and its costly nature, small businesses are moving away from this system. The landline system is best suited for large corporations that have the budget to pay cover the expenses of an in-house IT staff for maintenance purposes. VoIP Phone Systems The VoIP system uses the internet to get online, rather than traditional copper wires. It provides features that previously only large businesses had access to, such as call queues, automated attendants and computer integration that allows desktop computers to be utilized, and a virtual cell phone and voicemail sent laptops and email inboxes. VoIP also gives employees access to a company's phone system via their Smartphone. Nonetheless, VoIP is a very sophisticated phone system, but it is easily set-up and configured, and is way cheaper than the landline system. The downside, however, is that it relies heavily on the internet—if your connection were to go down, so would the phone service. Cloud-based VoIP System With this type of system, there are no maintenance costs to worry about as the service provider covers it all. The cloud service offers new and growing businesses the opportunity to add a new line with ease. A Monthly fee is paid on a pay-per-call basis to maintain the service. The advantage of the cloud-based VoIP system is that there is no hardware to purchase and maintain—the provider takes care of it all, and the system can be set up and configured for your computer. The downside?—just like the regular VoIP system, cloud-based requires the use of an internet connection. If the internet goes down, so will the phone service. Still Not Sure Whether to Choose VoIP or a Business Phone System? This section will help with your decision making: Is the phone system still relevant to business? The answer is yes. A business succeeds based on how it presents itself. A phone system can help in many ways. Can't employees just use our Smartphone for business purposes? Not having a business phone makes it difficult to operate in a professional setting. While a Smartphone may be a convenient for one person (maybe a manager), it is not set-up to offer the same business features that a business phone system can. So, it's not convenient to use a Smartphone for business purposes instead of a phone system. Which phone system is right for business? It all depends on your available resources.Take into consideration your budget, whether you have an IT staff that can fix and maintain the in-house telephone system, whether your business is making money or not, and if you have access to high-speed internet. These factors will determine which system is best suited for your business and what you can realistically afford. Is VoIP as good as the landline service? While there are some doubts about VoIP, the system has come a far way—it's almost impossible to tell the difference between internet-based and landline calls. Some companies have found it better to use than the traditional phone system, and many carriers have switched to VoIP, yet people can't tell the difference. Some of the features available on the VoIP phone are: Voicemail Voicemail transcription Voicemail-to-email Call forwarding Call transferring Call recording Internet faxing Call monitoring Call reports Missed call notifications And more… All in all, while rich-phone systems were only available to large entities, VoIP options give small business and entrepreneurs the same benefits.
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