An effective business phone service is crucial to the success of any company, particularly those that generally don’t deal with clients face-to-face. For most small organisations with a ‘shop floor’, a Plain Old Telephone Service (or ‘POTS’) will usually do the trick. However, if your company is growing, with a need for conference rooms and dedicated employee extensions, then you’ll probably need something a little more sophisticated. Here are a couple of pointers to set you on your way.
What are your needs?
First off, it’s a good idea to evaluate both where you are now, and where you think your business is going. The company may be growing, but do you expect that growth to continue over the coming years? Rather than simply acting to meet current demands, it’s always wise to compensate for further changes by installing a business phone service that can cope with future expansion. You also need to think about the changing profile of your business, and how you want your employees to work. If you need separate telephone extensions for every staff member, will they each need an individual voicemail, or should calls be diverted to a central messaging service? Do you also need to consider a mobile solution, for employees who work off-site? Some business phone service packages feature multiple extensions, call forwarding, remote voicemail collection, and route-to-fax functionality, so you should be able to find a deal that suits your business down to the ground. Some telecoms companies also offer teleconferencing, but as this service is available on an ad-hoc basis from a number of dedicated providers, you might not need to have it as a permanent fixture of your business phone service.
Do you need any extras?
On top of their core features, you’ll usually find that most business phone service providers also offer a variety of additional perks to sweeten the deal. Extras include call hunting, which can route calls to another employee if the original extension isn’t picked up, instead of sending the caller on to your voicemail service. This can be particularly useful if you want to make sure that some calls are always answered, such as those received by a key accounts team or sales department. Additional features may also include a computerised auto-attendant service, which provides callers with routing options, and a recorded greeting if you so wish. Auto-attendant services can help reduce incoming traffic by answering common questions before they’re asked, and reduce time wastage by ensuring that the caller finds the right department immediately.
Twinning between mobile and desk phone allows calls to be picked up on the move and seamlessly transferred between devices.
