Nowadays, a lot of businesses are switching from the traditional phone system to the
VoIP business phone system. This is because they have come to realize the many benefits that VoIP has over traditional phone systems. With that said, switching to VoIP isn't something you just do as there are a lot of providers and with each system comes a bundle of features that are bound to give your business an awesome turnaround. As a business owner, when choosing a certain provider, you need to take your time to carefully assess each and every feature that your provider offers. You should be looking at
features that are way beyond the normal call features like call waiting, call forwarding, voicemail, multiple extensions, remote office, caller ID, caller blocking, etc. So what other features are there to look at besides the aforementioned call features? Well, there are many more features you don't know about yet but let's just start with these ten highly regarded VoIP features that build up powerful VoIP phone service. Without further ado, here we go:
1․ IVR
Interactive Voice Response, also known as IVR and auto attendant, is one of the principal features of VoIP. It aims to professionally greet your clients and also provide multiple option menu of your departments so your clients can select whichever one they want to get access to. The IVR
feature also includes the dial-by-name option and the dial-by-extension option. The customization of IVR is up to you. As a matter of fact, you can add as many options as you need. IVR does not only eliminate the need for a receptionist, it also makes a small scale business look quite bigger and a lot more professional. Quite impressive, right?
2. FIND ME AND FOLLOW ME
Imagine a scenario where you are out of the office and you get never-ending calls on your office phone. Maybe the calls are urgent and require immediate attention, but you are not in your office and so cannot attend to the calls. Well, this feature is here to make things right. Just as the name implies, the find me and follow me feature will find you by sequentially calling all preset numbers. When you are still not available, the calls will be automatically pushed to your voicemail. With this feature, you will no longer miss any of your calls while you are on the go.
3. CALL RECORDING/MONITORING
These two awesome
features will help your business a long way by checking the quality of your calls and minimizing performance degradation in your company. So how exactly do they work? You'll be able to record the calls of your company with just one click and listen to them whenever you want. This way, you'll be able to take a unique focus on the quality of services delivered by your employees, just by listening to your company's call in real time.
4. CONFERENCE BRIDGE
With this feature, you'll be able to organize conference calls which can be accessed inside and outside your company by simply calling your conference line. You'll have the ability to join in on the conference call at any time with no problem. All you'll need to do is dial a password which will be set for security purposes. What's fascinating about a conference call? You can easily connect to your remote offices and add unlimited number of participants.
5. MUSIC ON HOLD OR DURING TRANSFER
Do you put your customers on hold/transfer frequently? If so, this feature is just perfect for you. Do not subject your callers to terrible elevator music — or worse still, silence. During the hold/transfer, you can put an advertisement about your latest campaigns you can also use professional recordings to make your messages stand out in a sea of noise.
6. VOICEMAIL TO EMAIL
Running out of time to answer all your calls? Don't stress much about it. The voicemail to email
feature enables you to receive your voicemails directly to your email with an MP3 file attached to it. With this cool feature, you will not miss any important voicemail your clients leave for you. It allows flexibility and you will probably find this feature highly useful.
7. CALL DETAIL RECORDS
It is essential to be always well-informed about what's going on in your company. The call detail records feature will help you find out the drawbacks of your company and you'll be able to direct your time and energy to a proper solution based on them. It's another big value when it comes to the need of getting detailed information about the call duration, destination, source, and cost.
8. DATABASE INERGRATION
Database integration is a great feature that allows you to access any source of data within or outside your company for customer software integrations. The good news is that majority of VoIP vendors are open to providing APIs, allowing your developers to make custom integration with your favorite software.
9.OPERATOR PANEL
Thanks to VoIP communications portal, it is now possible to generate detailed reports about your phone activity, all from your web browser. Track live call statuses in real time, understand monthly extension usage, call center performance, track average call duration, call analytics, etc. This feature is simply amazing. With all of these activities you'll be able to increase your company's productivity and efficiency.
10. CALL QUEUING
If you get overwhelmed by incoming calls, opt to use the call queuing feature. It will allow you to queue your customers' calls. You’ll have the ability to queue your customers altogether in a single waiting room. By the way, you can also set announcements, informing your callers when it's their turn and also their approximate waiting time. It will decrease the uncertainty of your customers and make them feel special.
Due to huge competitions, every business is searching for different ways to get an edge over the other. As a rule, they start with building and maintaining relationships and in the end, it's all about the right communication!