VoIP Business

Latest News

The Blog

What are the benefits to sign up for VoIP services?

If you are thinking about switching your business communication system, then you have probably heard about VoIP phone Technology. The VoIP phone system is a great alternative to the traditional telephone system for businesses. One may wonder what the benefits are of employing a VoIP phone system. In this article, we are going to discuss the benefits you get one to sign up for VoIP services. Benefits of Using VoIP services When a business switches to VoIP Phone services they usually find the major and most quick advantage is how much money can be saved through this technology. Why does the VoIP telephone system cost less? The VoIP Phone Technology cost less compared to the traditional telephone solution in a lot of ways. For instance, since VoIP Phone services does not need any physical phone line, and the set-up process of this service does not need the installation of copper wires in the office space. Nor does VoIP require you to buy and maintain an on-premise PBX. This means that you would not acquire any charges for establishing your telephone line at any location if your business expands or you move to a new office place. VOIP phone services International or long-distance calls are not as expensive as they would be with a legacy telecommunication provider. Since VoIP phone calls are transferred as digital data packet across the internet connection employees can call from anywhere around the world without getting high per minute call charges. Also, employees can use their VoIP phone business line with any device such as a phone in the office, their personal phone or a computer. This means if you install VoIP services you wouldn’t need to buy a separate business phone for each employee. Employees can just use their personal phones for making and receiving calls. More functionality If your business phone number is tied to a physical landline phone, then you will be limited in terms of how you can use your phone lines. However, with business VoIP phone services you get additional communication capabilities which can be added into your employee’s business phone numbers. What else can VoIP do? If your business is using the right type of VoIP phone service for business then your employees will be able to use their business numbers on any device they want to send and receive business text, send and receive faxes, plan and join conferences and manage several other important communication services which they might need on any given day. VoIP phone services can also give your employees an added communication functionality. For example, collaboration and text messaging along with video conferencing in the same app. In simple words, instead of using one solution for video conference and another solution for faxing, the VoIP phone services allow you to place all of your employees’ communication functionality in one entrusted application which they can use wherever and whenever they want through whatever device they prefer. Enhanced mobility One of the greatest limitations of the traditional telephone service is that it ties an employee to a physical location in the office or wherever they might have set up their work. The VoIP phone solution understands this limitation and removes it completely. VoIP allows your staff to get the work done and to become accessible by phone to all the customers and colleagues from anywhere around the world. How does the VoIP solution increase employee mobility? if your employees travel a lot, or work in the field or just have to visit different office branches during the day then those employees wouldn’t be reachable quickly on their business phone line if your business has the traditional telephone services. Any call made to their business number will ring on the employee’s desk phone and then it will be sent to the voicemail. The best that these remote employees could do is check their voicemail from their phones throughout the day and then try to respond to all the important calls from wherever they can. However, they would be returning those important calls from their personal phone which does not convey the most professional image to prospective customers or clients. On the other hand, in order to prevent your employees from having to make business calls to their personal phone numbers your business could issue every employee smartphone paid for by the company. However, this obviously would create new capital and operating cost. With a VoIP phone solution, you can give every employee a virtual phone number that they could use to make and receive calls from any internet-connected device whether a phone, tablet or computer. This means that your remote staff or overseas workers could be available by phone through their business number using their own phone. Also, this means that your employees would not have to hurry back to the office to return phone calls through their desk phone or miss an important call throughout the day because they were away from their desk. In addition, your business would not have to pay for mobile phones and desk phones for your workers. If you have decided to switch your business communication to a VoIP phone system, then you should employ VoIP Bussines services. VoIPBusiness is among the best VoIP solutions for businesses. With VoIPBusiness you get a diversity of combined subscription plans which begin at just £7.99 per month. Also, you get a 30-day free trial with 3 users included.

How VoIP Saves Your Business Money

VoIP technology unlike traditional phone services works by transmitting the audio over the internet. If you have ever used WhatsApp, Viber or Skype for making calls then you are aware of how convenient and easy it is. Best of all through the VoIP phone system you can talk to anybody anywhere in the world without having to worry about piling up your phone bill. That is how VoIP works. How Could VoIP Software Save a Company Money? By simply replacing the traditional phone system, VoIP phone technology can save your money and it can increase your productivity and profits. Lower Cost of Installation Installing a traditional telephone system can be expensive and time-consuming. For the majority of start-ups and small businesses, the upfront cost of all the hardware and installation can be affordable. Upgrading a traditional telephone system to meet your business needs adds to the initial cost since you will have to buy additional hardware and pay for the installation as well. Also, you will need to pay to manually redirect your phone number in case you move your office to a newer location. On the contrary, a VoIP phone system for business is affordable and easier to install. The complete phone system lives in a cloud, hence there is no need to buy expensive hardware and there is no complex installation involved. You just must select a subscription plan which best meets your business requirements and your budget. Then your VoIP service provider will have your VoIP system set up and running in your office space in no time. At your end, a single piece of software along with a basic headset is all you need to get started. If you are moving, your office to a newer location then you don’t need to worry. Because your VoIP phone number represents your account not your location. Hence, wherever you go your phone number travels with you. You will just need an IP connection in your new office and you are good to go. Improved Functionality and Mobility Without high Costs The majority of businesses nowadays operate 24/7. You need to do the same if you wish to stay ahead of the competition. With a legacy phone system, this would mean having employees constantly sitting by phone to answer customer calls. Another disadvantage of these phone systems is that they can’t be integrated with other tools. In you need fax then with the traditional phone system, you will have to install a separate line dedicated to send and receive faxes. And if you want features like voicemail, video chat or conference then you should be ready to pay extra cost for each feature. VoIP technology takes away all these redundant resources. The majority of VoIP service providers offer a collection of advanced features like custom greeting, call routing, virtual fax, auto-attendant, virtual extension, music on hold and numerous others as part of the subscription plan at no extra cost. Additionally, when it comes to saving your money, these features can also help a small business appear more professional, this plays an important role in allaying potential customers’ fear and getting their trust. All these advanced VoIP features allow you to plan conference calls while on the go. Other participants can also join in from anywhere around the globe using their smartphones. This takes away the necessity of scheduling conference calls beforehand so that participants from different locations could arrange access to video conference services. Affordable Local and International Calls VoIP technology allows you to collaborate with global suppliers, branches and buyers from all around the world. This is not just a privilege for giant corporations. Nowadays, even small and medium-sized businesses are operating internationally. Communication is an integral part of functioning efficiently in this new business however with a traditional phone line your monthly phone bill can start to get scary real soon. Since VoIP phone connects calls through internet there are no international or local phone charges to consider. With VoIP, you can talk to your suppliers, customers and employees who are scattered in remote locations around the globe without having to worry about the cost of making unlimited international phone calls. Lower Maintenance Costs Since VoIP phone systems are cloud-based, they do not rely on much hardware. This means that you don’t need to deal with hardware malfunctions, crashes or any other technical issues which can result in lost revenue. There is a problem only on rare occasions, and even in those rare moments, your VoIP provider will get the issued sorted out immediately at their end. You will not need to wait for a technician to come to your office, spend time in locating the issue and even more time in trying to fix it. Another issue that has become increasingly common over the past few years is that since traditional phone systems are getting phased out, spare parts are becoming harder to find. The technicians who can repair and maintain these systems are equally hard to find and the few who can repair charge a lot for their services. Paying such high costs to run an antique system just doesn’t make any financial sense. Upgrade Anytime VoIP phone system provides you the convenience of starting out with a basic plan when you begin and upgrade as your business grows without any additional cost for installation or extra hardware. Whether you want to add a new feature of a new phone number, VoIP makes this easy without having to make key changes to the complete phone system. As a start-up and right through the growth stage and beyond you won’t ever overpay for features and services that you don’t even need. You will not be charged for unused features, additional capacity or extra lines if you are not using it. VoIP service providers also update your entire phone system frequently to keep up with the ongoing technological developments, so your communication system is top of the line always. VoIP can also Help You Make More Money Once you have installed the VoIP phone system you have saved on the on-time cost of installation, the ongoing cost of maintenance and the cost of local and international phone calls. In addition, you get an entire a whole suite of advanced features without having to pay high rates. Besides these significant savings, VoIP system also enhances employee efficiency, which leads to higher outputs and higher profits. If you are thinking of switching to VoIP, then there are some best VoIP providers in the UK.

10 VoIP Technology Trends in 2019

VoIP Phone systems are more than 20 years old and are getting more powerful day by day. All this has happened because VoIP provides businesses with unique mobility. Furthermore, VoIP developers are continuously improving technology. Therefore, in this article, we are going to discuss the new trends of VoIP which we will experience in 2019. 1.Adoption of United Communications as a service will increase Until a few years ago the corporate communication revolves around traditional telephony, email and Postal service. Large enterprises would invest in expensive outdated technology to take benefit from the call monitoring and automated attendance feature. Simultaneously there has long been a lack of integrated communication which has led to slow response times and stunted corporate growth. UCaaS is all about outsourcing the communication infrastructure to cloud phone system. Rather than paying for costlier in-house hardware businesses can have their systems managed by a third party. Users can also access their data, audio, and video communication through any internet connected device since everything is posted in the cloud. 2. 5G will enter the mainstream 5G technology is the fifth generation of mobile communications. This technology aims to bring ultrafast mobile internet into the mainstream while also reducing the cost. After detailed testing and development, in 2019 we are going to witness its first commercial deployment beginning with the first stage of 5G specifications which were released in March Mobile data has continuously been expensive for a lot of applications even though prices have decreased. 5G is expected to change that with speeds a quick as 10 GB/s along with lower latencies and enhanced network competency. But it is also going to need new hardware which surely slows the adoption rate until the option enters the mainstream. 3.Increased use of mobile unified communication Nowadays there is an app for everything the similarly hosted VoIP industry is also going to explore the high-end functionality of the app based virtual phone numbers. Now several VoIP providers offer the embedded app support system for advanced support. Moving forward, the launch of 5G has increased the functionality of the mobile app VoIP support system. Multiple and wide uses of the Mobile UC technology is going to be trending in the year 2019. Businesses are probably going to use the app based virtual numbers for doing business calls, conferencing and team meetings. A situation where 58% men of power in the UK, work under a remote location, the use of a 5G enabled mobile app supported virtual phone numbers will be a great solution to overcome the location constraint. 4. Artificial intelligence is going to transform customer experiences A decade ago artificial intelligence was considered science fiction. Now customers are accustomed to virtual assistants such as Apple’s Siri or amazon’s Alexa in their daily life. 2018 saw the unprecedented increase of Artificial Intelligence start-ups and the adoption of Technology across a wide range of industries. AI will also transform call centres in the coming years. It is already in making Call Centres more efficient by quickly answering common questions instead of having customers wait for someone to pick up the phone. Behind the scenes business progressively are adopting AI to predict customer behaviour and to provide valuable insights to businesses. In the year of 2019, we can expect that there will be acceptance of bots in the business environment to enhance exponentially. 5. A merger of VoIP and WebRTC In 2019 we are going to see the merger of two de-facto communication systems the VoIP and WebRTC. WebRTC which was considered an extension to VoIP is going to help in swapping peer-to-peer files and directly calling from the web browser. With this innovative merger, businesses will not need to download any extra plugins and widgets for performing actions. The mobile app for the virtual number will be able to do it directly. WebRTC was launched by Google in 2011. It has now become the future of VoIP technology and it has on a lot of potentials. There are a few areas such as instant calling from sites and live video support for the conference where was Technology struggles a bit. Nonetheless all this we will be able to achieve easily with the help of WebRTC. 6. In-app communications will be widespread Unified Communications can prioritise the integration of all communication services that a business uses. The goal is to enhance efficiency, reduce cost and maximise productivity. It is not that easy to achieve. The most effective UC system is extensively integrated with information such as instant messaging applications and contact numbers being immediately accessible via a centralised interface. The in-app communications already are in the commonplace. However, integrations continue to get better and more sophisticated with time. Developers are focusing hard to integrate services like audio and video communication into mobile along with real-time video, desktop apps, and cloud. For instance, far from being the standalone application, it used to be, Skype has become a core element of the entire Microsoft Office 365 environment. 7.VoIP Technology will join hands with the internet of things A report has been issued by the company Siemens which have cleared one factor that by the year 2020 there will be around 26 billion internet of things objects which will replace the mobile phones. VoIP enabled phone numbers will be able to get connected with other devices easily. Similarly, zettabytes internet connectivity of all these devices will perform the task at a supersonic speed which will leave no scope for errors. 8. Bid goodbye to the plain old telephone system In the wake of leading and latest cloud technology, a mobile app based, and the virtual Technology global businesses are going to bid goodbye to the traditional or Plain telephone system. A huge chunk of businesses has already started relying upon the fibre cabling over the traditional copper wire landline system. According to the latest reports, almost 42 million businesses will welcome the VoIP hosted PBX system with open arms. This number is almost two-fold extra compared to what it used to be four years ago. With the need for a local business phone number for global operations, the local POTS do not hold any ground. 9. Increased concerns about security Just like any other virtual product the VoIP technology is prone to virtual threats. Business is going to pay attention to the security of virtual numbers since they will be paying attention to the implementation of virtual phone numbers in real-time situations. Seeing this unwavering requirement to have a robust security system for VoIP solution different types of products are coming with authorised user login system as well as with secure cloud space. Additionally, there are products which offer spam filtering and malware protection for secure and safe usage. 10. Smarter VoIP assistants Furthermore, other than providing customer behaviour analysis artificial intelligence is also used for answering calls. Thanks to the advances in language processing the VoIP assistant like Alexa and Siri can provide better interpreting sources through simple command and allow people to interact directly with customers. For instance, sound bots can handle simple questions usually found in the FAQs while the customer service representatives can resolve more Complex issues. If implemented correctly then this has the potential to increase the resolution rates and decrease the time that is spent on basic tasks.Upgrade Business Phone System From VoIP Business.

3 Great Strategies for Call Centre Improvement

Call Centres continuously face new challenges while trying to improve their agent efficiency and enhance customer satisfaction. Having improved agent efficiency and increasing customer satisfaction can feel like conflicting goals. However, by utilising the call centre improvement strategies like improving the technology used, reducing agent workload and improving representatives’ skills, the Call Centres can resolve problems more quickly and can handle huge call volume while satisfying their customers. In this article we are going to discuss how these strategies can be implemented and how it can help the call centres. Improve the agent skills Sometimes speaking with a live agent is the last option for a customer when every other communication channel does not work. But once a customer reaches an agent then they shouldn’t have to utilise another channel. Training is very critical to make sure that agents understand the services and products that they offer, the policies and procedures along with having efficient and appropriate communication skills. The training needs to engage agents and represent in an effective form, so the information is observed and well understood. In addition, live call monitoring must be used which can monitor whether an agent can perform their tasks properly, use the systems in an effective manner and offer outstanding customer support. The voice and screen recording along with customer satisfaction score can also be used to analyse an agent’s performance. In the meantime, a strong feedback procedure is also required to communicate to agents in terms of what they need to improve. Improving Technology being used A well-implemented Technology can improve Call Centre efficiency and agent utilisation that also can improve customer service. While the number of technological solutions and providers can be overwhelming in the market. There are some basic Call Centre improvement strategies which can be particularly effective. Workforce management software: A Workforce management software can analyse historical information and can use particular parameters to project staffing requirements to handle the workload going forward. For Call Centres with more than 50 agents, the workforce management shows financial results because of improved staffing and agent utilisation. Text and speech Analytics software: A text and speech analytics software can analyse the written and spoken introductions to make sure that the agents stick to actual policy and procedures. The software can also extract a sample of calls where the callers used a certain keyword or show a certain emotion so that additional analysis can be done to determine the reason for these kinds of Communications. Contact routing software: A contact routing software also known as automatic contact distribution assigns particular contact to some specific agents in an automated manner irrespective of channel. This software can also improve agent utilisation because the work is moved to appropriately skilled agents rather than moving agents to different kinds of contacts. Knowledge management software: This type of software provides a single source of information which is accessible easily to call centre agents. Historically agents have had to go to several locations both on paper and electronically to find information in order to answer customers queries. An effective knowledge management system provides user-friendly search capabilities and supporting processes to ensure that the information in the system is accurate and current. Reduce the workload This strategy is not effective unless the call centre remains customer focused. Providing diverse methods of self-service allows customers to solve their issues through the channel that they prefer. For instance, the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) allows customers to self-serve when they have very simple questions like balance inquiry. With a little fine tuning of speech recognition, the IVR can cater to a wide array of customer requirements. A customer friendly IVR needs to have a restricted layer of menus and clear terminology. The mobile apps and web self-service have developed greatly over the past few years and they provide callers a personalised service experience. The mobile app needs to have simple navigation, a UI and search tools which are responsive across different types of devices. When the customer self-service is not a choice it becomes important for Call Centres to use Business Call Recording which is a major driver for customer satisfaction. This strategy can reduce the number of customers calling several times to resolve their problem. And, it also addresses the root cause of customer complaint. Therefore, the customer will not have to reach out about the same problem in the future. Using these basic and great three strategies call centres can actually improve the efficiency of their agents and can also enhance customer support.

How Virtual Telephone Numbers Can Help Your Business?

A lot of Virtual Telephone Numbers providers promote virtual telephone numbers as a part of their feature platform. Whilst we all are familiar with telephone numbers and the way they work. Some might not have an idea what actually a virtual phone number is? Virtual Telephone Numbers Virtual telephone numbers are just like regular telephone numbers which are not connected to any phone line or device. Formerly, a telephone number was provision to work through a dedicated line and that phone line was connected physically to the telephone company to the destination by wires. Any incoming calls to that number could be sent only to that particular destination. Furthermore, in the case of business phone numbers, the business would have a telephone hardware system in the workplace to configure call routing rules, voicemail, and extensions etc. Virtual phone numbers for business remove the physical limitations which were formerly tied down with telephone numbers and it allows businesses to have better flexibility and control in the way they receive calls. When virtual phone numbers are used with a cloud phone system they can be purchased directly from the service provider and can be managed through the admin portal. Virtual phone numbers for business also allows you to set the destination of the number and then modify it in real-time without waiting for the provider to get around the task. What can businesses do with virtual phone numbers? With Virtual phone numbers for business, you can unite support or sales departments that are scattered over different states or cities. If your business has multiple office branches, then a virtual phone number can seamlessly unite your scattered workforce. Rather than the incoming calls ringing telephone in just one office, a virtual phone number can have the incoming call ring phones across separate officers. How? If you have a sales representative in different cities, then you can make the destination of the virtual phone number be a call queue or a ring group. All the incoming calls to that virtual phone number will then ring all your representatives’ phones, who are in the group or queue at the same time or successively. Depending on the ring strategy which you choose or setup, any representative can then answer the call regardless of the location they are in. Employ a local phone number where you have a lot of clients If your business has a lot of customers located in different states or cities, then you can let them call you by just by dialling a local phone number. Virtual phone numbers for business can help you in establishing a presence in that area where you are not located whilst also decreasing the cost of all your incoming calls. You just have to buy the virtual phone number from your service provider and set the destination to the phones in your offices, even if your workplace is not in the area which is serviced by the numbers area code. Enjoy Geographic flexibility and remote working You can use virtual phone numbers for geography flexibility and remote working. Virtual numbers can be useful if you want to be reachable on your cell phone while you are away from the office. However, if you do not want to reveal your personal number to the whole company, through a virtual phone number you can set your destination to your cell phone then all of the employees can reach you just by dialling that virtual phone number. Evaluate the performance of marketing, advertising or sales campaign If you are running sales and Advertising campaigns, then it is important that you evaluate all the overall success and health of these efforts. Instead of funnelling all the calls through the main line of your business, you can allocate a different virtual number to every campaign which you are running. This way you will know whenever a call is coming for a particular campaign just by the phone number they have dialled. For the future, when the campaign is over you can download and review all your businesses reports of past calls to know the exact number of calls that have come through to a specific virtual phone number, it could be one of the data points that will help you in evaluating the success of your efforts. Increase the reach of your business with the help of a virtual phone number From uniting your distributed workforce to providing new ways for your business to answer incoming calls a virtual phone number can allow your business to meet the requirements of your employees while remaining available to customers.

VoIP Ring Group for Efficient Calling

Ring groups are a traditional feature that is used in an enterprise phone system. It is an excellent tool for managing incoming calls within an organisation. VoIP system ring groups are more powerful as they offer a lot more options for the distribution of all incoming calls among a group of employees. Before we discuss how to set a ring group, we should understand the critical details of a Ring group and how it is beneficial. What exactly is a ring group and why you need one or more ring group in your office? What are Ring groups? A Ring Group is a method for several devices to ring whenever there is an incoming call. Anytime there is an incoming call it is connected to a ring group and every device which is included in the ring group will start ringing in precise order or simultaneously. You can change ring group details such as: The specific order in which the devices should ring. The number of devices that are incorporated into the group The duration of the ringing What to do if no one in the Ring group answers the call Benefits of using a ring group? The ring group has two main purposes. First, the ring group is used to make sure that there is an even distribution of all the incoming calls between a particular number of employees. The office department such as sales, tech support, customer service, and project teams often use a ring group for this purpose. Secondly, the reason to use a ring group is to ensure that every caller does not have to wait for a long time before anyone answers their call. Once more this is a great and useful feature for tech support and the customer service teams. In addition, there are other groups such as managers and representatives who can handle very important clients by using the ring group. Read more: Briefly Explained All VoIP Features. Are ring groups right for a small business? The majority of the above-mentioned examples are applicable for big corporations with a lot of workers and departments. However, the ring group can provide benefits for small businesses as well even if they only five or six employees. For example, let us assume a business with five workers in the office and no departments share their work according to the expertise of everyone. The business might not even have reception is to answer the calls therefore if they used a ring group then they could set up all their incoming calls to ring on every desk phone present in the office. Then whoever is free to pick up the call or is closest can answer the call. Let’s imagine another situation. If there is an office with three salespersons working in the same office then if they want all of them to have equal opportunities for closing the deal then the business can set up ring groups in a way that all the incoming calls cycle through every phone until somebody answers. How to create a ring group? Ring groups are extremely useful and provide a lot of benefits. A lot of providers give you some options in which you can setup a ring group. You might need to buy additional ring groups once beyond the provided free limit. Creating and administering ring groups is quite easy and quick. You can also modify the configuration settings whenever you want. You can add users to a particular group or remove them according to your current employees’ number within the office. You can also allow and disable them for particular period, obviously the workflow is going to be somewhat different for every VoIP service provider. However, the essentials will remain the same. You can choose the incoming calls number that the users within the ring group will get and configure what to do with every call.

Three Innovative Uses of VoIP in the Office

The phone system has always been as essential as water and power for businesses. every business needs a good phone system to rely on. it really doesn’t matter which provider is selected for the phone services. all the businesses only care about the overall cost of the system which was quite high with traditional phone systems. this is where the VoIP technology has brought a change. the biggest benefit of VoIP technology is its cost-saving and hence lot of organisations have switched over to VoIP services. however, it is time that Enterprises think of VoIP as a competitive benefit. you can implement VoIP services in an innovative way in your office which can give you an edge over your competition. the VoIP services are no longer a commodity because you can personalise and customise them according to your needs and workflow. Furthermore, you can also build an intelligent application through VoIP technology as the underlying platform. the flexibility that you get with VoIP services can actually help your business in a lot of ways which were either impractical or impossible with the traditional phone systems. in this article, we are going to discuss three innovative ways through which you can deploy the VoIP Phone services in your office. Innovative use of VoIP technology in the virtual office There are a few businesses who have dreamt of the extent to which the VoIP system could support virtualisation. VoIP is system that supports everything from call forward to multiple ringing devices simultaneously? you can also imitate a call centre environment using VoIP services and all the related features for your employees even if they are not working in the office space. now a lot of small businesses think that they do not need such advanced facility for their business but perhaps none of their workers work from home. however, that is the condition today and it is certain to change in the future. With VoIP you will be able to hire new workers from any location, you will not be restricted to eradicate potential candidate just based on their location. another way you can use this feature is that if you have offices in separate locations then you easily can move your workers from one location to another and they can have the same phone number where ever they go. VoIP means no more waiting for new cabling or any configuration. all your new employees do not need to wait for the phone lines and numbers as you can just add or remove phone numbers using a web dashboard just in a few clicks. VoIP and multifaceted routing rules At VoIP technology’s the current level of, it supports Complex routing rules. let’s assume a situation where is salesman must leave the office space for a training session. with the traditional system, he could transfer the incoming calls to Voicemail or have another employee handle his customers. he wouldn’t have any more options or control over how to treat the incoming calls. if we apply VoIP Phone services in the same situation then the employee could set priority rules for all the incoming calls for example. transfer all the incoming calls to a voicemail if there is no answer. forward all the incoming calls from a manager to a personal mobile number but not if it is the weekend or after working hours. if an important customer calls then call routing can be set up to a particular employee and an instant message can be sent to their mobile? send transcribed Voicemail to email as an attachment with the original VoIP message. All these routing rules may appear complicated however VoIP Phone systems easily handle this today. you do not even have to spend a lot of time setting the rules up or an expert to do it. a lot of VoIP services enable you to establish these rules with a user-friendly interface. however, providers are working to take this feature to another level. now think about all the time you can save if your system was smart enough to implement all of these routing rules on its own. the caller will not reach the wrong individual and your employees would not be bothered when they are busy. Using a VoIP system as an extension of your brand when was the last time when you thought about the hold music? The music which allows your caller to hear when they are waiting to speak to a service provider. what about a voicemail message holiday greeting or any other audio touch point? The truth is that a lot of small businesses do not have the time to think about building their brand. hence before VoIP, you did not have the means to build your brand over the phone. a lot of VoIP services allow you to use the tools to customise the feature of hold music, Voice recordings and Voicemail prompts etc. you can select from hundreds of samples and have the one which represents your brand correctly. you can also swap the music out at the movements notice. how is this useful? Let’s think about the brand-building opportunities where you can customise recordings according to the time, location and season of your callers. suppose you have a client in different countries each area will have its own holidays and festivities because if a caller from one country hears custom greetings that might not be appropriate for their location to them it would be a random message which has no meaning. There you have it. do not just use VoIP services in the same always. recognise this opportunity to rethink the way you do your business every day.

A Brief Introduction to Business VoIP System

The communication world evolved a lot over time. The modern communication has been taken over by Business VoIP. However, a lot of businesses are not yet familiar with the technology of VoIP. But, it is not hard to know the idea behind this technology. In simple terms, a business VoIP phone technology leverages the data and internet networks in order to transmit the phone calls as compared to the traditional office telephone system which depends on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The business VoIP technology is not that difficult to explain as well. The small business VoIP phone systems convert the sound of voice call into digital data packets like email or documents. The end-user of the service receives those digital data packets which are then translated back to the audio. This might appear as an oversimplified explanation and it may be somewhat true. Nowadays the business VoIP phone systems are equipped with a lot more advanced and sophisticated set of calling features. Consumer VoIP vs. Business VoIP System Nowadays the traditional phone line which was employed as a main channel of communication has been replaced by the consumer VoIP. The traditional phone lines do not provide the advanced features apart from the basic voicemail or caller ID features. On the contrary, the business VoIP was created to substitute the enterprise telephone system which businesses employ to connect their staff internally with each other and externally to the public network. The business VoIP provides a variety of advanced functionalities like conference calling, auto attendant and IVR. A VoIP phone system is actually perfect for small businesses since it allows small businesses to conduct conferences and meetings without having to commute to a certain location; as a result, the transportation and the accommodation charges are extremely reduced. Furthermore, the business VoIP is integrated into the user’s company phone which allows them to make and receive calls from anywhere with an active network connection. Different kinds of Business VoIP The basic two kinds of VoIP phone systems including on-site and hosted VoIP phone services. The former is owned and managed by the business through a devoted team of IT experts, whereas, the latter transmits the PBX functions through the internet. The Hosted VoIP phone system does not need any big financial investment and resources; therefore, it is a great choice for the small and mid-sized businesses. A hosted cloud-based business VoIP phone system needs a high internet bandwidth capacity and a fast internet connection to make sure that it works flawlessly. Furthermore, the network equipment has to have Quality of Service (QoS) optimised to guarantee a reliable and high quality of calls throughout the peak hours. In conclusion, a few businesses might be capable of carrying out their operations with conventional office telephone systems; nonetheless, the VoIP phone system is essential for a lot of businesses to survive in this fast-paced and dynamic work environment.

12 Best Business VoIP Providers 2018

Most of the businesses in the UK now prefer VoIP phone services. Therefore, now there are a lot of different VoIP providers who offer a variety of VoIP services and products. However, this raises important questions of how you to choose from so many providers? Remember, it is essential for you to compare the features and their benefits before you select a provider according to your needs. This article is meant to make this comparison easier for you. There are a few factors which influence your decision such as features, products, cost and installation. You should consider all of these factors if you want install a new communication system in your office. To make a decision you need to compare the key details about each top VoIP provider in the UK. Mitel: Established in: 1972 Summary: Mitel has more than 60 million clients in more than 100 countries. The company has become a major player in the business communication system. Mitel provides on-site system through the cloud or as hybrid of the two. Right for: Mitel services are suitable for every size business. Mitel offers three different cloud based systems which are available as part of MiCloud to provide for businesses of every size, these are: MiCloud Office MiCloud Business MiCloud Enterprise The billing of Mitel’s cloud based phone system is done on basis of per user; hence new customers can be promptly added as necessary. Top features: MiCloud: MiCloud is a cloud based system created by Mitel, this system does not need any type of hard to be installed except for the phones. Global: Mitel has several data centers across the world which provides full coverage to its customers regardless of their location. The company also has its own mobile app which allows the users to make and receive calls while they are on the go. Up-to-Scratch: MiCloud provides a consistent solution to a fast-paced company that cannot afford downtime at all BT – Cloud Voice for Business: Established in: 1981, however BT’s Cloud Voice VoIP phone system became available in the year 2014 Summary: BT stayed quite away from the cloud technology giving preference to the on-site phone systems. Even though BT is late to the market, having a big player like BT involved in cloud technology has to be a good thing. Ever since the release of its first VoIP system in the industry it has seen a surge in its demand. Therefore, BT has upped their game in the industry. Since releasing their first system the VoIP industry as a whole has seen a surge in demand. Right for: BT services are suitable for a variety of business sizes. BT VoIP system offer three different packages, every package is aimed at different size of businesses. You can take these packages on either 12 or 24 month long contract with prices being decreased for the latter. The offered packages include: Basic Connect Collaborate Top features: BT provides its clients only those features which they require instead of paying for a package which contains things which may never get used. These features could include: Online portal Voicemail to email transcription 3-Way calling “Hot Desking”/ Portability Automatic call routing 8×8 Established in: 1987 Summary: it is the oldest established VoIP service provider that we have included. 8×8 offers a variety of subscription plans for its customers which include: Virtual Office: this is 8×8’s entry level service which is suitable for a lot of businesses and is probably more capable of fulfilling most business’s requirements. Virtual office Pro: just like its name this plan offers customers a bit of extra features. The extra features which are added in this plan are internet faxing, call recording and web conferencing. Right for: this company brags about its considerable experience working with small, medium and large businesses across a variety of industries. Top features 8×8 provides particular plans which are made to suit certain kinds of businesses. Even though it is hard to tell you which specific plan is most suitable for you but we can list all the features offered: Online Call Management: this feature allows you employees to better administer internal processes and prioritize their tasks. UK Support: 8×8 provides customer with UK support services so all businesses feel confident in case of a disaster or power failure. Their customer service is friendly and effective. Instant Messaging: this feature is an effective means for your staff to communicate. Even though this may not be a formal method of conversing but it can still be a great way for your employees to stay in contact for the things they need to be done promptly. Call Recording: this is very beneficial feature to enhance employee performance as they can learn from their interactions with the clients. You can gather a lot of information with help of this feature so that you can use it later. Vonage: Established in: 1999 Summary: Vonage is quite known VoIP phone services provider. It offers high quality services to every type of business worldwide. In recent years Vonage has become a big player in the market of VoIP providers. According to the latest figures Vonage has more than 2.5 million subscriber lines worldwide. Right for: Even though Vonage caters to individual users and small business, still Vonage essentially aims to provide services to medium sized and enterprise size businesses. Top features Vonage offers a range of plans with different number of features, which means capability and choices, will be different form plan to plan. The top features offered by Vonage include: Smartphone App: this feature is for remote employees so they can easily integrate calls into their daily activity through the Smartphone app. with this you can handle your clients 24/7. Multi-Device Transfer: with this feature you can answers all the calls regardless of your location, through different range of devices. Desktop App: Vonage has a state of the art desktop app which you can use to record all contact details and synchronize them. Further, your employees can optimize their phone processes through just a few clicks. RingCentral: Established in: 1999 Summary: Ringcentral is one of the most known business VoIP phone services provider in the UK. The company has high levels of customers since businesses from across the globe select RingCentral for its innovative approach and excellent customer services. The company provides all in one solution which reliably connects all your business with all of apps and software, to wide range of headsets and handsets. Right for: Ringcentral offers three main subscriptions plans which have been made to match the requirements of all businesses. Standard Plan Premium Plan Enterprise Plan All of the VoIP plans offered by RingCentral include similar basic features. However, all these plans are different in terms of toll-free call minute, and on the basis of participants who can join the conference call at one time. The company also offers a scaled version of standard plan, which allows small businesses to go for lower prices and scaled down plans. Top features Assigned Telephone Numbers: with this feature you can give your employees their own individual business phone numbers, instead of utilizing just one general office number. it is particularly, helpful in the sales roles where the workers can build a relation with the customers and can maintain the familiarity. Country by Country Configuration: with this feature you can do stress-free international dialing. Call Management: this feature allows you to easily create all call processes, along with helping the teas and companies to design particular call parameters and rules. Auto-Receptionist: this feature allows you to free up financial budget and offers customers and clients with high quality communication, even out of hours. Call Recording: this feature is only available with Premium and Enterprise subscription plans, with this feature your business can record all calls for monitoring, training pr safety purposes. 4Com: Established in: 1999 Summary: This is an expert provider of business phone solutions. 4com is one of the fastest growing telecommunication companies in the UK. Its name has been in the Sunday Times best companies for the last five years. 4Com has a call center which is UK based. Their staff includes high trained people who are always available to take customers call at any time. The company also has support engineers based all over the UK, always ready to respond at a moment’s notice. Right for: This company provides comprehensive services for every size of business. Furthermore, 4Com provides unique phone systems which are solely client focused and with all the necessary software required to back up the system. With the provided features you can monitor your staff’s performance, trace call logs and provide team training. This company is suitable for businesses of every size and 4Com’s portfolio has businesses from up to 10 people staff to business with over 1000 employees. Top features: 4Com’s phone system standard features include: Computer telephony integration: with this feature you can start conversation off with rapport building reminders such as caller name, location and call history from the very first ring. You can set this up by connection the 4Com software with CRM platform of your computer. HiHi hardware: 4com is also popular for making the upstanding HiHi phone, which also has built-in video calling. Custom Controls: with this feature you can make a positive and lasting impression on your clients through hold messages and voicemail. Analytics: this has all the tools which you want to continuously improve and expand your business such as reporting functionality and call recording. Rock Networks Established: 2002 Summary: This company provides Unified communication with the capability to integrate fixed lines, mobile, tablet and desktop connectivity all in single system. This allows your employees to stay connected with one another and to stay connected with your customers and vendors as well, wherever they might be. Rock Network has a first of its kind system which brings together both mobile and fixed networks. It enhances both the effectiveness and speed of your communication by allowing you to take a call on any of your numbers from any device. It was originally provided by Vodafone, if you select Rock as your provider for VoIP services then it means you will get advantage from their improved customer support and services. Right for: This service is right for businesses with future thinking of different kind of sizes. The company also offers product enhancement for existing customers for free of charge. Top features A number of the advantages of Rock Networks’ services include: Effectiveness: you can hold video and audio meetings through web just with one click. Efficiency: you can save a lot of time by not chasing clients, not traveling for meeting and not loosing working hours. Inclusiveness: it includes all the stakeholders in significant discussions wherever they might be Reliability: you will get the same high levels of quality experiences regardless of where you are Sipgate: Established in: 2004 Summary: this provider has become a reliable and trusted VoIP provider for organizations which want to switch to business VoIP telephone system. With Sipgate you will get to operate an advanced dashboard process which allows you a lot of flexibility and functionality. Sipgate is a great choice for a number of businesses. Right for: this company is suitable for Business users, Residential users and Developers. Top features Sipgate offers features to all sizes of businesses and it can help businesses go a long way by improving performance and processes. Even though there is a big number of features offered but we have included just a few important feature offered by Sipgate VoIP: Simplicity: Sipgate provides a high quality and easy service. Along with the option of setting up the online VoIP system and manage it from there. This option appeals to a lot of businesses. Experience: Sipgate has thousands of customers all across the UK and Europe during its time of operating. This level of experience means they provide high quality customer service and satisfaction, regardless of your location and whatever your company does. Flexibility: Sipgate provides all of its products with pay as you go options. which means this can be a big advantage for small businesses which are trying VoIP for the first time. NFON Established in: 2007 Summary: NFOn is also rather new VoIP provider. Ever since its establishment in the business it has quickly become a valued provider in the industry. The company depends on the latest IP Centrex technology, which is made to offer customers best phone system access from several internet locations, whether the location is fixed or remote. Right for: This company is suitable for a variety of businesses, with features for every business size plan which can go a long way to enhancing user experience. NFON’s offers three different plans (according to increasing business size suitability): Xpress Business Business Plus Top features Flexible Contract: NFON offers a 30-day flexible rolling contract, giving you better flexibility. This option is a big advantage to businesses which require a little bit of flexibility. Cloud (Hosted) VoIP Phone System: Cloud technology allows you the universal access that is not tethered to one particular location or equipment. This option offers your employees with a wide variety in functionality and accessibility. Click-2-Dial Functionality: This function allows you the simpler access to the telephone system dashboard. This type of feature gives a lot of advantages to employees and businesses. Lily Established in: 2009 Summary: Lily has earned a strong presence in the telecommunication market through its strong partnership with Ericson LG. it is spending almost as much as their competitor on the development and research to make sure that they give customers the best possible product. The company claims that 86% of their customers decrease the amount they spend on telecommunication once they switch to the new Lily VoIP services. With this kind of statistics this company is worth the consideration for a comparison. Right for: Lily VoIP services are right for businesses that have staff in between 1-3500, especially remote asset employees. It is also an ideal solution for customers who want turnkey, device, inclusive of internet and the complete phone system. Top features Lily VoIP phone system, horizon, provides the latest cloud based technology. Which means the customers will have reduced costs and increased efficiency throughout their business. The setup includes devices like tablets and laptops along with standard handset so your mobile assets can be updated into your current staff. Over the years this company has managed to build a dedicated customer base which includes household names like NHS, specsavers and Citroen. To date the company has over 2500 clients consequently giving the company a lot of experience in providing the innovative communication services to small businesses. Teliqo Established in: 2010 Summary: Teliqo is a rather new company in the industry of business VoIP. Even though it was established later as compared to its competitors but the provider has managed to become and incredible and reliable provide, with a lot of users opting for its VoIP services. Right for: This Company is suitable for Call centers, service buildings and offices. This company is an open source solution to the VoIP telephony. It offers unique features which can be a lot beneficial for several businesses. Teliqo’s phone systems are accessible through Mac or PC users and through a range of other mobile systems. The provider offers a wide range of different options for its users. There are a lot of industries in which their hardware and software can be applicable. Top VoIP Features Teliqo has designed features which work for every type of business. Whatever your business needs or specifications might be it is likely that you can operate quite successfully with Teliqo. Below we have mentioned some of the Teliqo’s features which are useful for every business. Phone Numbers: with this company you can keep your existing phone number regardless of which company has provided it. Conference Calling: Teliqo offers a variety of features such as conference calls, voicemail and call recording. Self-service Portal: Teliqo provides a self service user dashboard and phone system management which can help your business out in maximizing functionality and productivity. bOnline Established in: 2011 Summary: the company was originally launched as a web design company which specialised in small business services. Through logical growth now the company has moved into the VoIP market and offers a wide range of choices for businesses of every size. Right for: the provider is suitable for Small businesses From the start bOnline has always been focused on small businesses. The company offers three different packages. Every package is made keeping in mind the startup and all businesses. The packages are: Business Business 1200 Business Unlimited Top features bOnline’s big selling point is that guarantee of their prices, the company promises to never be beaten on cost. There cloud-based phone services start from £9/month. There prices are a lot competitive in the current VoIP market. The company offers a variety of feature and we have gathered a list of few of the features. The best features offered by bOnline are: Call transfer (Attended and Blind) Internal Calling Group Call Full mobility across multiple devices Voice Mail

Latest News

The Blog

3 Great Strategies for Call Centre Improvement

How Virtual Telephone Numbers Can Help Your Business?

VoIP Ring Group for Efficient Calling

Three Innovative Uses of VoIP in the Office

A Brief Introduction to Business VoIP System

12 Best Business VoIP Providers 2018

Learn More

Partnerships

Help

Legal

Copyright 2022 VoIP Business, All Rights Reserved.