There are numerous features offered with business phone systems that can help you manage your business’ day-to-day needs efficiently. To begin, you should consider what type of phone system will meet your business needs. Small home businesses may only require a basic analog phone system with limited features, while a larger business would likely require a more involved IP phone system. Once the decision has been made on what phone system is best for the business, you can then decide on the features you want to include.
Phone features read like a laundry list of choices and there are bound to be some that may help your business that get overlooked. While there are hundreds of available features, vendors estimate that businesses only use about 10 percent of those. When deciding on a feature, ease of use should be the top priority. While voice mail and caller ID have become essential features for any business phone system, there are many other features that can be just as vital to your business.
Compare Business Products has compiled a list of features you should consider when planning your next phone system.
Click through for six features you should consider when planning your next business phone system, as identified by Compare Business Products.
Conferencing is a powerful feature for any business phone system, as it can vastly improve communication and efficiency while saving both time and money. Conferencing makes it possible to have business meetings anywhere, without the limited number of callers found on a residential or mobile conference call. This feature may eliminate the need to buy expensive conference phones, which can save thousands in equipment costs alone.
Video conferencing is also an option to consider, as it can facilitate more involved and productive business meetings. This feature can drastically reduce the need for expensive business travel and add a face to your company making it more personable to not only employees but customers and vendors as well.
Businesses receive numerous calls every day that need to be routed to the right person as quickly as possible. With a computerized auto attendant each call is met with a greeting and the caller given a menu of options in how to direct the call. The greeting can be tailored to fit any business. Auto attendant can also answer calls after business hours to ensure that every call is received and handled properly.
Today’s business world is as dependent on mobile phones as it is office phones. The mobile extension feature allows businesses to integrate mobile phones used by employees with their business phone system. This feature is especially helpful for businesses with employees out in the field, as calls can be forwarded directly to the employee’s cell phone without the caller having to dial extra extensions.
In business time is money and any downtime a business faces is money lost. Battery backup ensures that, in the event of a power outage, the business phone system will still have power to run for an hour or more on its own, allowing business to continue.
Call recording is a feature that can be used by both large and small businesses. Call recording can record any incoming call to the business. Most call recordings charge based on the length of the recordings while others charge a flat rate for unlimited recording.
Call recording is excellent for customer service and training. For the customer, it ensures that their call is important. For employers, it helps keep employees on task and is an excellent tool for tracking quality control and training.
Computer Telephone Integration (CTI) is the merging of the phone and computer. This is usually done through a variety of applications and gives a business distinct advantages, including automatically routing calls to the correct department, displaying a customer’s information on the computer screen via a screen popup, and even providing information about what products and/or services a caller has purchased.
