How to Choose a Small Business Phone System

Having a way for your customers to speak to someone over the phone has become even more relevant with all this push to digital and online. If you run a small business, you need to be able to offer all communication channels. Every time a customer calls, there is another chance of a sale.

Yet how do we know what type of phone system to have? Do we need the latest state-of-the-art digital VoIP (voice over IP) phone system? Or will landlines suffice? Knowing what direction to head in will help keep your small business open for communications. And it will help maintain those operational costs at the same time.

Remember that you’ll need to go digital at some point

By 2025, you’ll only be able to have VoIP, and the ISDN/PSTN networks will no longer be available. If you haven’t done so yet, you’ll be able to switch over to the more prominent feature-rich VoIP phone system. And your business phone system will keep working well into the future.

VoIP is a much cheaper option as you can run it over your current internet cabling and even Wi-Fi networks. There is no special cabling or any analogue cabling system needed.

If you have a VoIP system, then there’s nothing you’ll have to do in a few years. Consider upgrading to newer VoIP systems that may have more functionality.

Be prepared to move to the cloud

Just like you did with your old filing system back in the day when you switched from paper to Word documents, you can move your old small business phone setup onto the cloud. And why not? You can operate and manage the entire phone system online from anywhere. And you can use your work phones from home, offering even more options for you. Moving to the cloud will reduce risk and help keep your business protected.

Just because you’re going to the cloud doesn’t mean you’ll be missing out on having real phone numbers for the business. Gain new features such as call forwarding, call queuing and voicemail to emails to provide a small sample. With a cloud-based system, you can scale up or down to your business needs.

If you’re used to using those phone headsets and handsets, it’s still possible. And your laptop or computer will act as the softphone and make those call connections.

You’ll be able to double your hardware

Everyone carrying a smartphone can add applications allowing them to use their smartphone with business phone numbers. And you can still keep personal data separate from their private information.

Those business phone numbers can stay with the company, meaning if people leave those numbers that the clients and customers were using, let’s say, with the sales team, they will not need to be changed.

You can also turn off or set timers and schedules with these softphone apps, so you’re not fielding calls 24/7 if you choose not to.

Data becomes your friend

One of the best benefits of moving to a hosted mobile phone system for your business is the copious amounts of valuable data you can track and collect. You’ll be able to track where the calls are coming from and how long the calls are. You can link all these statistics to your CRM system to improve conversions and efficiency.

You’ll be able to track how many calls need to go to voicemail and when. So you know when your busy times are and when you need extra phone support. If your employees are using their mobiles to handle sales, you can track them as long as they’re doing it through the phone system application.

All of this reporting will help you, as a small business owner, to make informed decisions. You can report on what the topic of the call was. You’ll know whether it was to enquire about product stock levels, to gain support or to make a complaint. Every call adds another actionable data point.

You can save a lot of money

When you have a hosted phone system instead of a physical one, there’s a small monthly cost with next to no setup cost.

You’re paying a subscription fee to have your contact system built online. In addition to the break on your small business budget, you can have a much more remote workforce. It gives you more options, and you’ll not have to invest in such a large office setup. And you’ll still be able to run your operations smoothly.

For example, you can have multiple offices anywhere, and your sales teams can choose to work remotely from home. It’ll appear as if they’re all calling from the same office if that is what you want. You will have a complete professional setup offered by a hosted phone system for your small business.

Consider reaching out to us about your phone system or if you’re interested in making the switch to VoIP-powered phone systems.

We’ll work with you and run a quick audit on your existing phone setup to see where you’re at and what recommendations would look like. We can work with any sized small business from one to many employees. We will help to provide you with the best possible scalable hosted phone system that you can rely on and easily connect via an internet connection.

Synergy-UK is here to deal with and answer any questions, from whether you need to switch over to how you can handle calls remotely. Whatever your small business phone needs, we have the experience and expertise to build a suitable phone system model.

Sam Ashford - Author

Hey, I'm Sam Ashford! I have 20 years of experience in the IT industry. I have worked as a security analyst, trainer, and writer at Synergy-UK for over ten years.