For drastically cutting phone bills, small businesses today are rapidly adopting VoIP communications. Besides cost, other options driving small businesses toward VoIP services include voicemail, call waiting, toll free numbers, call forwarding and remote operation. However, there are a host of other overlooked VoIP features that can help small businesses.
A recent TechRepublic report highlights 10 overlooked features when it comes to business VoIP, including door phone entry buzzer integration, find me/follow me call routing, voicemail to e-mail transcription, music on hold, bandwidth utilization and inbound/outbound call detail reports, call screening, coaching tools, auto attendant and conferencing. Do not disturb is also an option that goes unnoticed.
While the door phone entry buzzer integration feature allows a company to integrate an analog door phone so that you can have a two-way call with visitors and then unlock the door from your phone if you deem them worthy, the find me/follow me call routing allows you to create a list of numbers where you can be found before the call gets pushed to voicemail. For example, on the third ring of your office phone, your cell phone starts ringing, and then on the fifth ring, your home phone begins to ring. If the list is exhausted, the caller gets sent to voicemail.
Likewise, voicemail to e-mail transcription transcribes your voicemail messages to text and sends them to a preferred e-mail. It allows you to file, organize, delete and search all your voicemails in a way that would otherwise be impossible. And music on hold gives callers an opportunity to listen to good music while they are holding for you.
A managed, cloud-based VoIP service can provide bandwidth utilization information that allows you to view data usage over a period of time. Inbound and outbound call detail reports let you view details of your company's call history, including rate centers, duration, originator, destination and cost.
Furthermore, call screening, which is an often forgotten feature, allows you to look at a number on the caller ID and choose how to treat it. Coaching tools help you train and monitor your employees' on-phone performance.
Similarly, an auto attendant is an important feature for small businesses, but it is often ignored. It functions as an electronic receptionist. Conferencing is well-known, but it is a feature that is underutilized. Do not disturb does exactly what it says. It helps you redirect your calls.
It is sometimes difficult for businesses to fully understand each option and use all of them on a daily basis. To simplify the selection process, resources like GetVoIP.com offer business VoIP provider comparisons and reviews, including overviews of different features provided.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey