What Should You Look For When Selecting the Best Business Phone System?
Finding the best phone system for your business isn't as easy as you might think. Every organization is different and decision makers are tasked with finding a telephony system that achieves the core objectives of their business at an affordable price.
If you are just beginning your journey for business telephony services, evaluate these 5 factors as you embark on your search.
Cloud or On-Premises?
Cloud VoIP providers give businesses the ability to buy what they need on a monthly basis. For example, if you have a seasonal business, it may not make sense to buy an on-premises phone system that will sit idly in a data center during the off season of your business.
With cloud, you only pay for what you use. If your business was only open during the holiday, it wouldn't make sense to buy an expensive PBX system. You could simply buy cloud telephony products for your employees during the months you are open. If you operate a call center and it requires an on-premises system, your business would likely need to make an upfront infrastructure investment. Cloud hosted VoIP systems can provide you with on demand telephony services will providing your agents with direct lines with area codes based on your specific locality.
Economies of Scale
Take into account the economies of scale for your specific business model. If you have a large call center, making an investment in an on-premises system could prove to be less costly option over the long term.
Otherwise, many VoIP services are delivered using cloud and these services can be deployed to users with traditional handsets that sit on their desk or by using soft phones that allow the user to hookup a headset to their computer.
Not only will you need to buy monthly services or make infrastructure investment, you'll also need evaluate if you wish to provide desktop phones or headsets to your employees.
Features & Functionality
What features and functionalities will your users need to succeed? If your organization is compliance driven operation, wouldn't it be beneficial to look at a service that can provide you with all of the compliance features out-of-the-box?
For example, your business may require features such as:
- Encrypted Call Recording
- Bring Your Own Device
- Unified Communications
- IVR Menus
- Call Queuing
- Auto Attendant Menus
- CRM Integration
Think Like Your Customers
Put yourself in the position of the person who is calling your business and think about the easiest way to help an inbound caller while simultaneously providing all of the tools your end users need to handle and document the call.
This will help you understand which features and functionalities you should be asking about when you start to evaluate phone services for your business. The main goal should be to rapidly help your customers achieve their core objectives.
Evaluate Your Options
Evaluate all of your options and try to boil it down to what it costs per month to provide each employee telephony services.
From there, you can do a side by side comparison of each individual phone service and determine which is best for your end users. No two organizations are the same but as you make your selections, keep in mind that you'll want to build your phone system for the future.
You wouldn't want to get a system that you'll just have to replace here in a few years. When you make the right selection when searching for business telephony service, your monthly premiums should be viewed as an investment for your business. That's why it is key to evaluate which functionalities, integrations and features each employee will need in order to carry about the objectives of your business.
If your clients and end users are happy, your business will likely flourish. Your phone system is often the first interaction a new client will have with your business. If you get the phone system right, you'll be on your way to developing a fruitful relationship with your future clients.
