Business Hosted Voice Services: Can VoIP Really Help My Small Business?

As a small business owner or operator, you probably already understand why having a seamless line of communication with your customers, your employees, and your vendors is absolutely crucial. Your commitment to top-notch communication processes is going to be what sets you apart from your competition, what draws the line between good customer service and great customer service, and what ensures that you're committed to going the extra mile.

While much of our modern-day business communication occurs online, through emails, or via your mobile device these days, the bulk of customer service is still conducted over the phone. Though it's been years since any of us have needed a landline or home phone for residential purposes, there's still a substantial need for businesses to have a reliable form of voice communication-especially for customer services' sake. But that doesn't mean you need to rely on old-fashioned, traditional forms of voice communication for your modern business. In fact, there are several new innovations in voice technology that can provide your customers with the voice solution they seek without forcing you to take ten steps backward into past technologies.

The best of these solutions? Business hosted voice services.

Realistically, many small businesses are still relying on traditional phone services to accomplish their main tasks—but modern businesses need more than just short-term fixes to daily problems. They need modern solutions to encourage scalability, flexibility, and productivity. Gone are the days where a traditional phone line can offer you the scalability, flexibility, organization, and productivity your small business needs—that’s where business hosted voice services come into play. But what exactly is business hosted voice, and further, why is it crucial to the growth of your small business? In this post, we’re going to hash out the foundational groundwork needed to better understand business hosted voice. Then, we’ll dive into the deeper, more meaningful applications of business hosted voice services so you can have a clearer, more vibrant picture of how business hosted voice can change your life—and your business—forever.

A Quick Background on Business Hosted Voice—What Exactly is It?

Business hosted voice may not be a term you're familiar with-and if that's the case, don't sweat it. Business hosted voice is something that many companies invest in without actually knowing that it's called that. So, this begs the question-what exactly is it?

Hosted voice is a cloud-based service that typically relies on a third party to provide telephone connectivity through the internet using something called voice over internet protocol. That last term is important because it tends to be what people most commonly refer to hosted voice as-then it gets shortened even further to VoIP. VoIP can be thought of like a telephone service-but one that relies on the internet for connectivity and that comes with a ton of convenient benefits crucial to building a business. Hosted voice solutions are often thought of as vital building blocks for companies who are looking to solve a multitude of problems in exceptionally convenient ways because VoIP often offers solutions for more than just phone calls. This type of solution can tack-on convenient services that make your communication easier and more streamlined than ever. VoIP typically offers add-ons like:

• Llamada en espera
• IVR menus
• Cloud-management for easy maintenance
• Smart calling
• Call park
• Timbre VIP
• Llamadas ilimitadas en todo el país

Of course, VoIP can offer many more benefits than just those listed above (and those are only a few of the features Optimum’s VoIP service offers, just as a note). Because VoIP is cloud-based (in most cases), you’re able to better unite your entire company with a single, hosted system—this means better connectivity, more advanced features, and a scalable solution that can grow seamlessly with the needs of your company.

How Can Business Hosted Voice Help My Small Business?

One of the most obvious answers to this question is something along the lines of more reliable communication strategies. And of course, that's true. Hosted voice services are much more reliable for small businesses than traditional phone lines because they're cloud-managed and because they operate via the internet. Unlike traditional phone services, VoIP is going to work so long as your internet connection can efficiently support it (which, of course, we can help with, too).

While that's definitely a major benefit of VoIP, that's certainly not the end of the list of reasons why business hosted voice is an impactful addition to any small business' list of must-have tools. In fact, there are several arguments for why VoIP is an absolute must for businesses of all sizes-from small companies with just a handful to employees to larger operations with dozens of workers.

Lower Communication Costs

Though business hosted voice services can have a larger up-front cost over traditional forms of voice communication, they can actually end up saving you substantial money in the long-run. How, exactly? Because maintenance is simple, digital, and cloud-based. Because you’ll likely be using a third-party provider, they’ll be able to provide simple fixes to your cloud-based issues should they arise. You likely won’t need to pay for your provider to physically come out to your location (in most cases) should something go awry. Further, VoIP can sometimes be cheaper to install, the call costs associated with VoIP are often lower, and business hosted voice reduces the number of lines needed to improve efficiency for your business.

Enhanced Customer Service

VoIP can help your customer service departments-and truthfully, anyone else in your company-actually do their jobs more efficiently and more productively. With smart hosted voice systems like VoIP, you'll be equipped with better tools to enable your employees-that means no calls will go unanswered, waiting time will be dramatically reduced, customer interactions will become far more streamlined and efficient.

Reliable Connection No Matter What

In this case, no matter what means an emergency or a crisis. Because you only need the internet for your connection and to access your business' phone system, you're not in danger of losing important things when something bad happens-voicemails, key information, etc. No matter what happens, it's going to be much more likely our team can take calls remotely, handle issues, and continue working from wherever they might be.

Free Up Your IT Team

Remember how we mentioned that hosted means that a third party is taking care of the service for you? This comes in handy in more ways than one. Typically, your IT team doesn't need to tackle any issues that arise because you'll have a dedicated team from the provider handling it for you. This means your IT team can focus on issues that are specific to your company-not your company's communication process. In other words, your IT team can do their jobs, help your customers, and spend less time worrying about the hassles of a product they didn't design and aren't responsible for managing. Leave that to the host!

Flexibility & Mobility

This especially applies to remote workforces-something we've all had to deal with over the past year. Because business hosted voice is a cloud-operated system, your team can access your specific VoIP from anywhere at any time. Rerouting calls from your business number to your cell is seamless, distributing calls to customer service reps (no matter where they are) is streamlined, and choosing the right person for the job (not just the most conveniently located person for the job) is easier than ever.

Digital Data Leads to Smarter Business Decisions

VoIP systems are cloud-based, rely on the internet, and offer digital solutions-that means they make accessing digital data easier than ever. Now, you can collect and analyze data in a streamlined way to get a better idea of what you're doing right, what you could improve on, and what trends you need to be made aware of. With access to this type of digital data, you can better understand your average call times, when you're getting the most calls throughout the day, which employees are spending more time talking with customers, and more. All of this data can lead to better business decision making.

Optimum is Here to Help You Grow & Thrive

As a company that's dedicated to helping small businesses thrive, Optimum believes in providing solutions and services that make your life-and running your business-more streamlined than ever. We know that voice solutions and communications will never go out of style-but that doesn't mean you need to be stuck in the past. We're proud to offer our small business customers modernized, streamlined solutions that enhance their processes, improve their workflow, and enhance their business each and every day.

Ready to learn more about how Optimum can help your business grow? Looking to invest in your very first business hosted voice solution? Our Optimum team can help you find the ultimate solution for your unique business needs. ¿Tiene más preguntas? Reach out to our team any time or check out our VoIP page right here to get a better look at how our business hosted voice solutions can change your business for the better! To chat directly with us, give our team a call at 855-270-5527.