Business has changed, so the tools your organization uses must evolve as well. One element of your business that has not only got more affordable, but also offers robust integrated features is your telephone system. Today, you can get some pretty impressive features as a part of a hosted VoIP implementation. With collaboration being more important than ever to keep costs down, having the tools you need at the ready is more crucial than ever.

What Exactly is Hosted VoIP?

Voice over Internet Protocol is a powerful business telephone system that uses the Internet to do everything (and more) that a traditional telephone system can do. Not only do you get the crystal clear calling that you demand, you can also gain a load of features designed to provide value and help spur collaboration. Additionally, since a hosted VoIP system is hosted in the cloud, you basically eliminate the need to purchase expensive hardware and time-consuming setup. Let’s take a look at some of the most useful features you can get with the modern cloud-hosted VoIP system.

Automated Attendant

One of the most useful features for any business is to have an automated answering system attached to your phone system. This not only eliminates the cost of having a live receptionist (or worse yet, interrupting your production team with phone calls), it also provides reliable call routing so that people get connected to the department or individual. Some VoIP providers feature interactive voice response which provides a certain customization to the auto attendant feature that can come in handy if your business has high call volumes. 

Call Recording

With so much of today’s business being done remotely, collaboration can be a little bit harder. With call recording accessibility, individuals can choose to record calls for use in project management, team collaboration, and quality assurance. The system works great as a tool to enrich the employee review process as well. Many hosted VoIP platforms will provide cloud storage space (often for an additional cost) so no additional setup will be required.

Caller ID and Screening

One of the best attributes of a hosted VoIP system is the ability to see who is calling and have options on what to do with incoming calls. Not only can you see the number (and if the number is saved in the account’s contacts, the name), you also have control over what to do with the call. You can choose to answer it, send it to voicemail, or decline it altogether. These features really cut down the time spent in unwanted or unnecessary calls. 

Call Forwarding and Flipping

Another set of great tools that you get with most VoIP platforms is the ability to simply forward a call to another user or transfer calls to a separate device on the same number. The former can help immensely as often calls are made that need to touch multiple points of your business. With call forwarding, this is as simple as transferring to a defined employee line. Call flipping is a feature that enhances your employees’ ability to take important calls on the go when they need to. In this process, the user will just flip from their workstation-based VoIP phone to their mobile device without dropping the call. 

SMS Text Messaging

Hosted VoIP provides the means to communicate through SMS. It’s proven that for small issues that text messaging is an important part of the business communications process and with hosted VoIP, your team will gain the ability to send text messages from their work accounts.

Video Conferencing and Bridging

Since your hosted VoIP platform is hosted in the cloud, you can get some seriously dynamic features. One of the most important is the addition of conferencing. Today, more people use Internet-capable solutions to meet than ever before, and the hosted VoIP platform can play an integral role. VoIP providers now offer video conferencing systems integrated with conference bridging that can help keep the people that need to meet on the line without having to waste time and effort. 

Analytics

Like most cloud-based platforms, hosted VoIP provides administrators the ability to see all the metrics (and assign their own) to analyze the phone system, user profiles, and more. Being able to have metrics at your disposal can help you modify your VoIP platform to the needs of your business and help you control communications costs. 

Go Mobile 

In what could be the most money-saving feature that a hosted VoIP platform provides, each account can be accessed from a dedicated mobile app. This means the days of paying for service plans for employee devices are over. Since each user can access their work phone from their individual mobile device, less calls will be missed and more can be done than ever before, for a fraction of the cost. 

Hosted VoIP is one of the technologies that we’d label “a no-brainer”. It cuts your organizational communications costs and provides you with loads of features that can help promote better business. If you would like to talk to one of our IT professionals about getting a VoIP system for your business, give us a call at (415) 295-4898.