Phone Systems for Small Business

Running a small business can be both exhilarating and challenging, and it is especially difficult when you don't have access to the tools you need to maximize your team's impact. Small business office phones may not be your top priority, but they can significantly enhance your overall customer experience and make your team more efficient and effective. Fortunately, there's no huge upfront investment required for hosted voice solutions, and the options are highly configurable based on the needs of your business.

SIP Versus Legacy Systems

Legacy phone systems have been the norm for small businesses for years, because SIP (Session Initiating Protocol) or PRI (Primary Rate Interface) systems were thought to be better suited for very large businesses. However, the cost of telephones has shifted significantly, making SIP phones much more affordable for businesses of all sizes. The reliability of SIP is excellent, especially when paired with excellent high-speed internet access. SIP works by connecting your current PBX business phone system to the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).

Many business owners are surprised to learn that they can provide their businesses with the same type of advanced functionality used by much larger organizations, providing a competitive advantage through an enhanced customer experience. Plus, phones using hosted voice for business offer a higher level of flexibility and scalability -- ideal for organizations who are in the process of expansion.

Improved Customer Experience

When a customer calls your place of business, they expect to receive a prompt, courteous answer to a question or a resolution to a problem. They can quickly get frustrated with dropped calls, difficult or inefficient transfers between departments or individuals, and other small annoyances. Many of these issues can be solved simply by updating your current telecommunications technology to the intuitive new systems available today. These are a few of the many features you'll find in the new SIP business phone systems:

• Large volume of simultaneously active calls
• Call forwarding
• Caller identification
• Simplified conference calling
• "Follow me" routing for employees
• Flexibility to connect to mobile devices

These features not only provide a better experience for customers, they also help employees be more efficient and available by providing simple ways for their calls to be routed to cell phones or home phones for a period of time, as well as providing remote voicemail access.

Future-Proof Your Phones

If you are a long-time legacy phone owner, you know that every time you want to make an upgrade to your phone system there can be costly hardware upgrades required for you to stay current with new technology. With phones supported by hosted voice for business, updates are to software only -- not hardware. This reduces downtime and costs, and makes for an overall easier upgrade.

Want to be able to take quick advantage of new options that become available in your area instead of waiting for end-of-life for your current hardware to make adjustments? Then SIP phones are a great option for your business. Call quality is exceptional because it's fully digitized. This means no more worries about conversations that fade in and out due to aging or fraying wiring that can be difficult to find and resolve.

Get Started Today!

Ready to get started putting your customers first with a new hosted voice phone system? Contact Cable One Business today to learn more about the variety of options available for businesses of all sizes.