For a small business, every conversation matters. Whether it’s a new customer making an enquiry, an existing client needing support or a member of your team working remotely, your phone system plays an important role in keeping your business connected.
But business communications have changed considerably. Traditional telephone systems are increasingly being replaced by internet-based alternatives that offer businesses greater flexibility, scalability and control.
One of the technologies at the heart of this change is VoIP.
But what exactly is VoIP, how does it work, and perhaps more importantly, how do you make sure your business has the right communications setup to take advantage of it?
What is VoIP?
VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol.
Put simply, it allows telephone calls to be made using an internet connection rather than relying on a traditional telephone line.
When you speak during a VoIP call, your voice is converted into digital data. That information is transmitted over an internet connection and converted back into audio for the person at the other end.
For the person making or receiving the call, the experience can feel much like using a conventional business telephone. Behind the scenes, however, the technology is very different.
For businesses, this opens the door to a much wider range of communication features and greater flexibility over where and how calls are handled.
Why are businesses moving towards VoIP?
The way we work has changed.
Employees might work from the office one day, from home the next and visit customers later in the week. Small businesses also increasingly rely on cloud-based software, mobile devices and online services to run their day-to-day operations.
Your telephone system needs to keep up.
A cloud-based VoIP system can allow employees to access business communications from different locations and devices while remaining connected to the same company phone system.
Depending on the setup, this can include features such as:
- Call forwarding and routing
- Voicemail-to-email
- Auto attendants
- Hunt groups
- Mobile applications
- Call recording
- Conferencing
- CRM integration
- Reporting and call analytics
Instead of your business telephone system simply being a phone sitting on somebody’s desk, it becomes part of a much broader communications setup.
Why the right VoIP setup matters
It can be tempting to think that moving to VoIP is simply a case of buying some new phones and connecting them to the internet.
For a business, there is a little more to consider.
Your phone system is only as useful as the infrastructure supporting it. Poor connectivity, incorrectly configured call routing or a system that hasn’t been designed around the way your team actually works can quickly create frustration.
Before choosing a VoIP solution, businesses should consider how calls currently move through the organisation.
For example, who answers incoming calls? What happens if they don’t answer? Do calls need to reach employees working remotely? Are different numbers required for different teams? Do you need call recording? What happens if your main internet connection fails?
Understanding these requirements before installing a system means the technology can be configured around your business rather than forcing your business to work around the technology.
Your broadband connection is part of your phone system
Because VoIP calls travel over an internet connection, reliable business broadband becomes particularly important.
Think about everything already competing for your internet connection during a typical working day: cloud applications, emails, video meetings, file transfers, online backups, website activity and potentially guest Wi-Fi.
Your voice calls are another important service using that connection.
That’s why looking at broadband and telephony together can be valuable. The speed of the connection matters, but so do reliability, network configuration, available bandwidth and business continuity.
For some organisations, having a backup connection or alternative call-routing arrangement can also provide additional resilience if the primary connection experiences a problem.
What happens if your internet connection goes down?
This is one of the important differences businesses need to understand when moving from traditional telephony to VoIP.
Because your telephone service relies on connectivity, an internet or power outage can affect your ability to make and receive calls.
However, the right business communications setup can include contingency measures.
Calls might be automatically redirected to mobile phones or another location, for example. Businesses can also consider backup connectivity and disaster recovery arrangements depending on how critical telephone communications are to their operations.
The important thing is to think about business continuity before something goes wrong.
VoIP can grow with your business
One of the biggest advantages of cloud-based telephony for small businesses is scalability.
With a traditional telephone system, adding new employees or opening another location could require additional lines, equipment or engineering work.
A hosted VoIP system can make this considerably easier.
Users can generally be added or removed as requirements change, making the system suitable for a growing team, a business with multiple locations or an organisation with employees working remotely.
It means you can choose a communications setup based on what your business needs today while retaining the flexibility to adapt it tomorrow.
Supporting remote and hybrid teams
Modern businesses aren’t always based in one building.
With hosted telephony, employees can potentially use the same business communications system whether they’re sitting at their desk, working from home or travelling.
Mobile and desktop applications can allow employees to make and receive business calls without relying solely on a physical office handset.
This can also help create a more consistent customer experience. Customers can continue calling the same business number without necessarily needing to know where the employee answering their call happens to be working.
Don’t overlook the customer experience
When choosing a business phone system, it’s easy to focus entirely on features and technology.
But ultimately, the system needs to work for your customers too.
Imagine calling a company and being passed between the wrong departments, reaching unanswered extensions or struggling through an unnecessarily complicated automated menu.
Technology should make communication easier, not create another barrier.
Features such as auto attendants, hunt groups, intelligent call routing and voicemail can be extremely useful, but they need to be configured around the way your customers actually contact your business.
Sometimes a relatively simple setup that has been planned properly will deliver a better customer experience than a complicated system filled with features nobody uses.
Why ongoing support matters
Installing a business phone system isn’t necessarily the end of the job.
Businesses change.
Employees join and leave. Teams move. Opening hours change. New locations appear. Call flows need adjusting and new features become useful.
And occasionally, something simply stops working.
Having access to knowledgeable technical support means you have someone who understands your communications setup and can help when changes or problems occur.
Rather than dealing separately with different technology providers, having a communications partner who understands your telephony and connectivity can make troubleshooting and ongoing management considerably easier.
Choosing the right VoIP solution for your small business
There isn’t one perfect communications system for every business.
A five-person company operating from a single office will have very different requirements from a growing organisation with several locations and employees working remotely.
Before choosing a VoIP system, think about:
How many people need access?
Consider your current team as well as likely future growth.
Where does your team work?
Do employees need to make and receive business calls outside the office?
How are incoming calls handled?
Think about departments, call groups, opening hours and what should happen when somebody is unavailable.
How reliable is your connectivity?
Your broadband needs to be capable of supporting your business applications and voice traffic.
What happens during an outage?
Consider call forwarding, backup connectivity and other business continuity options.
Which features will genuinely help?
Call recording, CRM integration, reporting and mobile applications can be valuable, but only if they solve a real business requirement.
Who will support the system?
Make sure you know who you can contact when something needs changing or something goes wrong.
Getting the right advice makes the difference
VoIP offers small businesses an opportunity to build a more flexible, scalable and feature-rich communications system.
But the technology itself is only one part of the equation.
The right broadband connection, carefully planned call routing, suitable devices, business continuity and dependable technical support all contribute to a communications system that works properly.
At Regency Grove Communications (RGC), we help businesses find the right telephony and connectivity solutions for the way they actually work.
Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, we can assess your existing setup, understand how your team communicates and recommend a solution that meets your current requirements while giving you room to grow.
From business broadband and hosted telephony to installation, configuration and ongoing technical support, RGC can help keep your business connected.
Need help reviewing your business communications?
Speak to the RGC team to discuss your current phone and broadband setup and find out how a modern VoIP solution could work for your business.
