Landline phones are gradually becoming a thing of the past, and virtual phone systems are taking their place. After all, VoIP systems need nothing more than a stable internet connection to run smoothly. They’re useful for receiving calls anywhere, including abroad, and are perfect for separating private and business calls. At the very least, they cut costs, as a subscription is typically cheaper than paying a telecom provider.
With that in mind, there are a few features that all virtual phone systems share. One of these is a softphone, which is provided either by a desktop application or the system’s browser version. There’s also call queuing and forwarding and international calls – although international numbers aren’t always supported. Similarly, most VoIP systems support faxing, which helps businesses go paperless. Unfortunately, some providers lack the most advanced features or at least lock them behind an additional paywall. However, these tools can be groundbreaking for the growth of your business. Here are the ones that you should look for when shopping for a VoIP provider:
Call Conferencing
Facilitating team collaboration has its fair share of difficulties, especially when managing a remote team. However, team communication is a breeze with a virtual phone system’s call conferencing tool. This feature is perfect for calling several team members at once or scheduling a group call for later. Typically, all it takes is a simple invitation, which can be set to repeat periodically.
Business Text Messaging
When speaking to customers, texting has one big advantage over calling. While people don’t always pick up when they see an unknown number, they’re likely to read a short message. Business texting provides a real-time communication channel between a company and its clients, where messages can be entirely personalized. In fact, due to a text’s character limit, it’s easy to get straight to the point. Moreover, customers can use this mode of interaction to enquire about a product. Even international communication becomes much smoother, as it has minimal extra costs compared to sending a regular SMS.
Auto Attendant
Often when you call a customer service helpline, an automated voice tells you to choose an extension. This can streamline communication between a company and its clientele. When integrated into a virtual phone system, an auto attendant – or auto-receptionist as called by certain companies like RingCentral – forwards customers’ calls to the intended department. This reduces time spent on the call significantly, as they don’t have to go through numerous staff members to get to the one who can solve their issue. Plus, you’ll also be improving the opinion of your company by showing consideration towards your customers’ time.
RingCentral Desktop Dashboard
RingCentral Video Call
RingCentral Auto-Receptionist
RingCentral Audit Trail
Hot Desking
Business never sleeps, and constant availability is imperative. Luckily, this is manageable with reliable hot desking, a tool that stops workers from being restricted to a designated desk. It allows them to share IP phones or use softphones with their own extensions, opening up the possibility of flexible hours. It’s beneficial for team members with different schedules and game-changing for 24/7 customer support agencies. With this feature enabled, everyone in the company can pick up their work from where they left off, and they no longer have to stick to a specific computer or phone, as any device will do.
Transcriptions
Going back over phone calls to track down important information is part and parcel of any customer support or sales agent’s role. However, this exercise isn’t cost-effective, as time is often wasted listening to irrelevant sections of the recording. That’s why the automatic transcription feature of virtual phone systems is so helpful. It also means that team members can track frequently asked questions from transcriptions and prepare answers for future calls. Furthermore, some companies like RingCentral offer a live transcription feature, which comes in handy during team calls, as you can catch up on what’s been said if you were not able to attend the whole meeting.
Buy any of RingCentral’s subscriptions and enjoy a 30-day money-back guarantee to try everything out risk-free.
Call Analytics
Without a proper way to analyze previous calls, drawing an accurate picture of your customer base and how your agents handle them is a headache. That’s where the call analytics feature in a VoIP service can save the day. It creates reports on call tracking, talk time, the number of missed and answered calls, and international vs domestic calls, to name a few. Analyzing this data is crucial for finding out customer needs and generating leads. RingCentral’s reports are thorough and stand out even from its already impressive set of features.
Your business will quickly reap the benefits of using the more advanced VoIP features on the market. Employees will be able to use their time more efficiently, systems will become more organized, and customer relations will reach an all-time high. As such, it’s vital that you choose a virtual phone system that includes as many of these features as possible.
Best VoIP Systems of 2023
| Rank | Provider | Info | Visit |
1 | Editor's Choice 2023  | ||
2 |  | ||
3 |  |
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