Effective and efficient communication is key to success in any business, from internal contact between staff and leaders to external contact with current and potential customers. How well your company communicates determines how well your business operations run.
In fact, Expert Market says that statistics indicate that technology became a key component of staying connected in 2020 and continues to be from this point on. Their report noted these crucial statistics for support:
- Lack of good communication and collaboration was cited as the reason for most workplace failures by 86% of workers and executives.
- You can boost organizational productivity by at least 25% by improving your internal communication.
- Communication issues cost businesses $37 billion or more annually
The solution? A VoIP business phone service. Here are the benefits of a VoIP business phone service and why your company needs it to get ahead of the competition.
Benefits of VoIP on Your Internal Team And Operations
Effective communication between employees in your company is essential to the success and growth of your business. The consequence of poor communication is a decline in productivity and efficiency because your staff isn’t equipped with the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to complete job tasks at the quality you expect and in the time it needs to be done.
With VoIP, your internal team benefits from the following:
- Communication with traveling and remote/hybrid workers at anytime
- Compatible with all devices, boosting accessibility
- Features scale with the business, continuing to meet internal communication needs as your company expands
- High-definition voice quality that supports efficient collaborations and connections
- Long-distance/international calls are treated the same as local calls, with VoIP providing a phone number relevant to the area code to keep staff connected without the added costs.
Related: Is VoIP the Best Phone System for Your Small Business?
Benefits of VoIP on Communication With Customers
Staying connected with customers is also essential, especially as customer service becomes more of a priority among consumers daily. According to Salesforce Research, positive customer service can be a company’s saving grace when they make mistakes, especially since as many as 78% of customers are willing to overlook a brand’s mistake if they offer excellent customer service.
Here are the top benefits of VoIP for communication with customers:
- Call Blocking allows you to block spam or unwanted calls that take away time spent on current and potential customers who need your assistance.
- Call forwarding allows your staff to swiftly and easily transition customers from one person to the next to meet their specific needs.
- Call recording protects your business from potential consequences (such as a lawsuit) if miscommunication with customers leads to an unresolved dispute.
- Voice tagging ensures customers are greeted appropriately and according to the selected option before a team member answers the phone call.
Benefit From the Advanced Features of VoIP
A VoIP business phone service has features far beyond what any traditional phone service could ever do for you. The best VoIP providers offer more standard features to streamline your business’s communication and customer service. Whether you’re a one-person crew or 50, leveraging VoIP features to enhance customer service can make a significant difference.
This is especially true since customers have gotten very selective about who they buy from, with HubSpot reports finding that 90% of people factor in a business’s customer service reputation when making purchasing decisions. More than half (58%) will switch to the competition if a company provides poor customer service.
Some of the top factors of the many features available include the following.
Greetings
Personalize how callers are greeted when calling your business by using VoIP. You can customize audio greetings, music, messages, and voices unique to your company by uploading your files. This is important because you don’t want customers confusing your business with the competition for any reason, meaning you should differentiate everything about your brand. Hence, it stands out and makes it more memorable.
American entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant once said, “Escape competition through authenticity.” Since greetings are often the first impression, you’ll want to make it count.
Hold Music
Although customers will always prefer not to be put on hold when reaching out to your business, it’s not always possible to avoid it. Fortunately, hold music can make the time spent on hold more bearable as customers wait for your response.
Psychology Today says, “Music is a powerful emotional stimulus that changes our relationship with time [and] diverts attention away from time processing.” This could give your staff five minutes or more to complete tasks with other customers before those on hold begin to hang up.
Audio Conferencing
Connect up to 300 participants on VoIP, using whatever device is available, no matter where you are. Audio conferencing has become incredibly important over the last few years due to the growing need for remote and hybrid alternatives to the traditional in-person workplace environment. Not only will you be able to connect with employees and leaders working from home, but you can also bring in traveling workers from all over the world.
Related: How Audio Conferencing Can Help Your Business Today
Voicemail to Email and Voicemail Transcription
Every time a voicemail is sent to your work extension, you can receive a notification in your email with an audio attachment. This allows you to stay up-to-date on important calls you may have missed as long as you have internet access to your email. Even better, voicemail transcription will enable you to access the contents of a voicemail through text rather than waiting for a good time to listen to the caller’s message.
HIPAA Compliance
Are you worried about patient-provider communications? With VoIP, you don’t have to. A VoIP provider will ensure your business phone service is HIPAA compliant and secure in the cloud for video conferencing and calls. Protecting patient privacy and information is essential to Healthcare businesses, so a fast phone service like VoIP can allow you to connect without risking noncompliance with HIPPA laws and regulations.
VoIP Support
A VoIP provider will also have expert support available for you at all times. This means that you not only get help when you’re having issues but expert assistance in navigating every feature to its full potential. There are a lot of technical advantages to leveraging VoIP, and some can get complex. Availability of extra expertise and support can be beneficial in helping you maximize your experience with the cloud-based phone service.
VoIP: Your Customers Expect It, And Your Business Needs It
With VoIP, you can get a number that meets your needs and can be used anywhere, scales easily, saves you money and offers many advanced features that aren’t available with a traditional company phone service. This also includes personal lines used for business purposes. It’s also much more professional than using a private phone number.
In today’s hybrid/remote work environment — which accounts for 74% of businesses in today’s market that already are or are at least planning to be hybrid/remote — this kind of flexibility is essential for any business. Not only do your customers expect it, but your business needs it to streamline communications, operate efficiently, and continue to grow. Contact our team at Phone.com for more insight and resources on VoIP and its growing importance in today’s business.