Technology has paved the way to the development of a handful of business VoIP solutions that can help small business owners like you to share your products and services to a broader audience. There are also several business tools that can help improve your communication with their customers, anytime, and anywhere without spending too much on telephone service bills and maintenance of equipment.
The Future of Small Business
With the fast developing IT industry, it is easier to find inexpensive and effective business solutions that can help you boost your sales and improve your customer visibility. There are also much-needed technologies to help you reach out to your customers more effectively by utilizing the wireless technology. One of the most well-known solutions in the market that let you improve your business is the VoIP business software.
VoIP is a relatively young technology, and although it is used by a huge fraction of business operators, only the large scale businesses sectors are seen to completely maximize the different functions that it has.
Plenty of medium scale and small business owners aren’t too keen on using VoIP in fear of the possible high cost of using this communication option and the possible complications that they have to deal with in setting it up. Not a lot of them know that it can be considerably cheaper to go with this option instead of having the old-school communication methods because of the lesser equipment needed to set it up. As for the level of difficulty in using this technology, the hosting service providers give an excellent support team to their subscribers.
A Short Introduction to VoIP’s Applications
Cisco explains that VoIP phone systems function more like the usual phone system, but instead of using a circuit system, it uses a data packet system to transmit your messages. The messages are transmitted through the use of the wireless connection that you have.
Some business owners have separate internet plans to cater their data needs and their VoIP application because one of the primary requirements that you will need to have is an internet plan that has enough bandwidth to support the software.
Apart from that, in order to fully enjoy the benefits of using a VoIP software, you will also need to have, a dependable router, a VoIP service provider, and equipment that will help you set up depending on the type of VoIP you want to have. You will also need to decide whether you will subscribe to a Premises or a Hosted phone system. Another important requirement is to have a stable power source because this system depends a lot on the electricity.
How VoIP Can Benefit Your Small Business
The Tech Republic shares that there are a handful of VoIP services that your small business can benefit from like call screening. This feature allows you to look at the phone numbers calling you so you can forward the calls according to your preference. For example, when a family member is calling you can divert the call to your personal phone.
Another useful feature would be the conferencing capability of VoIP. For small business owners who employ workers remotely, this can help you coordinate with your team by conducting conference calls and different apps to present important details and set appointments and schedule for your business.
Other beneficial features include data usage monitoring to help you look into the possible expenses that you have to pay for your internet or data plans. There’s also the voicemail transcription feature that lets you go back into the conversations that you had with a client or a team member, so you can take note of the important details in the dialog.
The VoIP Software Up Close
There are a lot of VoIP options that you can use for your business depending on your goals and your needs. VoIPs can be of four types, which are the IP phone, the Wi-Fi phone, the Analogue Telephone Adapter and the soft phone. Among the three, the most widely used is the soft phone. In choosing a software that you will use, it is a must to read reviews of business VoIP tools to help you gauge your expectations of the features and the business pricing systems. Here are five popular VoIP software used in the industry right now and their specification.
- Skype
Skype is a very popular communication tool, in fact, according to statistics, there are at least 74,000,000 Skype users worldwide. It is also among the top business VoIP tools for small businesses because of its competitive rates for VoIP. It’s available on Android and iOS devices and it can be used to communicate between PC to PC, smartphone to smartphone or PC to smartphone provided that the users both have the Skype app installed on their devices. Skype can also be used to call telephone numbers if the user has enough Skype credits to use.
Most of the Skype reviews are very positive and you can choose to sync your contacts or not. The interface of the app is also fairly easy to navigate through.
- Google Hangouts
Google has brought a wide array of technological innovations to everyone. One of which is the Google Hangouts. It is a cross-platform software that is simple to use. It’s mostly used by freelancers in communicating with clients but it is also widely used in live chat and conferences of a business team.
There are plenty of apps that you can integrate while you’re using the live chat features so you can link everything in just one session. You can link appointments automatically to that of the Google Calendar or posts links to your business’ YouTube or Google+ page.
Reviews about the Google Hangouts are also quite good. Most of the feedbacks focus on the high value that users get from the app even when they’re using the free version. The premium version of the Hangouts offers plenty of additional features like the VoIP network monitoring feature and the VoIP call center software that are made specifically to cater the needs of business owners.
- MyPBX
The MyPBX is highly regarded for not charging a fixed monthly fee from its users. The bill will only reflect the total cost of all the calls made through the PBX. They offer an unlimited plan for 20 dollars which is quite impressively inexpensive according to reviews and feedbacks made by its customers.
Users of the MyPBX are highly appreciative of this Business VoIP software because its works perfectly for business owners who are still in their early years of using the VoIP systems. The interface is easy to understand and it can support up to 100 users at most.
The interface is easy to configure and you can simply open it through your browser. You can change the settings anytime you want to. In case you encounter issues their support team is well acclaimed for their fast response rate.
- Nextiva VoIP
Nextiva VoIP is made popular by its impressive video conferencing but it also allows you to send voice or instant messages. It can be used in various platforms by downloading the app through Apple Store or Playstore for mobile devices or get it from the site for your PC. It is a softphone VoIP software that has a user-friendly system that allows you to import as much as 100 users at a time. It also comes with a long list of “How-To” videos to help you understand how to use the interface the best way possible.
The reviews for the Nextiva VoIP talk about its ability to provide a hassle free video conference which is great when you need to coordinate matters with the member of your team or your client. It is an intuitive VoIP software that a lot of business owners depend on for their communication.
- Jive Hosted VoIP
Jive Hosted VoIP reviews are very positive too thanks to the lag-free communication that the hosting service provides to its users. Their clients are guaranteed to have no problem in communicating with each other whether they’re using a wireless internet connection or a data connection.
Like the rest of the Business VoIP tools mentioned here, the Jive Hosted VoIP also gives their customers a highly responsive support system which they can access through clicking on a particular button on the interface.
It takes your business seriously by providing customers with different packages according to the specific industry that they are in. For small business owners who are interested in availing their service, Jive offers a variety of features like the calendar, visual dial plan editor, call queue and conference capability that you can use to improve your communication with another party.
The biggest setback for this software, however, is that, compared to the rest of the VoIP tools in the list, this tool comes with a more expensive price tag.
Expanding business effectively is always a primary concern for any business owner, and with that, investing on necessary upgrades becomes a must in the long run. Being able to improve your ability to connect with your customers and your team helps you establish a stronger connection with everyone. Now that you’re able to see the many advantages of using a VoIP software for your business, your next step can be looking into the different options that you can go with.
Check out CrowdReviews.com’s latest reviews and rankings of the Business VoIP Software in the market. The ranking is based on the feedbacks and ratings that clients have faithfully shared.
Keith Moore
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