The future of telephony is here!
It’s cloud-based and can be accessed wherever you have a reliable internet connection. No longer will you be tied down to a fixed location by your landline or have ongoing costs for maintenance.
Voice over the Internet Protocol services (VoIP) have been around for a while now and quite simply are the future. Now that the majority of the UK has access to robust internet connectivity, more and more businesses are turning to this telephone solution.
VoIP services keep you more connected with your customers when you’re working remotely, allowing employees to access business phone lines when they’re not in the office. All voice calls are transmitted via the internet and can be accessed via apps like Microsoft Teams.
Another reason why VoIP services are the future?
BT Openreach are switching traditional landlines off as part of The Big Switch Off by 2025 at the latest.
If you don’t upgrade your systems by then, to an alternative solution, you’re going to be cut off from your customers.
At Affinity, we recommend making the switch to VoIP as soon as practicably possible to help make the migration as smooth as possible.
As part of making the switch, we also recommend the following tips to help your transition:
- Check your network capabilities
Is your network powerful enough to handle a VoIP system?
The last thing you want to experience with your new telephony experience is calls dropping out or your audio lagging at peak times on your network.
Before you switch, make sure you’ve checked you have enough bandwidth!
- Prioritise your VoIP software using QoS rules
Your WiFi router has a number of settings that you’ve probably never thought about checking.
One of them is called Quality of Service (QoS) and it allows you to state what traffic that runs through the router is the most important. Make sure you give your VoIP priority and your router will make sure your VoIP gets the bandwidth it needs to run high quality calls.
- Kit your team out in quality headsets
If you’re investing in a new telephone system, you’d buy a new telephone.
Same applies here.
In most cases you will be using your laptop or pc as your telephone system, so you will need a headset to complete the system.
We recommend buying quality headsets for your employees to ensure they are all able to have quality conversations with your customers.
- Create ring groups
Wouldn’t it be a dream if you could simply ring the marketing team or another department when you have a query?
By creating ring groups by department, you can put calls through to the whole teams resulting in whoever is available being able to pick up your call at the earliest available time. All you need to do is add the extension numbers of the team into one group.
No longer do you need to try and find a named contact in that team, find out whether they are free or leave a voicemail if they are not, the whole department will receive a call and can pick up quickly.
- Set up the voicemail to email to feature
Finding the time to go through loads of voicemail after you’ve been out of the office all day or in meetings is a time-consuming pain that is ill afforded.
This is no longer an issue with VoIP.
Simply set up your voicemail to email feature, and watch as the system transcribes the messages and sends them to your inbox so you can read at your leisure.
- Train your employees
VoIP systems have loads of amazing features that should make your employees lives’ a load easier.
Make sure they’re fully up to speed with the capabilities and features of your systems, and watch as time is saved and productivity grows!
- Plan for disaster
Your VoiP system, whether cloud-based or on premise, will be 100% reliant upon your internet connection. Consider whether you need a more heavy-duty connection with more generous SLAs or maybe a second internet connection that kicks in should there be an issue with the main one.
Need help with your business phone system?
Are you still operating on a traditional landline and need help switching before you get cut off?
Is your business growing and you need a bespoke solution that can grow with you?
Get in touch here the details below and we’ll provide a free consultation about VoIP systems and take you on the journey to an improved customer experience!
