Haven’t heard of VoIP? Well, you should know about it if you’re running a small business. VoIP (Voice over IP) is a technology that turns your Internet connection into a phone line. By simply having an IP phone or phone application on your computer, you can start making and receiving calls. Basically, once setup, it’s just like a traditional phone. Dial anyone, anywhere.
Hosted VoIP is the best option because you don’t have to deal with any setup or management of the system. The services, like OnSIP Hosted VoIP, will generally offer everything a normal phone would like voicemail, conferencing, hold, transfers, and more.
Guess what? You’re already using similar solutions!
You probably don’t even realize it, but you’re seeing similar solutions, just in different industries, all over the business landscape. Do you use Gmail for Business, Basecamp, Salesforce or Freshbooks? These solutions are extremely popular in their industries and are based on the same idea that hosted VoIP is. With these hosted services, small businesses can spend less time managing, updating, and accessing data and software and let another company take care of it. This is what hosted VoIP does just for phone systems.
So how exactly does hosted VoIP help your business?
1. Look bigger than you are: Hosted VoIP can setup a system so a caller gets an auto-attendant that prompts the caller with extensions within your company. (“Thank you for calling Company X, please press 1 for Sales, 2 for…”) This can help your business look professional and much larger than your operation actually is.
2. Save money: Generally, these systems will cost less than a traditional phone line. Reason being is that there is less infrastructure for your calls to travel over. International and long distance dialing are where you can really save money using these systems. Don’t forget that by using a hosted system, you don’t have to deal with managing it or fixing problems. You will save on all those IT costs as the hosted company will handle it.
3. It grows with your business: Bringing new employees on board? No need to run more phone lines or buy more equipment. You simply have to add an extension and configure the system to reach the new employee’s line. What if your booming business needs a bigger office? There is no packing up equipment and re-installing it down the road. Once the Internet is setup at your new office, so is your phone system.
4. Be efficient: As with any of the programs like Freshbooks or Basecamp, you are using them to streamline your business. They make life simpler and require you to spend less time fixing things and waiting on hold to reach the IT person you need. Hosted VoIP does the same for the phone system and will help make life as a startup company a little less hectic by letting you worry about other problems.
5. Travel and work remotely: One great aspect about hosted VoIP is that your phone extension isn’t tied to a specific phone line in your office; it’s simply connected via the internet. This means wherever you go, your business phone number can go with you. With a hosted phone provider like OnSIP, you can configure several phones for your extension (work, office, cell phone, vacation home). What’s more, your coworker can work across the country, and you can simply extension dial him/her and transfer calls as if they are in an office across the hall.
Check out OnSIP.com for more information and get started today with a free trial for your business!
