Why VoIP Phones Are An Ideal Solution For Small Businesses?

This article explores why VoIP phones are perfect for small growing businesses. The discussion covers how the technology works, why it's cost effective, what to look for when choosing and how to set up and start using VoIP for your small business.

• How do VoIP phones work?
• How can VoIP calling work for small businesses?
• Why are VoIP phones cost effective? And what are the features to look for when choosing the best option?
• How do you set up & start using VoIP for your small business?
• Summary

How do VoIP Phones work?

VoIP phones or Voice over Internet Protocol phones replace the need for a traditional copper wire phone to make and receive phone calls. VoIP phones instead use an internet connection to activate a call. VoIP technology translates analog voice signals into digital packets so that it can send digitised voice information over an Internet Protocol (IP) network. These packets travel across the internet and are reassembled in order by the receiving phone to reconstruct the sound.

This enables seamless, real-time communication. Many small businesses are leveraging the VoIP technology and introducing PBX phone systems into their small growing businesses. The PBX is a VoIP enabled phone communication system that links and unifies all phone lines within a company, across multiple locations.

How can VoIP calling work for small businesses?

For internal calls your team can utilise VoIP phones to dial each other's extension numbers. The PBX phone system routes the call internally without using external lines. In contrast for external calls, the call connects internal calls via the internet using digital signals and internet (VoIP) for calls, often with ethernet cables instead of phone wires. With Cloud or Hosted PBX, the system and its features are maintained off-site by a provider, like Zadarma, eliminating the need for on-premise hardware.

Why are VoIP phones cost effective? And what are the features to look for when choosing the best VoIP Phone option?

Whether you are an early stage start up or a fast growing small to medium sized business, it is worth understanding the benefits a VoIP phone system can bring.

Call management features beyond calling

A PBX phone system usually provides users with additional features beyond the calling service. Zadarma offers enhanced calling and call management features, including call forwarding, call routing, call transfer, call queuing, auto-attendant, voicemail, conference calling, caller ID, whisper modes and IVR (Interactive Voice Response) and more.

Special VoIP phone features

• The IVR feature is an automated telephone system technology that enables callers to receive information or get connected to a responsible department through menu inputs. It allows users to complete these tasks without speaking to an agent. If you’d like to go beyond basic IVR and build more advanced menus or voice bots using Webhooks, we walk through the setup step by step in a separate article.
• The AI Voice Agent feature is popular with small businesses who have lean teams. Zadarma’s AI Voice Agent is a virtual assistant that answers customers’ calls, engaging with incoming callers, allowing calls to be handled and distributed effectively. This leverages AI to automate the reception desk. The AI agent understands natural speech, collates enquiry details and provides explanations and can transfer the call to a live agent effectively.
  It provides an intelligent voice greeting and first level support which allows for the answering common questions as well as also providing an out of hours reception offering, even when the office is closed.

Cost Effective

PBX phone calls are free, so it is often a no-brainer for businesses to introduce such a simple but smart phone system solution into their business. You can improve your company’s customer service and significantly cut your costs while making your working practices more flexible through the introduction of a PBX system.

Furthermore, VoIP phone users do not require a physical phone handset. They simply need to download a softphone or purchase a headset alongside registering with a chosen VoIP provider. This reduces hardware expenses and the monthly VoIP subscription is typically much lower than a traditional landline bill, with providers like Zadarma offering flexible call plans.

Zadarma’s Standard plan is the most popular with small business users. The Standard plan has been praised for its convenience by small business owners due to the plan offering 100 free minutes in 5 countries, per second billing for outgoing calls, no monthly fees and you pay only for made calls, making it an extremely attractive solution for growing business.

Scale as your business grows

A VoIP phone system eliminates the need for traditional phone infrastructure and includes advanced features that enhance productivity and collaboration. Whether you're a small business or a growing enterprise, VoIP phone systems help streamline communications, improve reliability, and allow businesses to scale with ease, lowering the stress of any risks.

Calling flexibility

VoIP phone systems provide huge flexibility, aligning to remote and hybrid working needs. By introducing VoIP phones for your small business, the process of employees taking calls away from the office is often simplified. As long as your VoIP software is installed on your device and well connected to the internet the VoIP phone system will work effectively. This allows small business workforce to access VoIP phones from the office, from home and also while on the go, providing a greater home working experience.

Furthermore, PBX phone systems like Zadarma’s, provide simple and effective call forward capability. This offers the ability to forward or divert calls to members of your team when they are not in the office, providing a seamless experience for the caller as well as the work force.

Effective integration

Many VoiP phone systems integrate with other business applications, including Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and widely used conference and instant messaging call solutions such as Microsoft Teams. This level of integration enables small businesses to provide personalised customer service experience to each inbound and outbound client call.

Zadarma’s PBX currently integrates with Microsoft Teams, as well as Bitrix24, Zoho CRM, amoCRM, Salesforce, Odoo, PlanFix and HubSpot and more. Zadarma also offers their own CRM, Teamsale with free access to all members.

The integration of a PBX phone system with a CRM system helps small businesses keep track of business contacts, conversation and monitor relationships with existing and potential clients and partners. It allows you to conveniently plan daily tasks and provides views and reports on team call performance. This outlines a clear review on team calling accountability and effectiveness.

How do you set up & start using VoIP for your small business?

It is simple to set up and get started with a VoIP service. Some providers offer a quick set up time of no longer than 5 minutes. The set up time will vary depending on which provider you select. Below outlines the simple 5 steps small businesses could follow to start using Zadarma’s VoIP phone service.

1. Register with Zadarma by going to the registration page on the Zadarma website and fill in the mandatory fields. Once registered you will get a confirmation email.
2. Choose the right price plan for your small business - Standard, Office or Corporation. Top up your phone account.
3. Choose a phone number. This is where you can select a toll-free or landline number with local area code or mobile number.
4. You are now ready to activate your PBX phone system. Here you can follow the setup instructions which often can be found in your personal account. You will be able to download a softphone onto your laptop device or mobile phone and start making calls from there on.

Summary

Cost savings within small businesses are understandably particularly important to small businesses, renowned for operating on tight budgets. If you are planning to use a VoIP phone for your small business and have a need to manage regular inbound and outbound calls, then a PBX phone system with its supporting call management features is the way to go. Cloud VoIP PBX phone systems have never been as popular as they are today.

VoIP phones have an abundance of features and benefits, including call transfer, call recording, forwarding, call routing, voicemail, call management, speech analytics, voicemail and video conferencing, perfect for small business use.

An operating model for a small business must be finely balanced, ensuring cost savings can be achieved in various intuitive ways. VoIP phones provide significant savings due to the lack of hardware required and the call charges being far cheaper when compared with traditional phone charges. Fundamentally, VoIP phones provide advanced call management capabilities. They also offer lower infrastructure expenses and affordable calling options all with minimal hardware requirements. There are many VoIP phone providers and price plans available.

Some plans and phone solutions will be more well suited to small business than others. Zadarma is a popular VoIP phone service provider for small businesses, with cost friendly call plans and free call features. VoIP phones can empower remote and hybrid working environments, providing a highly scalable competitive advantage to growing businesses.