4 Ways a Virtual Phone System Can Boost Productivity in Your Business

Running a small business can be hectic: wearing different hats, juggling different tasks, staying on the nose while keeping ahead of the ball... this might sound like fun if you’re part of a circus troupe, but we’re talking serious business here!

Dealing with phone calls amongst all this hustle and bustle can be quite a challenge.

If you’re like many other one-man-band-ers who’ve been delaying a proper solution for a while, your system of managing all the scheduled calls, notes, and follow-ups is probably comprised mostly of sticky-pads and paper clips.

Now, you can keep on juggling all you want, but if your hands get tired or if you feel like taking a break, come on out and sniff the 21st century air. You’ll find there’s a much better solution in town that’s been putting that old circus act out to lunch.

Organization

A small business PBX keeps all your client information in one place. Call-backs, requests, comments—everything stored conveniently, updated automatically, and accessible by the entire team.

Moreover, each designated department views their own call records, so there can be no confusion or stepping over each other’s toes. Even if it’s just you and your partner—that’s four toes already...

Flexibility

Perhaps the best part of a virtual PBX is that it’s truly freedom personified. Since everything is up in the cloud, you can work anytime, anywhere, and on any device (to learn more about what makes virtual so awesome, check out 'Walking on Clouds--the Freedom of Going Virtual'). You’re no longer tied to the office, or even to your own computer.

They call it running a small business for a reason—and since you’re always up and about, the less hardware you have to carry around, the easier your life will be.

Efficiency

One of the greatest challenges faced by any small business is scarcity of resources—from supplies to personnel, there never seems to be enough of anything to go around—and that’s why managing them effectively is so critical.

A PBX system lets you designate departments and use your call tree to route calls simultaneously to the entire team, so that the first person to become available can answer the next caller. Making conference calls also becomes easier than ever as you need only dial a single number to reach a designated cluster of people.

IVR (Interactive Voice Response), which is a standard component in any PBX system worth its salt, can answer many common queries and provide useful information before the caller ever reaches a live agent. This takes a significant load off of your already overwhelmed staff. Some system providers, like Synclio for instance, even offer a Live Answer service for a small additional fee. This is especially useful if you’re running a small operation, as by letting their trained staff handle the few callers that still get through the IVR strainer you'll be freeing your own team to deal with a gazillion of other daily tasks.

It’s your business, reinvented.

Cost savings

It must be clear by now why a virtual PBX is infinitely cheaper than—and superior to—any physical counterpart (not sure? Try reading our '5 Reasons Virtual Systems are Taking Over the Physical World'), but what you may not realize is that, in many cases, it’s even cheaper than having no system at all!

Here’s why:

If you’re using multiple landlines or cell-phones, things can get pricey—fast. For a single low monthly fee, a virtual PBX usually gives you a local or 1 800 number and an unlimited set of extensions.

This means that both you and your customers can stop running into international calling charges whenever you’re dealing outside the province, and that you no longer need multiple landlines to accommodate your personnel—simply squeeze all the juice out of that single landline you already own by dressing it with all the extensions you’ll ever need!

The availability of unlimited extensions is also a great prospect for the future, as it can accommodate your business as it grows without running into any significant growth pains.

For a detailed discussion of what makes virtual PBX so cost effective check out 'A Fortune 500 Customer Calling Experience that Won't Cost your Company a Fortune', and for an overview of 1- 800 numbers and their benefits, try 'Advantages of an 800 Number for Your Business'.

If you haven’t made a switch already, no time is better than the present to treat yourself to a brand new phone system. Quit the act and get in on the action—here's to leaving the old circus days behind!

Labels: business, cost saving, efficiency, flexibility, organization, productivity, technology, toll-free, virtual PBX, virtual phone