Why?
There a number of reasons:
1) BT has officially announced the deadline for the switch off of the traditional ‘copper wire’ phone system. By 2025 all phone calls in the UK will be delivered via VoIP
2) A VoIP service gives increased functionality and decreased costs. Advanced routing requirements, call recording, IVR menus, and a suite of other business-grade functions are made available at lower cost than with the traditional model
3) Changes in working practices. More and more people are working from home, and many now see it as a deciding factor when considering applying for posts or accepting job offers. Flexible working is being adopted by more and more companies, and this approach means employees will be free to effectively work from wherever they want.
A Hosted VoIP service deals with all the associated worries. As you will have already moved over to the newer system at time of BT’s switch off, you don’t need to worry about making any changes.
As mentioned above, it will give a comprehensive range of useful business-grade features. Our own Fully Managed Hosted VoIP gives a range of advanced features, including Time of day routing, Conferencing, a menu auto-attendant, Direct Dials for end users, multiple Hunt call groups, and Call recording. These are all bundled in as standard, and you are free to use as many of them as you wish. As your company grows you can adopt more of them to use, covering different aspects of customer care and business use.
The modern workplace has also affected company telecoms, and how the issue of communications on a company-wide basis should be addressed.
Remote workers are becoming increasingly common. This person can be included in your overall telecoms set-up just as if they were in the office. In fact, the change brought about by VoIP has allowed a segment of the workforce to be based at home. As long as the home worker in question has a good, stable internet connection then they will be able to make and receive calls just if they were in the office. The company IVR Menu, music on hold, and recorded messages will all play as per a normal customer call to your company.
There is no need to have people using their own phone, either landline or mobile, and showing a different number. This gives a better, more reassuring customer experience, and presents your company in a more professional light. Employees using their own mobile, for instance, won’t necessarily give your desired customer experience. After all, if you see a supplier’s number displaying as a mobile, would you be more or less likely to purchase from them than if they presented a consistent UK landline across all communications? Your customers probably feel the same.
Another issue we need to touch on here is employee security. Employee Privacy and safety is protected as customers don’t phone worker’s home phone or mobile.
You should also consider if you have an obligation to support remote workers – is it fair to ask them to pay bills, and incur expenses as part of their official duties?
A final point is GDPR. If a customer is being called by an employee, then you are effectively releasing information to be stored and used on a device outside your company’s security and privacy protocols.
So – something to think about as we start 2020! There is a lot of information in this post, and if you want to discuss any or all aspects in more depth just give us a call.
To discuss a Hosted VoIP service for your company, get in touch and we’ll talk you through it.