Flexible scheduling is becoming one of the most important factors in employee satisfaction. The number of full-time teleworkers in the U.S. has more than doubled in the last decade, with nearly half of Americans working from home at least some of the time.
Communication is key to effectively managing remote employees. VoIP solutions keep in-office and work-from-home employees in-sync while providing remote workers the tools they need to succeed.
1. Flexible & Customizable Routing Increases Mobility
Missed calls are missed opportunities; reliable, mobile availability decreases the chance of an employee losing out on a critical customer interaction or sale without being tied to their desk phone.
For part-time remote workers, frequent travelers and employees with varied schedules, standard call routing doesn’t quite cut it. VoIP PBXs offer customizable routing capabilities that can intelligently direct calls based on employee needs. If someone works remotely twice a week, for example, they can automatically forward calls to their cell phone or send them to their desk phone while in the office. Similarly, an employee with a daily meeting can program calls to forward to an available co-worker during their standard meeting time. Most settings can be changed with the press of a button, and an attentive support team can help implement complex configurations.
Even better, if an employee prefers to receive voicemails rather than re-route incoming calls, VoIP solutions can email them voicemail transcriptions and new message notifications. The end result is better connectivity to customers – especially in situations where standard phone service would leave them in the dark.
2. Availability Tracking Optimizes Call Flow
In VoIP-powered call centers and offices, incoming calls intelligently route to the next available agent to avoid leaving a customer waiting for someone to pick up. VoIP availability tracking functions for remote workers as well to prevent the long hold times and call abandonment that result from a long call queue.
3. Customer Service Quickly Catches Issues
Phone downtime is a serious productivity killer in the office, and problems worsen when remote workers can’t reach co-workers and customers. The best providers will catch an impending service failure before it even happens.
When shopping for VoIP providers, look for companies with customer reviews that support attentive, quality customer service. While companies that try to take advantage of clients do exist (some going as far as illegally charging clients for fabricated services), many provide honest service dedicated to optimizing clients’ phone system. Some, for instance, monitor accounts to identify and solve problems as soon as they arise – clients may not even realize they had an issue at all.
A note from 4Voice: Stopping issues before they ever affect your business is a 4Voice priority; that’s why 4Voice tries to set the standard in VoIP customer service, and it’s why we have a near-zero attrition rate. Enough about us, however. We wrote this to help you find the solution that best fits your business.
4. CRM-Integration Makes Data Available Everywhere
Many VoIP solutions integrate with CRMs to provide agents with caller data before they even pick up the phone. This functionality carries over to remote workers, streamlining their calls by enabling easy access to customer data no matter where a call is answered. Employees can dial out directly from the CRM to eliminate the risk of misdialing numbers or pull up client information instantaneously to improve the caller experience.
5. Monitor Performance with VoIP Metrics
One of the biggest concerns with remote work is that work quality or productivity will slip. VoIP solutions’ detailed call metrics and reporting capabilities enable companies to monitor employee performance. Managers can review remote employees’ call volumes, availability, missed calls and customized metrics to ensure consistent performance. For managers who want an additional level of quality assurance, VoIP solutions offer optional call recording for both on-site and remote calls.
Tip: Some employees are even more productive at home than they are in the office. With call center metrics, you can discover which employees are a great fit for increased remote work – a win/win for employee and employer!
6. Capitalize on the Remote Work Movement with VoIP Solutions
Remote work is predicted to continue growing as job flexibility becomes more important to the U.S. workforce. Learn more about the benefits of implementing VoIP for your business today in the infographic below.
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