There’s nothing quite like sitting on the phone, waiting for a business to pick up.
How many rings would you wait before hanging up? 10 rings? 20? The average is about six rings.
This just shows that when a customer has a question, concern or technical difficulty, they usually need it addressed quickly.
With timeliness top-of-mind, slow response times, late call-backs and forgotten voicemails can send customers looking elsewhere and damage a reputation.
Despite the need for speedy customer service, the landline and multi-line phone systems small businesses often use don’t lend themselves to rapid communication.
That’s why business VoIP providers offer features and capabilities that streamline fast communication and prevent slip-ups that do more harm than good.
Here Are the Top Ways Business VoIP Providers Power Rapid Responses.
- Mobile-Friendly Technology
Perhaps one of the most freeing elements of cloud PBX technology is the ability to use it just about anywhere. VoIP is internet-based, and, therefore, not tied to a specific location. Employees can make and answer calls from a desktop, laptop or cell phone when away from their office phone.
When employees have their work phones accessible on the go, customers virtually always receive a response the first time they call.
Additionally, employees stepping into a meeting, boarding a flight or otherwise temporarily unavailable can easily forward calls to a coworker or alternate number while they’re away.
“What about recurring Wednesday morning meetings?”
Program calls to forward to a colleague only during those times. Or when pulled away unexpectedly, quickly set up call forwards, and then reset the configurations just as easily.
With landlines, most call handling settings require a provider’s help, and many companies end up abandoning such capabilities altogether. With VoIP, it’s all user-friendly and easy to set up, like changing the settings on a personal cell phone. Seamless configurations like these help reduce the likelihood of missing calls.
- Call Volume Flexibility
VoIP’s scalability makes buying bundles of landlines obsolete. With SIP VoIP trunking, businesses don’t have to forecast an exact maximum number of lines.
Instead, VoIP provides an option to add lines only when necessary to account for spikes in call volume, preventing calls from receiving a busy tone or rolling to voicemail.
- Voicemail Notifications
Though missed calls don’t happen often with VoIP, business VoIP providers have a better solution for the occasional slip-up.
Voice messages in your email in box? Yeah, that’s a thing.
With VoIP, employees can receive voicemail notifications directly to their email. While attention to voice messages is dwindling, most employees check their email religiously.
Many VoIP providers are even kind enough to offer voicemail transcription so that employees can read the contents of a voice message from their email.
- CRM Integration
VoIP solutions can also integrate with companies’ CRMs, allowing employees to log call notes, look up customer information, view call history and more – all while on the phone with a customer.
- VoIP Faxing
Need to securely send a document over to a customer? Before you dust off that old fax machine in the closet and ask the customer for their fax number (spoiler alert: they probably don’t have one), VoIP has a better way.
VoIP faxing empowers employees to fax documents to customers through their email while maintaining security.
Cutting fax machines out of the equation saves time on paper jams, troubleshooting old equipment and dreaded games of fax tag.
As a bonus, VoIP fax sends a message of modernity and eco-friendliness to customers.
- Texting Capabilities
VoIP also enables texting to streamline communication. Employees can send and receive text messages to cater to issues that require a quick interaction, customers who prefer texting and instances that call for minimal disruption. Some VoIP texting capabilities even allow multimedia messaging, so customers can send photos of an issue, employees can relay explanatory documents or PDFs and other supplementary communication.
Pro tip: Texting isn’t just for smartphones – employees can text from desktops and laptops, too.
- Analytics Power Better Resource Allocation
With VoIP, managers can view customized dashboards that show important KPIs, from daily missed calls to hourly call volumes – even employee usage stats. These insights help optimize shift and work delegation to ensure enough people are working to address calls based on predicted volumes.
Build a Loyal Customer Base with a Business VoIP Provider
Business VoIP’s extensive features, inherent flexibility and modern capabilities make it a great choice for companies looking to cultivate a loyal following with improved customer service.
To learn some of the other ways VoIP solutions can elevate customer service, improve business operations and boost productivity, download our infographic on the top 10 advantages of 4Voice’s business VoIP solutions.
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