By alicia.sandino on April 12, 2017
Small Business Growth Tips

How do you know whether or not you’re getting the best out of your small business phone system? Usually, you focus on the savings or the quality of the provider’s support. Although these are reasonable concerns, these factors alone won’t be enough to provide valuable insight as to whether or not your business is really benefiting from your business phone systems.

To be sure you’re getting the most out of your small business phone system, make sure you have these features as partof your communications arsenal.

Easy Expansion

Growth happens. When it does, will your phone system be able to keep up? With earlier PBX phone systems, it took a web of cables and a significant increase in costs just to get an additional phone line operating. With today’s business phone systems, however, it’s much easier to get a new extension set up. If the idea of adding a new extension or expanding into a new location is making you cringe, explore your expansion options with a small business phone system that caters to seamless growth.

Cloud Receptionist

We all need help at one point or another, especially small business owners. Instead of hiring an additional resource to screen and transfer calls, invest in a cloud receptionist to manage your call flow automatically. A cloud receptionist can be customized to your business and the way you choose to communicate with callers. Keep customers informed about current promotions or holiday hours of operations. A cloud receptionist takes cues from the callers to direct them to the correct department, or external extension, so they can reach the person they need easily.

Coaching Tools

You want a stellar team but not enough resources to get the proper training in place (you’re a small business, after all). When you need to improve employee performance let coaching tools like Monitor, Whisper, and Barge help. Monitor allows you to be on a call with an employee and assess their performance for feedback and improvement. Whisper lets you coach the employee while they’re on a call without the other person knowing. If your employee gets stumped on a question or doesn’t have access to a piece of information, you can assist with the right information while remaining incognito. Barge works as a conferencing function which allows you to join a call with the push of a few buttons.

Mobility

Smartphones are being used as a business communication device by many small business owners. Luckily, there are small business phone systems available that allow their services to integrate with smartphones, so you can work from anywhere and still maintain a professional image. If you’re currently using your smartphone for business communications, why not take it a step further with a local business phone number and productivity-boosting features like a cloud receptionist?

The Next Step for Your Business Phone System Search

Now that you have an idea of what features you need with your business phone system, it’s time to consider your own business communication needs. The features listed above are by no means an exhaustive list but they do act as a guide of what to expect in regards to standard business phone system capabilities.

Your business is unique and has its own way of reaching out to customers and keeping in touch with partners and employees. Whether you rely on multi-channel communication methods or solely on your business phone system, once you have an idea of the best way your customers can stay in touch with you, you can start eliminating the unnecessary noise and focus on the best option for your business.

Need a PBX Phone System Recommendation?

There are several options to choose from but as a PBX phone system that caters specifically to medium-sized and small businesses, FastPBX is quickly becoming a leading PBX phone system. Find a plan that meets your needs and get started with a reliable and customized communication strategy.


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