Businesses have weathered some tough few years, with world events upending normal business operations and corresponding changes in the market demanding team dynamics also adapt. With so many unprecedented changes, business operations need the flexibility to navigate turbulent waters. This has driven strong market demand for each company to have a business phone system that meets the full scope of demands for teams of all sizes.
What Is a Hosted Phone System?
As the name implies, a hosted phone system is a business phone system that a professional services organization hosts. These systems typically consist of voice-over-internet protocol systems, or VoIP, which allow the user to make and receive calls over a broadband internet connection rather than over an analog phone line.
Hosted systems also typically include a suite of features such as email services, a connecting desk phone system, call reporting, and various other features. A hosted phone system unifies the telecommunications systems a business needs to compete and meet customer demands.
So far, in 2023, studies cited by the magazine Tech. co have found that at least 31 percent of businesses surveyed have used VoIP to manage their business calls and communications needs. Savings statistics show that 50-75 percent of the surveyed companies saved money because they switched to VoIP and hosted phone systems, which offers a strong incentive for why many businesses choose to switch to hosted phones as their primary business phone system. This growth was also driven by a strong need for companies to adapt to an unprecedented situation, with 212 percent of VoIP growth being directly linked to the pandemic conditions that caused many office managers to manage remote work settings.
What To Look for in a Business Phone System
For many business owners, cost-efficiency and flexibility are top priorities when selecting a business phone system. However, the highest optimizable phone system will include a full scope of integrations with apps and analog systems, adapting an advanced level of functionality to a business system. While selecting business phone systems is contingent upon a core expectation of affordability and features, customer-centered industries need an added sense of customer-centric actionability.
Boston Consulting Group has listed a series of steps to ensure up-to-date customer experience systems. Among these measures, BCG explains that businesses should find ways to differentiate to show their value and to create human and “emotional” connections. Communications systems have a unique capacity to help teams drive these more profound, more meaningful connections by promoting ways in which teams can connect directly with their customers.
Customer-Centric Features to Look For
For customer communications, many businesses are looking for a hybrid business phone system or a system that synchronizes internet and analog phones to pair with app-based messages, emails, and SMS.
This encapsulates the scope of customer-oriented communication, allowing teams to branch out with promotional material, address customer requests and concerns, and directly log feedback and other customer-specific information into the system.
Companies can ensure their business phone system is future-proof by seeking these fully integrative systems. “Future-proofing” means preparing your plan for sudden changes. Future-proofing a customer experience system means adopting customer service standards that can be scaled to meet the demands and expectations of technological advancements. Tools such as CRMS and Microsoft Teams, a team synchronizing platform by Microsoft that allows users to sync communications with work apps, are examples of work tools that can be scaled to changes in technology.
Making the Right Phone System Choice
When making a final business phone system selection, weigh all the features against the value they will provide to the individual business. Companies are all different; therefore, no two businesses have exact matching needs.
Crocker Systems is wired to help our clients maximize the value of their business phone system. Reach out to us today to learn how to maximize the value of your business phone. Our hosted phone services sweep the full deck of client needs, ranging from elevated voice call technology to web hosting, to a comprehensive package for network and cabling. Now you can get all your system engineering done in the same place, for the right price.
