The global pandemic put a big emphasis on the need to run a business from anywhere. Enabling employees to work remotely requires cloud solutions. This includes collaborative platforms like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone systems have also become critical.
VoIP allows companies to stay in contact with customers and potential customers. Employees can work from anywhere and still answer the business phone line. Callers get a similar experience no matter where employees may be working, in the office, or at home.
When you have people working from home, those old landline systems are inefficient. This has led to a large movement by businesses to VoIP. Both for necessity and cost-savings.
According to Microsoft, 82% of organizations have reported saving money after implementing VoIP.
While VoIP is the way to go for the future, this doesn’t mean it’s foolproof. Companies that don’t set up their system efficiently, can experience issues. This includes things like dropped calls, low bandwidth, and features left unused.
If you’ve been struggling to make your cloud phone system more efficient, check out these tips below. They provide setup best practices for VoIP. Use these to positively impact your bottom line.
1. Check Network Capabilities
You can’t just assume that you can enable a VoIP system, and all will be well. Your network may not be able to handle the extra bandwidth needs without adjustments.
Things you want to look at include jitter and packet loss. Additionally, review router settings to make sure it can handle peak traffic times. Experiencing dropped calls or choppy audio shows a need to address issues. These may include adjusting network hardware and/or increasing your ISP bandwidth.
2. Prioritize Your VoIP Software Using QoS Rules
Quality of Service (QoS) is a router settings area that allows you to say which traffic is most important. If QoS is not in place, it means resource issues. A large cloud backup could kick in and interrupt your calls because it’s taking up bandwidth.
QoS sets up “traffic lanes” that give priority to certain functions. You’ll want to have your VoIP software prioritized to get the bandwidth it needs. This avoids issues with less critical processes hogging up internet resources.
Using QoS keeps your calls smooth. It also improves the reliability of your cloud phone system. It’s also a good idea to use these rules for other important cloud activities.
3. Don’t lose leads – Auto-call back
63% of customers stated that wait times longer than 60 seconds are too long and they would consider calling another business rather than waiting on hold and HATE leaving voicemails.
NEOO has auto callback included in all plans. This allows the caller to choose between waiting on hold or keeping their place in line and calling back when someone is available. This prevents customers from potentially calling competitors while allowing your team to contact them when free.
4. Set Up Departments & Ring Groups
One of the great features of NEOO is the ability to set up ring groups and queues. You first set up your department groups (accounting, marketing, etc.).
Creating a ring group allows you to have a call go to your customer support department as a whole. This is better than one person, who may be busy. That way, the whole group gets the ring, and the first available person can pick it up.
5. Have Employees Set Up Their Voicemail & VM to Email
When you get out of a long meeting, going through a bunch of voicemails can take time. Instead of having to listen to each one to see which calls are a priority, you could simply read through them.
The voicemail-to-email feature in NEOO will automatically transcribe voicemails. They are then emailed to the recipient. This improves efficiency. It also eliminates wasted time having to listen to entire messages to know who called.
6. Train Your Team on the Call Handling Process
Don’t leave your employees to jump in and learn a VoIP system themselves. It’s important to train them on the features and the company calling process. This ensures that your team can enjoy all those time-saving features.
DSS Toronto and NEOO work hand in hand to train users and set up the system so the phone system works around you and not the other way around.
Get Help Enhancing Your Business Phone System
Need help improving your business phone system? Looking for a better customer experience? Give us a call and schedule a consultation. We can help! Check out our VOIP offering at NEOO.
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