With the vital role technology, apps, social media and the cloud are adopting in the way businesses conduct themselves, it can be easy for businesses to forget how important the traditional telephone is when communicating with customers. Startups can take advantage of companies like RingCentral and Talkroute to ensure that their business telephone system is top notch and puts their best forward when engaging existing and potential future customers.
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Importance of A Phone System
Current business trends suggest that, moving forward, more importance will be placed on integrating artificial intelligence, the “Internet of Things” (IoT), smart technology and the cloud to improve a business’s communication potential. This is a good idea: the internet is a very powerful tool that a business can most effectively take advantage of with these communication developments. Offering a good online option for customers to contact your business is an important facet of customer service.
However, it is not the be-all and end-all. A good telephone system is a requirement for all businesses and offers many advantages, yet is often neglected in the face of the exciting aforementioned opportunities. In a world where companies are realising the extent of technology’s power to help them conduct business the telephone has fallen by the wayside.
This does pose several problems. Customers may struggle with new technology and the inability to deal directly with a person (as AI customer service and chatbots becomes more predominant). This in turn can lead to customer frustrations and a loss of a personal touch that consequently turns potential customers away from a business.
By contrast, an efficient telephone system will streamline good communication between organisations and customers; it’s a faster interaction than email, more personal, and quick and easy to use. Given that telephone systems can be relatively cheap, this presents an opportunity for startups to get a leg up on their bigger competitors who might be prioritising new communication developments over the proper maintenance of their phone systems.
RingCentral
RingCentral offers communication and collaboration technologies with its cloud-based ‘unified communications as a service’ (UCaaS) platform. This bridges the gap between all devices (including smartphones, tablets, desk phones and computers), making it a comprehensive phone service for any business. The UCaaS problem offers far more than VoIP phone services and cloud PBX.
This is helpful for smaller businesses because RingCentral’s phone systems are easy to set up with access to company desktops, desk phones and mobile access. Additionally, they offer a 15-day free trial to test out the system; this is great for smaller businesses if they are unsure about committing to such a large investment given their smaller budgets. Whilst the price is expensive relative to other services (which might not be ideal for smaller businesses), the price is balanced out with unlimited minutes for calls from non-toll-free numbers which might end up being cheaper in the long run for smaller businesses.
Talkroute
Talkroute provides voice over internet protocol (VoIP) that can help small businesses to appear like larger corporations. It offers many features, including call routing, business hour settings, call forwarding, a free number, hold music, SMS text messaging, visual voicemail and many more features to meet a business’s needs.
Unlimited minutes to the US and Canada are offered on all of Talkroutes plans. This, in conjunction with their good ratings for customers support, and a baseline price of $19 sets them apart from their competitors, and safely on the radar of smaller businesses across the US. The price is great for startups who just need a phone number and some simpler features to get their business started, but it doesn’t skimp on the features offered for the humble price. Additionally, Talkroute are known for not trying to sneak hidden fees or unexpected add-ons to their service, which can be alarmingly common in the industry.
Final Thoughts
It’s important for businesses to continue to care for their phone system alongside technological developments to their customer service front. A solid phone system represents a good opportunity for smaller businesses as they can be cheaper than investing in newer innovations. Please see this website for more information on all the types of commercial phone services available as well as which are generally better suited for different types of business.
