VoIP brings huge advantages for small businesses. Here’s how.

If you’re running a small or micro business, or thinking of starting one, it’s important to decide how you’re going to deal with incoming and outgoing calls. Some business owners just use their mobile phone, while others have landlines. And yes, these are cheap, flexible options that work for a while. But what happens when your business grows and suddenly you’re answering calls all hours of the day and night? And what if you’re out on a job and potential new customers want to book your services but you keep missing their calls?

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Missed calls (and badly managed calls that leave customers dissatisfied) can damage not only your reputation but your profit too. This is where VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone systems come in.

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VoIP is a system that uses the internet to make calls, rather than traditional phone lines. When you call someone, or they call you, the data is sent over the internet in ‘packets’ wirelessly. The beauty of it is you can either use a fixed VoIP handset, or you can use your mobile phone. And as it’s cloud-based, you can even access your VoIP system from other internet-connected devices like your laptop or tablet. All you need is a stable broadband connection (fibre is best).

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Additionally, many people are now waking up to the fact that traditional landlines are being switched off by 2025. This isn’t very long away now, and in fact the process has already started. There’s even more about this on the Ofcom website.

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It’s clear that now is the best time to make the jump to VoIP. But where do I start with VoIP, we hear you ask. It seems daunting, and let’s face it, the last thing you need to be doing is messing around setting up a new phone system when you’d rather be out doing your day job. But a VoIP system has large numbers of time-saving, cost-saving benefits which we’ll look at now.

VoIP can save you serious money

As VoIP requires the internet to make calls, you don’t need separate phone lines which will save you money. If you tend to call abroad a lot too, many VoIP systems come with monthly fixed cost prices that include unlimited international calls. This is often far cheaper than using your mobile or landline to call abroad.

As an example, BT currently charges around £1.55 a minute to call the USA from the UK. But bOnline offers fixed cost international call packages starting at £5 a month. You can see how the savings add up.

Setting up can be done remotely

If you sign up for a VoIP system with bOnline, we set you up remotely within 24-48 hours, with no downtime. We don’t need to turn up at your place of work, and you don’t need any technical knowledge yourself. It’s all done for you.

VoIP is highly scalable

The most successful businesses grow - and fast. You therefore want a phone system that will grow with you, and VoIP does just this. As there’s no setup or hardware changes, it’s easy to tailor your system as you need it. You simply add or subtract users as required.

A broader range of VoIP features

VoIP systems come with a large range of advanced features that make customer communication so much easier. These include call divert, video calling, call forward, multiple call-flow options, hold music, voicemail and call analytics data to name just a few. They can also integrate with things like Office 365 and Google contacts.

Take a look at all the features a bOnline VoIP system has to offer in benefitting your business.

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