You don’t have to look far to see that phones have come a long way! And you may be thinking that we’re referring to smartphones, but it applies for business phone systems as well!
Many of the modern business phone features were considered cutting edge not long ago. Often times they were features you would have to pay extra for as an add-on to your existing phone system.
Even though the business world takes most of these for granted now we have such an appreciation for what we do that we’re still in awe of the innovations and longstanding features alike! With RCI’s near 50 years in business, we’ve been able to witness the evolution before our eyes!
Mobility Features/ Calling from Desktop
Today’s business phone systems enable you to make calls from your desk phone line using an iOS, Android, or Windows app that is synced up with your desk phone line, in many ways one of the most valuable modern business phone features. Of course, this also rolls in voicemail and contact directories. You can even integrate video calling with many desk handsets.
When you’re away from the desk, your business doesn’t come to a halt. Jobs today require you to frequently to be on the go, making this level of flexibility and mobility essential, but that wasn’t an option long ago when the best you could do was to call from a different number entirely, sacrificing a level of security and privacy. And likely using airtime minutes.
You might work remotely and want to consolidate your tasks to a single device. Phone systems today commonly allow you to make calls from your laptop or desktop. All from your desktop, you can access voicemails, contacts, or initiate text messages, chats, and calls. Telephony extends far beyond a desk phone in today’s time.
Cloud Telephone Systems
Cloud systems have rapidly increased in popularity over the last two decades. You can think of it as a “phone system without a phone system”. A variation of VoIP (voice over internet protocol), these systems run through your internet connection.
The system itself is hosted away from your physical location, with several hosting locations spread across a broad geographical area as a safeguard against outages. The phone system functions are handled elsewhere instead of having a phone system installed and operating within your office location, making for a far more modest investment for your business as you pay a monthly fee rather than paying for the equipment itself.
Cloud systems also don’t require additional office space and are far easier to integrate with your other devices. Don’t you love when technology does what it’s supposed to do and makes things simpler?
Speaking On The Record
Some people like to record calls, whether they’re voice calls or Zoom calls and the like. Of course, many of our calls these days are recorded with most customer service centers utilizing this modern business phone feature as a tool for bettering their call centers.
While call recording has existed in some form for over a century, it came along later in business settings. Traditionally, this feature had to be enabled through a piece of hardware installed in the on-site phone system and may have come with added fees. Now it can amazingly be achieved through cloud-based technology just like calls themselves!
Over-analyzers rejoice, because now you can go back and hear the tone you and your caller used as much as you want!
Call Routing – A Modern Business Phone Feature
Ever wondered how it’s determined who gets your call when you call a sales office or customer service center? At one time, it was basically only decided by a secretary or receptionist if someone called the company’s primary number. This person would just delegate the calls in a specific order. However, personal bias could have certainly gotten in the way!
Today phone systems are equipped with modern business phone features that route based on specific order, current availability, average time spent on calls by agent, purpose of the call, etc. It’s why most automated answering machines seek to learn your reason for calling, so you’re paired with the best possible person for your needs.
Such distribution ensures that one sales representative doesn’t get all the commissions, or on the other hand, doesn’t get bogged down by too many calls coming to them!
When Systems Sync Up
What if the changes you made on one of your devices automatically carried over to the other devices you use? Employees benefit greatly from this futuristic reality. It’s another modern business phone feature that is taken granted with smartphone interfaces employing a similar experience, but think back to when each device had to be altered one by one!
When desired, system-level integration ensures that changes made on one device will reflect on all other devices connected to the respective user, from the desk phone, to the smartphone, desktop, or tablet.
Now you have more time to get the skinny on what everyone else is talking about at the water cooler!
Are You Using Modern Business Phone Features?
As you’ve been reading this, you might be thinking about whether your phone system includes all of these modern business phone features, and if you’re making proper use of these capabilities if so. Your phone system might serve you well but is lacking the latest innovations. Or you may be on the cutting edge but unsure of how to tap in to what your system offers.
Feel free to reach out to us for questions about your existing situation and what you can be doing to simplify your work life!
