VoIP for SMB: Top 6 Features That Strengthen Communications

6 Best Features VoIP for SMB Offers

By leveraging modern technology to optimize their communication efforts, VoIP for SMB organizations can deliver an array of powerful communication tools that boost worker efficiency and productivity while staying cost-effective.

Below are some of the most valued VoIP features by modern small businesses with special commentary from Barry Fivelson, Senior Manager of Professional Services for DOTVOX.

1. Mobility

Perhaps the biggest value VoIP offers is its ability to enable and extend the business to a mobile workforce. VoIP’s mobility features allow users to unite their desktop phone with their mobile phone under one single business entity, with all of the hosted PBX features included. When mobile workers call customers, the company phone number appears to the customer, allowing mobile employees to maintain a professional business persona, even on-the-go.

“Startups and small businesses work around the clock, and their “office” is wherever they are when the phone rings, so companies can benefit from mobility solutions of VoIP because it allows them to make and take business-opportunity calls anytime, anywhere, and from virtually any device,” said Fivelson.

2. Instant Messaging and Presence

Instant messaging and presence (IM&P) is a VoIP feature that allows users to see the real-time availability of your co-workers—such as available, away, unavailable, etc.—and allows you to message them directly with text-based messages. Rather than playing phone tag with important contacts, VoIP for SMB saves time and energy with the ability to check the status of contacts first before a user makes a call.

“IM&P is a huge feature for businesses that have out-of-office needs. It’s easy for an employee to let his co-workers know he’s in a meeting, on the road, or on an airplane so they know exactly where he’s at and how to reach him successfully. It makes business contact truly efficient,” said Fivelson.

3. Call Receptionist Console

A call receptionist console is a telephony attendant feature used by “front-of-house” attendants who screen inbound calls, typically found in large organizations. With a call receptionist console, a single person in a small business environment can handle a large amount of calls and seamlessly transfer them to anyone in the company with ease.

“Web applications enhance VoIP solutions with features that effortlessly elevate small business to enterprise-level capabilities,” Fivelson continued.

4. Hoteling

Hoteling is a feature that allows office users to log in to a community VoIP phone with his or her unique login credentials. This allows employees to receive phone calls on a shared office phone, which is a perfect feature for users that need to switch between offices, offices with shared workspaces, or employees that need a temporary workspace.

“The hoteling feature is particularly efficient for small businesses since employees don’t need to move phones around when they move desks. Furthermore, instead of buying new phones for every employee, it allows part-time or temporary employees to log in to a community phone–saving the company time and a lot of money,” said Fivelson.

5. Fax to email/email to fax

In short, this feature provides users the ability to either receive fax messages on a designated email address, and also the ability to send fax messages via email message.

“This dual feature simplifies the complications associated with faxing for small businesses. Borne out of total necessity, fax to email/email to fax makes faxing easier by giving senders and receivers the ability to check or send faxes where they need it: right at their desk,” said Fivelson.

6. Call Center

For small businesses, customer service and satisfaction is the lifeline of the company. A call center web application is a carrier-class, communications management product for agents or supervisors.

“Having a call center application enables business owners to gain better visibility into call performances with metrics that can determine how and where to improve, ultimately bettering the end-user experience and customer care,” said Fivelson.

Interested? Explore Trapp Technology’s VoIP for SMB solutions.

Related Articles:

• DOTVOX: Your Business and Hosted PBX
• Building a Call Center with VoIP Technology
• Trapp Technology Announces New VoIP Service: DOTVOX