There’s always room on the cutting room floor for saving money in any business. Regardless of industry or size, when there’s room for improvement while simultaneously saving overall costs, there’s bound to be success for those providing it. If recent history is anything to go by, there are technological innovations coming through the woodwork at an increasingly optimistic rate that revolutionises the workplace environment with every iteration.
Software and faster hardware have been the champions of many of these innovative steps being taken; programs that digitise important documents have taken many industries by storm along with timesheet software and applications that have streamlined back-of-house operations dramatically. There is another advantageous and innovative programming solution that has brought a new chapter in telecommunications from a business perspective, virtual phone systems.
These remarkable systems have not only injected a major level of convenience for business owners and their customers – they’ve also done wonders for saving and cutting costs without losing any efficiency in the process. As time goes on and older technologies become more and more redundant – it’s naturally progressive to see programs that offer virtual phone systems becoming more and more prominent and utilised in a wide array of industries from; medicine to hospitality, e-commerce, travel and customer care to name a few.
Today, we’ll explore a little about how virtual phone systems work, and how exactly they’re able to cut costs while maintaining efficacy across the board.
A Little About The Technology
Before getting into the ‘how’ of the technology, it’s best to know how it all works as a foundation. More or less, a virtual phone system is a set of programs that incorporate themselves as the middleman between a caller and you. It works completely digitally, effectively taking on an incoming phone call and directing it automatically to wherever you choose.
You can customise your own phone number for convenience and when customers make the call it has the ability to determine the purpose of a call, transfer a call to any other device, all without you needing to lift a finger. It works atop your existing hardware as an extension program, like Skype or WhatsApp – with the added benefit of being an all-encompassing assistant and directory for your business.
It’s perfectly suited for smaller and up-and-coming businesses that don’t have the capital for hiring extra hands for the jobs it easily covers in spades. Consider it as a cloud-based filter for incoming phone calls that can be adjusted to your liking.
Cutting Those Costs
Now that we have established the basic fundamentals of a virtual phone system, it’s now time to investigate how the system is able to cut costs effectively without affecting the bottom line. It seems like a tall order from the outset, but once you consider the infinite potential a virtual phone system has for eliminating costs.
Phone Line Headaches
One of the larger and more unexpected costs for small businesses, indeed any business is in the setup and subsequent maintenance of phone lines for the office. There are an incredible amount of costs actually associated with the internal wiring, registrations which are products of a bygone era.
These days with so much fracturing in the workplace – people working from home, more work being done on the go and offices that stretch across cities or even countries. Having an expensive internal landline is simply a cost that very few small businesses should be undertaking. On the same notion, businesses (large or small) that incorporate a phone number into their model look more professional and it’s still a necessity in many industries.
A virtual phone system covers all the bases by eliminating the costs associated with setting up the system in the first place, as well as a well-established lower rate for the service in comparison with traditional telecommunications providers. Win-Win!
Answering Services & The Endless Costs Therein
For businesses that have already opted for the landline avenue, for after-hours contact there has been the long standing tradition of hiring an outside company or contractor to take phone calls, this can bring some very hefty fees along with the added time and money spent on training or providing all the necessary information for them to effectively represent your business.
Another effective measure being implemented and is able to be setup in an instant with a majority of virtual phone systems is a pre-recorded set of extensions that can answer common queries and give the ability to leave messages to be looked to first thing the next business day. The professional and sleek style of having a smart system in place to answer pertinent questions not only gives an impression of expertise, but also cuts the annoyances of constantly answering easily answerable queries succinctly.
Better Service = More Capital
It’s a relatively simple concept to grasp, the better service you are able to provide for customers and clients, the more likely you’ll be able to repeat the process for further projects and a larger array of potential customers/clients. This fundamental aspect for business is translated directly into the incorporation of virtual phone systems.
Not only does it allow you to have the aforementioned pre-recorded common queries answered, businesses can also rest easy knowing that backed up messages will be organised accordingly thanks to comprehensive features that are common with the software which enable transcribing of conversations and messages. It’s a prerequisite for most virtual phone systems to have automated call forwarding features as a central feature, this allows every call to be answered which will invariably boost your company profile and garner a much mor elucrative bottom line in the long run.
After all, why cut costs when you can boost profits, all without lifting a finger.
Saving Time Will Save You Money
The amount of time being spent on the superfluous and ridiculous aspects of the business that could easily be avoided will certainly add up if you took the time to really break it down. How many calls left unanswered that take precious moments to discern, organise and call back, how many times has the same question been repeated ad nauseum forcing you to power through a robotic and automated response in your own voice, how many blackouts or high-traffic incidents have disallowed you from receiving any business at all.
Virtual phone systems have the intention and success in negating these tiresome and outdated issues by moving with the tide and finding a digitised middle-ground that benefits all.
So, What’re You Waiting For?
The real question that you should be asking at the end of all this isn’t why should I get one, it’s why haven’t I got one?! There are businesses that have made the plunge and kept their relevance and bottom line healthier than ever, even during the past year of increasingly fractured business environments and uncertainty. The virtual phone system has more going for it than you may know, and for any business looking for that extra helping hand in becoming established and hitting the ground running – this is a no-brainer to incorporate in some shape or form into the business.
Saving time, saving money and organising your business – this begs the question, what’re you waiting for?
