4 things you didn’t know about hosted phone systems

A few decades ago, being a small business meant being at a disadvantage when it came to technology. Hardware was expensive to buy, and systems were too complicated to maintain without a dedicated IT team. Today, this could not be any farther from the truth, all thanks to cloud technology such as hosted phone systems.

Small businesses with hosted PBX now have an advantage over big businesses with legacy systems. To further explain this point, here are 4 things that a hosted phone system can do that you probably didn’t know.

Empower your staff through hosted PBX

With a legacy system, employees have to stay on site to take business calls. But with recent studies showing that as much as 46% of Australians work in 2 or more sites every single week, tying your staff down to their desks is simply impractical. Using personal mobile phones simply won’t cut it. Aside from the confusion that comes with using multiple numbers, this makes your business look small-fry and unprofessional.

Hosted phone systems come with Unified Communications (UC) capabilities that empowers your staff to do more outside of the office, while staying connected. UC desktop and mobile apps make it easy for users to make and take phone calls through their computer or mobile phone while still using your business numbers. With this feature, all calls received through the app are tracked using the same tools that apply to calls from your business phone system in the office.

Attract top talent with a hosted phone system

There are a lot of myths about remote work. The biggest one is that teleworkers are less productive than staff that come in to the office daily. This is simply not true, especially when they are equipped with the right tools such as IP phones. In fact, people who work from home are so productive, studies show that employers get an extra day of work from their remote staff each month.

Offering a work from home setup is possible and affordable with a hosted PBX system. It allows you to attract top talent from areas which live too far from your place of business to commute on a daily basis. People work harder, smarter, and longer since they don’t have to commute and there are no defined cues to end the work day. They are also more grateful and motivated to prove that working from home does not make them less valuable than their office counterparts.

Be agile and innovate

Hosted PBX phone systems lets you act quickly based on your changing business needs. Features and functions are delivered through the internet making it easy to make changes to your service and move towards innovation faster. Add lines during peak seasons and remove them when the need subsides. Create a personalised call experience by adding features such as a Call Forwarding IVR Menu, Live Answering Service, or Business Intro Service. The best part—you can do all of this on your self-managed web portal. No costly installations or extensive tech experience needed.

Grow your business with IP telephony

Data tracking is vital in figuring out which direction you want to take your business to. Call detail information is one of the key reports that help you track the cost of your service, and guide you in business decisions such as staffing, scheduling, expansion, and even marketing. You don’t need to pay a third party company to collect your data for you. Hosted phone systems comes with call reports that are collected and uploaded to your web portal on a monthly basis at no added charge.

The shift towards hosted phone services is a positive change for small businesses. After all, part of being a successful entrepreneur is being swift to adapt new technology that create better customer experiences. To start enjoying the benefits of switching to the cloud, give us a call at 1300 ALLTEL or visit us at ALLTEL.