Everything you need to know about VoIP for small businesses

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, which basically means phone service over the internet. Rather than getting your phone service delivered from a traditional phone company, you can get phone service delivered through an internet connection instead.

VoIP is a proven and reliable complete cloud communications service for your business, allowing you to easily and effectively manage your phone calls and maximize staff productivity.

Never miss a call, wherever you are
Improve efficiency with flexible working
A customer service boost for growing businesses
Keep your existing numbers, or choose new ones
Cheaper mobile and landline calls
Many VoIP providers don't require hardware investment, so no eye-watering up front costs

Saving money with VoIP

VoIP offers a whole host of benefits which your legacy telephone system doesn't.

If your organisation spans across multiple branches, or you're used to employees working from home using their own landlines or mobiles and claiming the charges on expenses, then the benefits of VoIP bringing everyone on to a single system, being flexible enough for remote working and providing a single point of billing are probably greatly appealing, however the good stuff doesn't end there.

Low cost calls

Some VoIP providers offer bundle deals which can save you large sums on standard calls. As an example, we charge our customers a monthly fee which includes a large number of calls to UK landlines and mobiles as well as great value on international calls.

5 Ways to Reduce Your Business Phone Bill with VoIP >>

Making changes

If you want to add new employees due to business growth, it can take a long time to implement if you're using traditional phone systems, and it can also be incredibly expensive. Adding new users to a VoIP system takes very little time and is a fraction of the cost.

Increased productivity

VoIP also provides advanced communication capabilities including conference calling and auto-attendant 'press four for accounts' answering systems. Previously, small businesses would have been priced out of using features like this, but with VoIP that is no longer the case. Employees can make use of these advanced communication features day-to-day, saving them time and you money.

Flexible communication

Increased productivity can be a great cost-reducer. By providing them with advanced tools, you an not only improve communication within your team, but also increase staff morale as they save time completing day-to-day communication tasks. All of these features work just as well with team members working from home, as they do in the office!

VoIP in Emergencies

We're experts in supporting rural businesses, and our offices are rural themselves! At the beginning of 2018, the 'Beast from the East' saw weather conditions which across the UK made many roads incredibly unsafe, if not completely impassable! We have the ability to take our phones home, or in the event of an unplanned emergency, our calls can be forwarded to mobiles.

We've written a blog post for you, if you'd like to know more about planning for weather-related disruption with VoIP taking centre stage!

VoIP Features

Ad hoc conference - If you're on a call and need another team member to join you, you can add them to the call easily.

Hunt groups - Efficiently distribute calls across your team. This could be anything from evenly attributing calls to the handsets of your admin team, to calls ringing people in sequence.

Call transfer - Transfer calls to any internal or external number including mobiles, reducing customers' wait time, and ensuring smooth communication

Customisable settings - It takes minutes to add new users to sites, groups, or departments making VoIP an excellent choice for businesses looking to expand.

Call park - Hold a call, and pick up on another phone; perfect if a call needs to be taken with discretion, or if you need to pick up a call next to a payment machine.

Call pick-up - You can also answer a group member's phone. Great if they've stepped away from their desk to avoid missing customer calls.

Instant group call - Effortlessly collaborate with group calls. Call multiple users at once, and when they answer they will all be in the call.

VoIP and Multi-branch Organisations

If your business is situated across multiple branches, the flexibility is perfect there too. Calls are completely free on the same VoIP system, no matter where the handsets are situated, which means staff members from the London branch could call your Paris branch at no cost.

The flexibility which the combination of VoIP hardware and software afford also makes it very easy for staff who hot desk or work from different offices to remain contactable with no hassle or fuss.

Why choose Prodigy as your VoIP provider? >>

How reliable is VoIP?

With modern internet improving all of the time, failures are becoming more and more uncommon. With downtime being costly to businesses though, it's important to have a solution in place 'just in case'. With the auto failover feature, you can choose to have phones automatically divert to mobiles in the event of an internet failure.

Everything you need to know about VoIP

Contents

What is Hosted VoiP?

How does VoIP work?