Grow Your Business with Improved Business Phone Systems

The general state of the economy these days might be best described the same way one would describe a Keno player drinking free coffee all afternoon—jittery and uncertain—but one shining grace is that businesses have never had so many tools to help grow a business. The business phone systems of today are one of the greatest advances, especially when used with business voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) systems, thanks to a wide array of factors.

One of the greatest benefits to business VoIP and business phone systems is the ability to choose only what's needed. No more do customers need to pick and choose among package deals, sacrificing some points to get a better deal or overspending to get everything that's desired and several things that aren't. Users can even choose the level of involvement said user has with the system; there are hosted VoIP systems that often come on a subscription basis, where users pick and choose desired features. Those with a desire for control can use an on-site or self-hosted service, which requires little monthly billing but a big up-front expense to have all the systems on hand and under control.

There are important considerations before engaging in a business VoIP project. Not only do users need to determine just which route to go with, but also which provider to use if it's not completely in house, and whether or not the network available has sufficient bandwidth. Since it's a voice over Internet system, the Internet service at the business needs sufficient throughput to handle the calls; ask a currently-used Internet service provider (ISP) for details.

Given that better than 80 percent of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are looking to get into a new business phone system within the next three years, there's a lot of room for service providers to get into the field and find some new business. Nextiva is one great example of this, offering up a wide array of services for potential users. Nextiva's offerings start at simple VoIP service for $19.95 a month, and go on from there into complete call center environments.

VoIP isn't exactly a new technology; it's been around since the days of dial-up Internet. In some cases, reports note, it was even advertiser-supported, with users listening to ads before a call would connect.  As is the case with most any online technology, though, it's been refined ever since, and has added a host of new features from hunt groups to find-me-follow-me systems to distributed calling systems that allow calls to be connected based on the skills of the agent answering, a system known as skills-based routing. 

Businesses have a staggering number of options when it comes to business VoIP and business phone service in general. So for any business that's looking to grow, there's no shortage of places to start looking for the best in the field.

Edited by Maurice Nagle