If you’re reading this, your business is probably considering adopting a cloud phone system, if it already hasn’t. Voice over internet protocol (VOIP) has been around for a long time now, but remains a relatively foreign concept for most businesses. Why? Mostly because of ignorance, and a natural shying away from a technology that is unfamiliar to them.

We are writing this article to show you why you shouldn’t shy away from VOIP today, what you can benefit from adopting it, and some tips to maximize use of it.

What is a cloud phone system?

With the development of Voice-Over-Internet Protocol in the early 1990s, the customer service industry was destined to change in all the best ways. Up to this point, companies relied on on-premise PBX systems to run their call center operations. This meant hardware installation and maintenance costs that were expensive and limiting.

VOIP was still a relatively foreign concept in the early 2000s, especially in non-first world countries where internet access was shoddy at best. During this period, the most common way for people to make calls abroad was to pay the extravagant long-distance rates. Internet calling wasn’t exactly a thing until Yahoo Messenger came along.

Now that the internet is at a place where it can allow for cross-continental connections and faster — more stable — speeds, the notion of a cloud-based business phone system becomes a more viable option. Which is why Nautilus, among other telephony companies, focused on offering VOIP phone solutions to fill the gap that exists in the industry.

Best practices for using a cloud phone

A cloud phone comes with a host of different tools and features that are designed to help you elevate your customer service operations. Let’s go over some of them below:

Maximize use of your IVR

Cloud phones come with an interactive voice response, which also goes by other names like auto-attendant and virtual receptionist. This is usually the first interaction a customer has with a business, which is why it is most important to set this up according to the standards of your business. Having the right recordings to greet customers, setting up the queues connected to which extension, and setting the right call routes are a few things you can customize on your IVR. All of these help make a smooth call experience for your customers.

Automate your processes

Another thing that is an indirect result of an IVR is automation. With a properly-set IVR, you can automate some of the more mundane steps in the customer journey; a few examples would be data gathering, account confirmation, and even offer customers the option of self-service.

Use the proper call recordings

Anyone who has ever called a business line before has surely heard their share of hold music and a variety of voice recordings. Some of them are surely professional, but most of those that stand out are the annoying, repetitive kind. Avoid this by integrating appropriate messaging without sounding monotonous and boring.

Set the right call groups

What are call groups? They are basically a set number of phone lines that ring when an incoming call comes through. All agents that belong in a particular call group will receive the call in a set order based on your distribution rules. This ensures that all incoming calls are handled by the right agents with the correct skill sets, which in turn saves your business time and makes for a seamless customer journey.

Screen unwanted calls

Call screening is a telephony feature that comes standard with most VOIP solutions today. This is a handy feature to help trim the number of unwanted, annoying, spam calls that plague businesses with a number easily accessible via the internet.

Maximize your callback features

There’s a saying the business that goes “The most unprofitable item is an excuse.” It might come to a point where your customer service team gets too busy that some calls go unanswered, and that’s no one’s fault really. Call activity can spike depending on a variety of factors, especially for an inbound call center. In answer to that, most VOIP solutions offer intuitive callback features that allow your team to track missed calls, as well as allow them to do a follow-up call.

Use call forwarding and other VOIP standard features

One big pro of utilizing a VOIP solution is that they run on software that is designed to be flexible and scaleable. What this means is that it can run anywhere, anytime. Say someone calls your extension and you’re out of the office for a quick coffee run, for example, you can have the software forward calls from your office to your mobile phone. This ensures that all customer inquiries are handled and you don’t miss a call! Conveniently, you can also set your cloud phone to ring simultaneously on different devices; if you have a smartphone and your computer nearby, you can opt in to receiving calls on both of them.

Conclusion