As a small business owner, one of the most important things to make sure you have set up correctly is that of your business phone number. There are many services out there that can get you a virtual number via VOIP and other means, but some solutions are definitely easier than others to use. When choosing Virtual Phone System App, here are some things to look for.
Virtual Phone System App
Mobile Friendly
The online phone systems of yesterday required you to buy special handset phones as well as central hubs. While these systems do still exist, the future is fully virtual phone systems that can use the power of your mobile phone via a virtual assistant business app.
Not apps are built the same, however, as some apps simply just give you access to make calls, while others have many more bells and whistles which can be more helpful.
Setup
Some virtual apps can work the way that you do by asking you a few initial set up questions. Questions such as how you use your voicemail, when your business hours of operation are, as well as how to forward extensions can be asked during the setup of the app to make sure that your virtual phone number operates the way that you work.
Also See: Virtual Data Rooms: Everything You Need to Know
A good setup wizard can help you to get through some of the more technologically hard things to understand about virtual phone systems and allow you to worry about the things that make sense to you, like making and taking calls.
A good setup can also help you to know the difference when a call comes into your mobile device to know if it’s a personal call, or a call that is coming in that is business-related. This can help you instantly to know how to answer the phone, which is perfect for people who are constantly on the go but need to continue to run their business.
Reports
A good virtual phone app will usually let you do a lot more than just make and receive calls. A good phone app can give you reports on the following:
- Number of messages left
- Percentage of calls that were not answered and that went to voicemail
- Busiest call times of the day
- History of phone calls missed and answered
- Distribution map of forwards as well as call user data
Users
Once your business starts to grow, you want to make sure that you can easily scale the virtual phone system that you are using. Making sure that you select an app that makes it easy to add users and extensions can really save you a headache down the road. Most business phone apps let you add a user with the tap of a finger and work out call forwarding so that an employee can download the same app and have it all work seamlessly.
This sort of functionality can help you to set up a simple or complex phone network all from your mobile phone. Hard to beat this sort of functionality when you need to make changes on the fly!
Call Quality
Most internet phone solutions sound great, but it’s always a good idea to try it out first to make sure you are happy with call quality. Being able to take advantage of a free trial, or a lower priced initial month is a great way to test out the call quality of an app. Not only is it good to test out the call quality, but being able to try out all of the features, reporting, and backend options on the app can help you to know if you are working with something that is user friendly and scalable for your business.
Pricing
Most virtual phone app systems are very affordable and run on a per-user pricing model. Understanding how these pricing works are important to help you save money as adding multiple users initially can get you a discount, as well as signing up for annual service as opposed to a monthly recurring payment. Doing a little bit of homework will help you to get the best bang for your buck when it comes to virtual phone assistant apps. So what are you waiting for? Start saving yourself time and money by using a virtual phone assistant app today!
