Nobody has a crystal ball, and even so-called “Business Pundits” who love going on TV and predicting the future are dialing back on their forecasts — because if the last couple of years has taught us anything, it’s that things can change rapidly. And that is exactly why thousands of businesses a year are switching from a rigid and costly conventional phone system, to a flexible, cost-effective, and scalable VoIP phone system.  Below, we highlight 5 key reasons why VoIP helps future-proof your business:   1. Instantly Equip Remote and Hybrid Workers with a Full-Featured Telecommunication System  Whether some of your employees are working...

Choosing the right line of digital phones for your business is an important decision. But it does not need to be a difficult process. To save you valuable time and help you make the right choice, below we highlight the best digital phones available today across five categories: Basic, Standard, Cordless, Prime Business, Business Plus, and Premium.   Best Line of Basic Digital Phones: Yealink T31P The Yealink T31P line of digital phones is ideal for businesses that need an entry-level and easy-to-use — yet powerful and impressive — solution at a very affordable price.  Key features include: An extra-large and brilliantly clear 132x64-pixel...

If you are thinking about upgrading to UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service), then let us start with this: good move! Over the last few years, a growing number of organizations have said goodbye to a limited, inflexible, and excessively costly legacy phone system, and hello to an agile, cost-effective, feature-rich, and future-proofed UCaaS solution. In a moment, we highlight seven best practices for upgrading to UCaaS. First, let us answer a basic yet important question: just what is UCaaS, anyway? About UCaaS While the technology that drives UCaaS is complex, understanding the essence is simple. One of the best definitions available...

When you ask Google to find “business phone providers near me,” then you will get plenty of options (possibly including one that brought you to this article!). Obviously, Google is helpful here — but there is MUCH more to the story that you need to know. Why? Because while Google (which is by far the most popular search engine on the planet) can list some “business providers near me,” it cannot go deeper and tell you which specific providers are trustworthy and credible — and which are not. In other words: just being in close proximity to a business phone provider...

For many things “Google is your friend” is good advice. But there are exceptions. And as many businesses have unhappily discovered, using Google Voice is on the list. Here are 7 reasons why:   No Calls to Emergency Services Shockingly, Google Voice does not support calls to emergency services. This enormous limitation alone should make it a non-starter as a business phone system. Picture this nightmare headline: “Business Fails to Call Fire Department Right Away Because Its Phone System Won’t Dial Emergency Services”.   No Business Caller ID When making calls with Google Voice, a business’s regular phone number does not appear on Caller ID. Instead,...

For stockbrokers — and day traders whose multi-monitor home office setup rivals NASA Mission Control — the mantra for success is: “buy low, sell high.” For real estate investors, it’s: “location, location, location.” And what about small business owners? Well, their key to success is: “DO MORE WITH LESS!” And one of the simplest and smartest ways to achieve this goal is with a web-based softphone. Below, we highlight 3 must-have small business benefits of a web-based softphone: 1. Support Remote and Hybrid Workers The pandemic dramatically accelerated the number of people working remotely full-time and hybrid (i.e. switching between home office/corporate office)....

When a business grows, so too will its requirements for infrastructure like telephone systems. The traditional way to provide phone services in an office environment, for example, is with a traditional PBX (private branch exchange) setup. Such setups are usually very expensive, inflexible, and complicated to install and administer. These days, a better solution is to use a hosted phone system (sometimes known as a virtual PBX). If you’re new to a hosted phone system, the following will explain more about them and how your organization could benefit: What Is a Hosted Phone System? A hosted phone system is a virtual PBX that operates...

If your business is not taking full advantage of text marketing — SMS and MMS marketing — then you are missing out. This is a massive opportunity to drive customer engagement, acquisition, and sales. Consider these eye-opening statistics: 69% of customers want the ability to contact a business through text messaging.  Customers are 4.5x more likely to reply to text messages than emails.12.9% of customers are more likely to support businesses that offer text-back capabilities.   And just in case you think that “texting is obsolete” — think again. 50% of people sent more texts during the pandemic. Additionally, due to COVID-19 34%...

Before we look at how to choose the best business phone system, let’s highlight why many businesses are frustrated with their current landline (i.e. on-site PBX) phone system:     High Up-Front Costs: Landline phone systems are very costly to purchase, install and maintain.    No Cost Certainty: Costs can fluctuate significantly from month-to-month, making budgeting and forecasting difficult and risky.    Lack of Scalability: If the maximum number of lines are in use, a replacement can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Lack of Business Continuity: A landline system uses a network design with a single point of failure. This means if part of the system fails,...

So, your business was humming along nicely. Then, all of a sudden, COVID-19 reared its ugly head and threw the world into a tizzy. Almost overnight, companies were scrambling to find solutions to run their business remotely.The idea of having your employees work remotely is not a new concept, nor is having your team work from home for various reasons like inclement weather, illness, or lack of daycare. We’ve all been there - your toddler is sick and you need to stay at home with them. Or, you live in the south and there is a light dusting of snow...