10 features to look for in a business phone system
From call queues to voicemail to email: the features that make the biggest difference to how your customers are answered, and how your team works.
Modern cloud phone systems come packed with features, but a handful make most of the difference to your customers and your team. Here are the ten we would put on any shortlist.
1. Call queues
When everyone is busy, callers wait in an orderly queue with music or messages instead of hearing an engaged tone, and you can see how many are waiting.
2. Ring groups
Ring a whole team at once, or one after another, so calls to "sales" or "support" are picked up by whoever is free.
3. A call menu (IVR)
"Press 1 for sales, 2 for accounts." A simple menu sends callers straight to the right people and makes even a small business sound organised.
4. Time-of-day routing
Send calls to the office during opening hours, to a mobile in the evening and to voicemail at night: automatically, and with different rules for bank holidays.
5. Voicemail to email
Messages arrive in your inbox as audio files, so you can listen on any device and forward them to the right person.
6. Call recording
Useful for training, quality and resolving disputes. Remember to tell callers that calls may be recorded.
7. Mobile and desktop apps
Your business number on your mobile and laptop, so your team can make and take calls from anywhere without giving out personal numbers.
8. Call statistics
See who called, when, how long they waited and which calls were missed. The information you need to staff the phones properly.
9. Hold music and messages
Replace silence with music or your own messages about offers, opening hours or your website.
10. Number flexibility
Keep your existing numbers, and add local, London, freephone or 03 numbers that ring straight into the same system.
And one thing that is not a feature
Support. When something needs changing, you want a UK team that answers the phone and knows your setup. That matters as much as anything on this list. If you would like to see these features in action, get in touch.