It wasn’t that long ago that expensive phone systems were part of every thriving business. With online communication becoming the go-to method for reaching out to clients, partners, and prospects, the technologies revolving around the phone system have evolved. In fact, most small business leaders will say they’re more important today yet less costly than ever.

The Small Business Phone System

Are you considering using your personal phone number for business calls? You should reconsider because privacy issues can be a real concern. Who wants their personal phone number listed on a website? That can be disruptive — even for the smallest businesses — leading to your personal number landing on far more call lists than you want to deal with. Furthermore, it doesn’t have the professional appeal of a business phone number.

A good substitute today includes cloud phone solutions that give you the freedom to make calls from anywhere, anytime. For those using antiquated business phone systems, they have to make all their calls from their office — it’s far from an ideal situation in the increasingly mobile world.

When your phone system is in the cloud, you gain access to a variety of perks, such as data about all of your calls that you can analyze later for developing a more comprehensive communication plan.

Your Small Business Phone Options

There are apps for your mobile phone that will let you take or make business calls. Most of the phone system apps allow you to customize call lists, giving you a path through which the calls you need to take will be routed to your phone while other calls that you don’t need to take are bypassed.

Also, a top consideration is a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) system, which allows you to use your internet connection for phone usage. VoIP systems can be bare bones or they can be jammed-packed with tools for business use — it’s up to you to decide. The following are some of the options available to you with VoIP service:

• Call recording
• Conference calling
• Virtual fax
• Voicemail
• Voicemail to email
• Call monitoring
• Toll-free numbers
• Caller ID
• Videoconferencing
• Bluetooth and speakerphones

While you consider these options, some of them might not seem appealing at the moment, but think about your future growth plans and what options might be of use to you later. Contact Diversified Technology Group if you have any questions about your business and the role of your phone system.