Many small businesses are rethinking their communications strategy after the quick shift to remote work that came with COVID-19. Moving your phone system to the cloud helps your team stay connected. If your phone is still on-premise, you may want to consider how you can benefit from hosted VoIP.

Hosted VoIP: Your Phone System in the Cloud

So, what is hosted VoIP?

Hosted voice-over-IP, or hosted VoIP, is a virtual phone system. Using cloud services, you make calls over the internet—no phone server at your office and no traditional phone lines.

You don’t even need desk phones!

Benefits of Hosted VoIP

The features of a hosted VoIP service make it easy for businesses to stay connected. You’ll likely recognize the basics – virtual numbers, voicemail, call forwarding, recording, and more. And, even standard features can be used in more effective ways. For example, voicemail-to-text allows you to get transcribed messages sent directly to your inbox.

Unified Communications

Many hosted VoIP solutions offer more than the ability to connect by voice.

These services provide one place for connecting with your team across multiple communication channels, including chat and video conferencing.

Chat, or instant messaging, is one of the first tools used to communicate with coworkers, regardless of location. It makes it easier to get quicker responses than email.

Video calls and conferencing makes working together more personal, especially for remote teams that need to meet virtually. Many hosted VoIP services offer screen sharing as part of their video capabilities.

If you use Office 365, you don’t need to choose between your phone system and Microsoft Teams. Microsoft requires specific subscriptions to turn Teams into an actual phone system. However, you can bring your own hosted VoIP service to use with the Microsoft Teams app so that you can work from one place.

Mobility

Because you don’t need to be tied to a specific phone line, hosted VoIP promotes mobility.  You can use desk phones if you’d like. Otherwise, you can use the desktop or mobile app to get up and running. No matter how you choose to work, your phone number stays the same so people can find you easily.

Reliability

Traditional phone systems rely on equipment in your office. If your office has no power, you’re without phones as well. With your phone system at your Hosted VoIP provider’s data centers, you have the flexibility to take calls even in the event of your office going down.

Flexibility with Lower Costs

Hosted phone services offer flexibility, like a monthly fee rather than a large up-front purchase and the ability to add or remove features and users easily. Many features are included in various provider packages and, due to the flexible nature of the service, custom VoIP services can be designed based on the needs of your business.

What’s next?

There are a lot of VoIP providers to choose from and plenty of easily avoided pitfalls. We can help make a recommendation based on your needs.