The modern business phone system is all about so much more than simply voice calls. It not only communicate through voice messages, but also through text messaging, emails, instant and chat messages, video conferencing, social networking websites, and telephone conferences. This high-tech telephone system is used to not only connect the business to their clients or other business associates, but also to provide a higher level of service for customers or clients that may be contacting the business.
In a recent article by The New York Times, writes fernandez states that when he received a call on his cell phone from a Bank of America branch, he didn’t recognize the number, but knew it was from South America. When the agent on the other end of the line identified himself, says f Fernandez, he told her he couldn’t help her with her problem at that particular time. She responded with: “I’m sorry, I cannot assist you at this time. We have several branches in your area.” This led to what the banker thought was a misunderstanding until he learned later that his business had recently expanded into that very state.
According to the article, the new business phone syst business phone systems use a “three-way automated dialer system that detects select calls made from an 800 Number and translates them into an interactive voice prompt that provides information about the call, such as the caller’s name, address, phone number, and a variety of additional details, depending upon the product selected.” However, one interesting thing about this answer is that it indicates that three-way automated dialing is only available inbound calling, which is quite different than the standard inbound system. The U.S. News suggests that using a third-party data point to track calls made to a traditional PBX system could lead to an increase in productivity, but it is unclear how such a move might factor into the current business phone systems.
A few companies that sell business phone systems are touting their inbound solutions, too. Cisco states that its iConnect service “provides business phone features that enable organizations to achieve greater productivity and profitability.” NetSuite states that its VOIP solution “provides access to hosted VoIP services and features such as advanced caller identification, call distribution, call transfer, call routing, call waiting, caller ID spoofing, and more.” Finally, Avaya states that its hosted IP PBX service “provides clients with business phone features that include auto attendants, conference recording, conferencing capabilities, and call forwarding.” Avaya does not discuss its third-party reporting or its scoring model.
A few other companies selling business phone systems also mention enterprise features in their sales materials. For example, GE says that its award-winning global phone system allows its customers to “manage and coordinate telephone calls with employees from any location.” Similarly, AT&T mentions multiple phone numbers and call transfer features in order to provide the best business phones for all types of offices. Kona calls also seem to be a favorite for many of these vendors.
It’s difficult to determine which vendors have the best business phone systems. They all obviously sell in house VoIP PBX services to businesses. But some vendors do not offer PBX services at all. So it will be necessary for you to check out what they do and how they do it. Look also at how their on-premises business phone systems perform and whether or not their cloud telephony solutions are better than their in-house systems.