Softphone software is so sophisticated these days it is competing the best services offered by the big telephone and cable companies. As a small business owner, I want a phone system that is reliable, can handle multiple calls at one time, and even allow me to send and receive faxes. These are the minimum requirements that I have for a phone system.
With the available softphone software, I have those basic services and even more. In fact, the software that I use serves my company at a mere fraction of the cost that I would spend if I were to use services from the big telephone and cable companies.
Let me describe how we use this service to grow our small business. First, let me say that my team is global. We have employees and associates literally all over the world. However, when a client calls into our 800 number, they think that they are calling one centralized office where all of our workers are located. Little do they know any one of us can pick up the phone from our de-centralized locations? That is the first way to save money in a BIG way. Forget about paying for costly office buildings. And, source out your resources in regions with much lower cost of services.
The next way softphone software helps is in how you add "departments." For example, whenever you need to bring on a new service or employee, you simply add an "extension." That extension can be tied to someone's computer, mobile phone or even to a real phone. This is accomplished by simply assigning that extension within the software itself. Employee is leaving the company? No problem, turn off the extension and / or assign to someone else. This can be done in a matter of seconds. A real live example of this is employee in San Diego quits, but you've hired someone in Chicago … open up your browser, log into your account, and switch the receiving destination from the person in San Diego to the person in Chicago … over even to a person in the Philippines. It's That simple.
Now, what about faxing? Yes, these services can even manage your faxes as well. When you sign up for a service you are given the ability to Incorporate a fax number. The fax number is virtual, which means that you do not have to have a physical machine. Incoming faxes will be stored within your account and / or routed to any email address that you designed. Outgoing faxes can also be sent directly from your email. The beauty of this solution is in its simplicity. Every communication is handled and stored by your computer. No more fumbling around to remember where you put that last communication.
Softphone software can help your small business grow in many other ways as well. In my next installation, I'll explore how call hunting and call forwarding can help you grow your departments without incurring expensive physical office overhead.