The Definitive Guide to Online Phone Service

Your business needs every advantage it can get to facilitate smooth transactions and compete in the marketplace. Since communication is central to commerce, using an online phone service can offer valuable benefits.

Fewer homes and businesses use landline phones. The latest estimates indicate that barely a third of people have stuck with analog technology. 

The reason for this is that Voice over Internet Protocol is cheaper, faster, and easier to use. If you have yet to make the switch, use this guide to discover how using an online phone service can help you.

Key Takeaways:

• Online phone services are superior to traditional landlines, and analog systems will not always be available everywhere.
• Every type of business can benefit from using an online phone service.
• With a proper setup, an online phone service can access emergency services.
• Online phone services save money, help a company appear more professional, and are easy to install.

Why Do You Need To Switch From a Landline to Online Phone Service?

Analog phone service is becoming a thing of the past. In fact, the Federal Communications Commission no longer requires U.S. telecommunications companies to provide copper landlines.

Traditional landlines will still work in the U.S. but may soon come with additional costs and less support than using a modern online phone service. The United Kingdom is going so far as to shut off its public switched telephone network in 2025.

Online phone service is superior because it transmits voice and other communications over the internet from practically anywhere in the world. Also, additional features that businesses rely on for productivity and cost savings are more accessible from a hosted phone service.

Which Industries Benefit From Online Phone Service?

Every industry can benefit from online phone service and use the feature to offer an enhanced experience to customers. Online business phone systems can be part of a unified communications as a service suite that integrates with productivity features to manage business operations.

For example, medical offices and other health care providers need to communicate with patients over a reliable and secure network. An online phone system from a reputable provider meets HIPAA compliance standards and allows you to scale up to as many lines as necessary to accommodate additional patients and a larger staff.

Real estate agents have to be available in the office and on the go. Online phone services mean a realtor can quickly take calls anywhere. Reps and team members are never really out of the office because their business numbers follow them wherever there’s an internet connection. That means no missed calls and no missed sales.

Online systems also work well in the hospitality, legal, manufacturing, retail, and nonprofit industries. Any company improves its operations with online phone service.

What Do You Need To Know About Online Phone Service and Emergency Services?

One legitimate concern about online communications is contacting first responders in case of an emergency. When someone calls 911 through a landline, the operator can trace the call to the phone’s exact location.

Early online phone service providers did not have this feature. Now that mobile and internet phones are more common, concerned providers now offer Enhanced 911, which automatically sends the telephone number and location to the 911 operator during the call.

The features of an online phone system can offer additional advantages because calls can quickly switch to another device if one line disconnects. Your E911 service is also better than calling from your mobile line because dispatchers receive your registered service address.

How Does Online Phone Service Save You Money?

The internet really is the “information superhighway.” Just like delivering products to locations near major highways is cheaper and faster, the internet makes delivering communications services less expensive and more consistent.

Companies can immediately have dozens of lines for a fraction of the cost of installing those connections with landlines. Additionally, online phone service adds extra features such as transcribed voicemail, call analytics, and data collection.

Another issue in setting up internal public branch exchanges was installing and housing the equipment and lines for the system. Maintaining those features and the phone hardware required in-person technicians. Online phone service leaves all of that to experts at a separate location.

How Does an Online Phone Service Help Your Company Look More Professional?

An online phone service can offer you high-definition voice calls because it has access to the bandwidth of your high-speed internet. You can also easily set up an automatic attendant that accepts calls at all hours and forwards callers to the appropriate teammate.

Additional features, such as SMS messaging and email, assimilate seamlessly with your calling. Along with your transcribed calls and voicemails, you can preserve call details and archive other essential communications in your productivity software.

Video calling has become an essential aspect of doing business. With UCaaS, you can integrate your video and voice calling with one provider and not have to spend money on two different services.

Also, your online phone service connects all of your employees securely, whether in an office or working remotely. Your dedicated business lines tie together workers in numerous places with a single main number, but your customers can never tell the difference.

How Easy Is It To Set Up an Online Phone Service?

When you work with an established vendor, you can set up an online phone service almost instantly. A professional unified communications provider will install your connection and provide 24/7 support. User-friendly apps put you in the driver’s seat to control your service from the jump.

How Can Intermedia Help You With Your Online Phone Service?

Intermedia has spent decades providing its top-notch online phone service to businesses in many locations. When you want to improve your communication and collaboration, call Intermedia for our world-class help.