When selecting a enterprise telephone system, keep in mind the outdated adage ‘you get what you pay for’. In the event you put within the effort to begin and develop your corporation, slicing again and utilizing a free telephone service will solely trigger you issues.
So you’ve a rising firm, and also you presently pay little or no in your telephone calls since you are utilizing a free service. It’d look like a good suggestion now however what about as your corporation grows? Would you like individuals to proceed to view your corporation as a one man store? If not, then you could improve to an expert telephone system. And with all the cheap VoIP hosted PBX choices on the market (telecom within the cloud) you not solely set your self up as an expert enterprise however are prepared for progress.
VoIP hosted PBX methods usually provide many options that free telephone methods don’t provide like: name queues, name reporting, name recording, and transcribed voicemails (voicemail to textual content).
Now, do not get me incorrect, these free telephone methods quite a lot of followers who rave in regards to the options it provides them. However, it is merely not an expert telephone system that any dimension enterprise ought to make the most of for his or her everyday operations.
Listed here are the the reason why you need to NOT use a free telephone system as a enterprise telephone system:
1. It Is not a Cellphone System
No admin login, no separate person logins, no name reporting, no name queues, no limitless telephone numbers, no toll free numbers, no logs for various customers, no logs for various numbers, no e911, no dial by identify listing, no internet faxing, no music on maintain and many others. and many others. It is simply NOT a telephone system.
However… in case you want extra causes:
2. Most free telephone methods aren’t Based mostly on SIP (Session Web Protocol) and due to this fact Lacks Options
Methods that use SIP have many benefits over a POTS (Plain Outdated Phone System) in that they’ll make the most of most of the programmable options that solely calls despatched over SIP can present. For instance, Asterisk is a programming language based mostly on SIP and is continually popping out with new options for VoIP suppliers. Asterisk is an open supply software program and due to this fact accessible free of charge. Among the options free companies are missing {that a} enterprise will want embrace: Name Queues, Convention Bridges with a Pin Quantity and e-mail reminders, Name Experiences, Administration and Consumer degree logins for managing strains/extensions, internet faxing, a dial by identify listing, music on maintain, e911, and far, rather more.
3. You Can not Use Free Companies on a Delicate Cellphone
Since most free Phone Systems for Business aren’t based mostly on SIP, customers of the system can’t use a SIP based mostly shopper like a mushy telephone. Delicate telephones are software program packages that run on a pc that allow customers to make/obtain calls over the web. An instance of a mushy telephone is Skype. Delicate Telephones are utilized by many corporations for name facilities and instead of an organization telephone. Delicate telephones are free to begin after which can price a small one-time price for lots of additional options. One firm that sells mushy telephones is Counterpath.
4. Most Free Cellphone Methods Solely Supply One Native Quantity
With most of those free telephone companies you’re solely given one native quantity. With the appearance of VoIP, companies can lastly get native enterprise numbers for any location within the U.S. with out having to have a bodily location there. So, many companies are seeing the good thing about sustaining a number of native telephone numbers. For instance, if your corporation is positioned in Austin, Texas however you’ve distributors in New Orleans, Louisiana, you might need to give them a neighborhood quantity that they’ll name as a substitute of getting to make lengthy distance calls or utilizing your toll-free minutes in your toll-free quantity. When you’ve got a VoIP hosted PBX system, you should buy as many native numbers from as many native U.S. locations as you need. And, you’ll be able to ahead these numbers to any location you need together with your mobile phone, an extension at your corporation, or your VoIP telephone (wherever that is likely to be positioned).
5. Free Cellphone Companies Normally Do Not Work with Highly effective VoIP Telephones
Most of the options which are making companies extra profitable when utilizing VoIP are solely accessible utilizing a VoIP telephone. Polycom, for instance, has a whole line of VoIP telephones used only for convention rooms. There are additionally telephones utilized by secretaries that present who’s on the telephone, in addition to primary VoIP telephones with buttons like ‘maintain’, ‘mute’, ‘headsets’, ‘convention’, ‘ahead’, ‘Contact Listing’, ‘Name Lists’, ‘Messages’ and rather more. And with a VoIP telephone, you need to use your telephone anyplace on this planet you’ve a devoted web connection.
6. HD Voice (wideband audio) is Not Out there with Free Cellphone Companies
Wideband audio is an audio expertise utilized in telephony. It extends the frequency vary of audio indicators transmitted over phone strains, leading to larger high quality speech. With HD, Voice calls sound clear and crisp, virtually just like the particular person is standing proper subsequent to you. HD Voice is out there with most VoIP hosted PBX suppliers and with most VoIP telephone suppliers however not with free telephone companies.
7. Free Cellphone Companies – Voicemail to Textual content Service is Crummy at Greatest
Maybe one of many free telephone companies coolest options can be presently amongst its weakest. The transcription service may give you some less-than-literal translations. Voicemails could or could not come by way of completely when transcribed to textual content. “I hope to see you quickly” could come by way of as “I like your pal June.” Ouch.