Over the last year, we’ve seen first-hand how important hosted phone systems are. Businesses that have used cloud-based phone lines have found it far easier to adapt to remote working, than those who rely upon traditional landlines that are directed into physical offices.
This is because hosted phone systems (also known as VoIP phone systems) can be used from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a secure internet connection. With a hosted phone system, your staff can answer their calls via a headset plugged into a laptop or through an app on your smartphone. For businesses who are planning on working from home for the foreseeable future, they can even supply their teams with physical handsets, secure in the knowledge that any advertised phone lines will remain consistent for customers and external stakeholders.
At Lucid Systems, we have long been advocates for VoIP phone systems that function through cloud-based software. We offer a hosted phone system for our clients across Suffolk, Norfolk, and Essex, helping to ensure that they have a phone service that works effectively with their business broadband services and wider IT infrastructure. It’s this attention to detail, that made the switch to remote working quick and easy for all of our clients.
Here are ten business benefits of using a hosted phone system.
- Hosted phone lines are far more cost-effective
We recommend hosted phone systems because they are far more affordable than analogue phone lines. Because the phone line operates via your standard business broadband or leased line connected, the cost is included within your broadband package, rather than having to pay per minute for each call. If your business relies on a lot of outgoing phone calls, it’s a far more cost-effective way of working.
- The audio quality can be much higher
Analogue phone systems are based upon dated technology – Openreach is aiming to switch off traditional ISDN lines in 2025.
Therefore, it should be no surprise that businesses using hosted phone systems have noticed that the audio quality of phone calls is much higher. The change from copper cables to superfast fibre optic cables means that you can benefit from a crisper sound, with greater clarity and control over volume and the ability to minimise any unwanted background noise.
3. They offer flexibility to grow with your business
We recommend hosted phone systems because they offer flexibility to grow and adapt to your business. If your business is taking on new staff members, you can quickly and easily add in new direct line extensions without being tied into any lengthy or expensive contracts. Similarly, if you are reducing your workforce (perhaps you work seasonally or you required additional resourcing for a specific project), you can easily remove phone lines with minimal disruption.
4. Hosted phone systems are more reliable
As the phone line is carried through your internet connection, you can feel confident that your phone system will remain reliable and fully functional – even if you are affected by issues relating to rural broadband. If you are concerned about your internet connectivity, we can set up an automatic failover, which redirects your phone connection to mobile phones, giving you full confidence that your phone lines will always remain functional.
5. You can take your hosted phone line anywhere
The biggest benefit of choosing to use a hosted phone system is that you can take your business phone line anyway. Over the last 12 months, this has helped businesses working from home, but it’s also hugely beneficial for employees who work across multiple sites or for those who are benefiting from flexible working policies.
It also means that should you expand your business or move into new premises; you can take your existing phone numbers with you without any need to update your website, your email sign-offs, or even your business cards.
6. It’s an effective way to future proof your business
VoIP phone lines are the future, and the technological advantages of hosted phone systems will continue to increase. It’s not just about the closure of analogue lines, it’s about the array of features available within hosted phone systems that will help you to make quick and easy changes to your business. By continually investing in new technologies and updated IT systems, you can ensure that your business can grow and change seamlessly, whatever the future holds.
7. There are lots of features to take advantage of
We love the wide range of features available with hosted phone systems. From call forwarding, simple call transfers, conferencing capabilities, voicemail services, custom hold music, and even voicemail to email services, your business can benefit from an upgraded phone system.
These features are beneficial for businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to large national organisations.
Our very own Lucid Systems hosted phone systems have an array of features as standard, and our clients trust that we are continually adding new capabilities that allow them to work as effectively as possible.
8. Hosted phone lines are simple to install and easy to maintain
The simplicity of a hosted phone system is that they are incredibly easy to install. If you need to add new users to your system, then you do not need to wait for technicians to install wiring throughout your office. Instead, you can use a web portal to add or remove new users quickly.
Maintenance is also much easier. With a hosted phone system, you do not need to worry about managing a PBX within your office. Instead, you can rely on your host provider (such as Lucid Systems) to provide proactive and ongoing maintenance checks on your behalf.
9. You can integrate them with your existing IT infrastructure
The flexibility of a hosted phone system means that you can ensure it integrates with your existing IT solutions.
For example, you can easily set up voicemails to be directed straight to your emails. Or you can use a call transfer system to pass callers through to colleagues in different departments, even if they are working elsewhere. You can even set up your VoIP system so that you can view customer records whilst you’re on the phone to them – making your business far more effective.
When we work with our clients to implement hosted phone systems, we ensure that everything is set up so that your phone lines, your internet connectivity, and your IT infrastructure works together successfully.
10. They are secure and add resilience to your business
A final point of consideration is that hosted phone lines can offer greater security. You can connect them with the telephone preference service (reducing spam callers) and you can use encryption and improved identity management to protect your business from threats.
With a VoIP system, you can have proactive and regular security audits, you can implement stringent password policies and you can even use automation to identify potential nuisance callers.
