Work for any company begins with providing an office with telephone connection and Internet. The characteristics and quality of the Virtual PBXs determine the level of customer service and, therefore, the benefit to the organization.
What Is A Virtual PBX?
A Virtual PBX is a telephone system that uses voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to make calls over the Internet. Unlike the traditional PBX, this type of PBX does not require a large amount of equipment. It is digital software that is located on servers in the cloud and is managed from web interfaces.
The Virtual PBX does not require specific equipment of high cost and technically complex. It allows you to create offices or call centers anywhere in the world without connection to a specific physical address. In addition, it allows a company to provide a very fast telephone connection.
Also, thanks to the Internet connection, agents have access to detailed statistics about calls. After each incoming call, they can see the time of the call, its duration and even the waiting time on the Virtual PBX interface. In addition, it is easy to see the caller’s phone number and which call agent answered that call.
If more detailed information about the call source is needed, the call tracking service can be used. It not only collects statistics on phone inquiries, but also identifies marketing channels that caused customers to answer the phone.
What Advantages And Opportunities Do Virtual PBXs Offer?
- It is not necessary to buy any equipment or license if mobile extensions or Webphone are used. If fixed extensions are included, the cost of IP terminals must be taken into account, which can be offered in purchase and / or rental mode.
- Calls can be made and received from employees’ personal devices.
- The Virtual PBX is easy to configure and does not require additional efforts.
- If a company has branches in different locations, the Virtual PBX helps to join them. All employees will be integrated into a single network.
- There are specific configurations for efficient monitoring of call center operators. Therefore, you can increase the quality of service.
It is not necessary to be a large corporation to need a Virtual PBX, but it is an ideal solution for any company that wants to personalize the attention it provides to its customers: incorporating welcome and apology messages for not being able to serve you, a musical thread while the users wait, call recording, voicemails to leave a message or divert calls from landline to mobile when employees are out of the office.
What Aspects Must Be Assessed To Choose A Virtual PBX?
Companies must take into account seven main aspects when comparing and selecting the best Virtual PBX for an organization:
1) Advanced Functionalities: A Virtual PBX must include high added value functionalities, from intelligent routing systems to redirect incoming calls to the best possible destination according to the geographical criteria, date and time or origin of the call, to virtual assistants with recognition of voice acting as ‘receptionists’.
2) Mobile Approach: The best Virtual PBX has to provide solutions focused on facilitating labor mobility, both through BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) solutions and through the integration of technologies such as WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication). Both solutions allow employees to use their telephone extension wherever they are, with total security and without additional costs.
3) Analysis Tools: A Virtual PBX must integrate modules to facilitate the analysis of all its activity (expense and number of calls per line, by location, by extension, etc.), at any time and without waiting, offering valuable information in terms of savings and optimization of resources.
4) Ease Of Use: A Virtual PBX must be simple to use thanks to an intuitive interface adapted to the company’s infrastructure. In this way, the intervention of third parties will not be necessary either for its initial configuration or to add new functions and / or capabilities.
5) Integration Capacity: A company’s communications system must be able to integrate with other technological solutions such as Contact Centers, CRMs or ERPs thanks to APIs for integrators or through personalized services offered by the provider itself.
6) Quality And Security Of IP Telephony: Internet-based IP telephony calls require mechanisms that ensure the privacy of communications. There are currently encryption methods that offer a high level of security. Therefore, it is essential to select a provider capable of offering call encryption as a guarantee of protection of calls and data.
7) Supplier Guarantees: The guarantees offered by the supplier of a Virtual PBX are as important as their functionalities. If the PBX provider is a telecommunications operator authorized by the CNMC and not a telephony reseller, it can better ensure the guarantee of its service and support, and offer a service level agreement SLA (equal to or greater than 99.9%.
In short, the advantages offered by a Virtual PBX for professional call management in companies include optimizing resources, reducing costs, increasing productivity or increasing quality in user relations. Therefore, it is convenient to carry out a rigorous selection process to choose the Virtual PBX that best suits the needs of a company.