A good telephone system is a necessity, but not even the bare minimum. Business owners have increasingly turned away from the old phone system and adopted VoIP phone systems. While the phones themselves tend to offer improvements in quality along with cost savings, the real benefits from internet protocol telephony come from adopting a unified communications approach that runs phone calls, email, video chat, and instant messaging through the same telecom system. Salesforce users can also benefit from connecting that software to their phone and fax service.
Reasons to Adopt a VoIP Phone System
Lower cost, higher quality, communication features that increase productivity and improve customer service are the main benefits of making the switch to VoIP. We have described the costs and potential cost savings associated with using VoIP phones instead of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) lines. This is only the beginning though, as the actual savings grow when productivity gains can be accounted for. To summarize though, a VoIP system costs less per month to use, and VoIP phone prices are comparable to, or lower than, business-class phones. A VoIP phone system can also eliminate the need for paid subscriptions to web conferencing tools and video calling services.
Because almost every business uses email and chat or instant messaging, and some use faxes, the benefits of a unified communication system can be increased by adding additional functions. Customer relationship management software, such as Salesforce, is common.
Exploring the Benefits of Unified Communication
VoIP phones deliver at a higher level when teamed up with other productivity gains and better customer service are the two main benefits of using a unified communication platform to link phone, fax, email, and conferencing. Consider a few ways that time can be saved:
- Customer service reps can call up information on a customer and any previous conversations with the company.
- Sales personnel can access information on a lead from Salesforce without leaving their desktop communications portal.
- Managers can use a dashboard or canned report to gain insight into their team’s productivity in less time.
- Employees can share voicemails, faxes, and notes on phone calls faster.
In the first case, better communication can translate to better customer service, which, in turn, might generate some repeat business and some helpful reviews you might not have received otherwise.
The MXIE Unified Communications client from Zultys is the key to integrating email, telephone, and Salesforce, if your company uses it. If you are not a Salesforce user, the Outlook and MS Exchange Server integration options might still be valuable. Flex, another Zultys integration option connects to an extensive list of 3rd party CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools including HubSpot, Pipeline Deals, Google, Zoho, and Insightly.
Salesforce Integration with Zultys Phone Systems
VoIP phone systems should at least offer the capability to integrate your phone and email service with your CRM (customer relationship management) software. That is what Salesforce Communicator does for companies that use Zultys Unified Communications software and hardware. Integration is a broad and imprecise term, so here is a summary of what Salesforce Communicator offers:
- Click to dial calling
- Park, hold, transfer
- Call logs
- Screen pop-ups for known callers
- Reporting for management
The call logs allow managers and system administrators to review a variety of statistics, which can be useful for human resource planning, scheduling, and even performance reviews.
Further Streamline Communication with Outlook and Exchange
You can extend your email and marketing integrations with Outlook and Microsoft Exchange connectors. If your business uses Microsoft Outlook, there is an Outlook Communicator tool that connects users’ phone and email accounts through MXIE Unified Communications desktop client. This add-on allows users to make calls directly from email messages, call logs, and contact records. Users can also record call notes here rather than switching to another app or call tracking spreadsheet. Outlook calendars can also be synchronized with the Presence function versus switching screens or apps to update availability.
Microsoft Exchange is a popular email server that backs up Outlook. If your company uses MS Exchange Server, you add Exchange Communicator to your telecom package and gain similar benefits to integrating exchange. In addition, Exchange Communicator enables the following functions:
- Dropping voicemails and faxes into Outlook
- Journaling to record important call details
- Saving or deleting a voicemail or fax
Those functions save a little time every day for the average employee. However, in businesses with a heavy call volume, and divisions with the same, such as customer service departments, those tiny savings can add up to hours per week.
Salesforce Integration is an Easy Productivity Booster
Tying together your voice, email, fax, conference, and CRM saves time and improves customer service by streamlining communication and reporting. Customer service and salespeople save time recording or retrieving information. Sharing voice mail and fax messages becomes much easier too. If you would like to know more about Salesforce Integration or how your business could benefit from a Unified Communications solution, please get in touch with your Long Beach VoIP experts at DirecTech.