Among other advantages, an IP telephone system offers the capability to integrate various forms of communication into one platform. Employees can chat, respond to instant messages, send, or receive faxes, and so on. Another underappreciated advantage of VoIP telephones is their ability to integrate with marketing and communication tools, like Microsoft Outlook. This enormously popular email platform can be connected to various IP telecommunications tools. Read on to learn more about the possibilities, including with the Zultys line of phones and Zultys software.
Software Integration Possibilities
A good IP telephone system offers the possibility of either replacing other communication tools or integrating your phone system with other enterprise software or doing both. For example, the phones will offer these capabilities, either as standard features or add-ons:
- Web chat
- Video calling
- Voice mail to email
- File sharing
- Conference calling
- Sending and receiving faxes
Depending on the phone and associated software and hardware, you may be able to connect with Microsoft Exhange or another email server, Salesforce, or Microsoft Outlook. Connecting your phone system to one of the most popular email services, Microsoft Outlook, offers new possibilities for efficiency and business growth.
If your business is wedded to Salesforce or Outlook, we can help you integrate them into a new VoIP telephone system.
How These Integrations Help Business Owners
In sales and customer service, sales in particular, communication is the main part of the job. Salespeople make calls, check-in via email, set up video conferences, and so on. Customer service people chat, send emails, and make phone calls. Outlook can streamline some of those things when connected to a good VoIP system. Time that would normally be spent switching from one piece of software to the other can be saved, at least some of it, allowing salespeople to be more productive.
Communication often involves lots of inefficiency once you think about the tasks the individual salesperson or customer service rep carries out repeatedly each week. Sometimes an email message is best answered over the phone. Looking up a phone number to make a call is easy, but sometimes it takes a couple of minutes. Being able to make a call directly from Outlook can save a little time. A few minutes a day saved, times 10 customer service reps, well that adds up to a few hours a week they could spend on tasks that add more value.
Salespeople will find it easy to communicate and share information. Again, if each salesperson could spend one hour per week on pursuing leads, upselling customers, or keeping big clients happy, wouldn’t that add to the company’s revenue? Of course, the modest savings from Outlook integration grow when you add other features and functions to your telecommunications. Users can review their contact history from a central location, versus manually going through emails, chat logs, or notes from past phone calls. This centralized contact tracking function offers another opportunity to reclaim time that customer service and sales can use for training or other value-added activities.
Zultys Outlook Communicator
Consider this example of an outlook integration for VoIP phones. Customers who use Outlook with Zultys Outlook Communicator can:
- Make phone calls directly from Outlook
- Use Outlook Journal (which automatically opens) to write notes
- Save faxes and voicemails
- Change or add to your Outlook Calendar without opening the calendar in a separate window
Think of Outlook email integration as one part of a strategy to improve business processes from lead generation to customer service.
You might want to check with an expert on IP telephone systems to find out more about Outlook and other integration options that might be valuable for your business.
Other Integration Options
Outlook is only one part of a telecommunications toolset. Your business may have something else for video calls, for instant messaging, and for sharing files. A good VoIP system can take on those functions, without using optional equipment or premium features. Some VoIP phone providers can also supply integrated telecommunication tools, like Zultys Contact Center and Zultys Advanced Communicator (ZAC)™.
This contact center software brings together Webchat, a fax server and call recording. If your business uses Salesforce for customer relationship management and marketing, you can link the two, saving time that salespeople would ordinarily use to have a call, take notes, and then open Salesforce. Instead of being a business expense, your communications technology becomes a source of efficiency and cost savings.
Outlook and VoIP Can Be Powerful Together
Integrating your phone system with Microsoft’s Outlook email program can be a substantial time saver for busy sales or customer service people. In both cases, streamlined communication reduces busy work that employees can then use on value-added activities. The benefits of a VoIP phone system increase when a business can use a collaboration platform and a contact center to streamline more activities. If you want to know more about the potential of IP telephone technology for your business, contact us to set up a free consultation.