Every businesses needs good communication in order to succeed in the connected world. Here is how to select a business phone plan to meet the needs of your business while keeping costs low. For starters, if you’re looking for a simple to deploy future-proof solution that will easily scale with your business as it grows, then you have to look at business phone plans that will fit your current needs – not seemingly perfect ones that are all bark and no bite. Here are quick benefits of utilizing this technology for your business.

  • Save on your phone bill with our included call packs
  • No more line rental
  • Easy and quick to deploy
  • Multi-site networking is a breeze plus you’ll enjoy free on-net calls between sites
  • Take the office with you with one number on multiple devices (iPhone, Android, Mac and PC)

Is your business ready to go mobile? Gone are the days when we’re tethered on our wall in the mercy of a cabled telephone line. Cell phones are useful when being mobile is a major concern. If you have a business where you have to be out of the office most of the time, then it’s very important to be reachable and available to take extended conversations.

Research your company calling patterns.Obtain the copies of past phone bills to estimate the company’s calling habits. Are your business calls mostly local, or does a big amount of activity take place across the country? Would you require having a free or low-cost international call for your plan? Would texting and data be useful to your organization? Once you have answered all these questions, you can begin assessing what type of business phone plan that will suit the company’s needs.

Invest in your key people.Not everyone in your company will need a phone for their daily work routine. Depending on the size of your company, limiting the number of phones you acquire can save money on the plan that you will eventually purchase.

If you’ve already mapped out your company’s communication needs, that should dictate who is going to be issued a phone. Senior management should obviously have one so they can reach each other during crisis and emergency management situations. Also, if you have a sales force that has to be mobile, you can seamlessly work with them through an enabled business phone.

Looking for a service provider. The easiest way to select the right service provider is by researching their capabilities, which can be easily accomplished through online research. Their standard solution should have the following features.

  • Keep existing phone numbers
  • Hold, transfer and conference
  • Voicemail to email
  • Call queuing and attendant
  • Automatic Divert to Mobile
  • Call forwarding
  • Three way call
  • Speed dialing

Premium features of a business phone plan includes elective call forwarding, automatic hold and hold call, shared call appearance, and simultaneous ring.

Furthermore, good business phone plans typically offer one bill for phone, internet and mobile service. They should also cover you with a 100 percent on-site parts and labor equipment guarantee and 24/7 customer service support. Lastly, you’ll have the choice when it comes to choosing a carrier.

It’s time you harness the benefits of business phone plans for your business. Your competitors sure do.

By Eddy Z

Eddy is the editorial columnist in Business Fundas, and oversees partner relationships. He posts articles of partners on various topics related to strategy, marketing, supply chain, technology management, social media, e-business, finance, economics and operations management. The articles posted are copyrighted under a Creative Commons unported license 4.0. To contact him, please direct your emails to [email protected].