Internet Phone Features that Make Your Business Look Huge

by Leanne Tremblay

Are you worried that your customers don’t take you seriously? Presenting a professional and business savvy image is essential if you’re a home-based business owner. Looking like you’re in business for real and that you care about your customers is the first half of attracting new business. The other half is actually living up to the image and delivering customer service that’s second to none.

Thankfully, there’s a new way to set up your home business phone system that lets you focus on your customers and build a business that looks huge. VOIP or “voice-over-IP” is the industry lingo for internet phone service. Instead of using the regular phone lines to carry voice conversations, VOIP uses the internet, the same internet you use for email, surfing, downloading, playing music, and so on.

More than just traditional phone service, internet telephone services give you flexibility and a bucket-load of calling features. Your phone usage is easier to manage AND it saves you money. In fact, you can save 30 to 60% over your old phone bill using VOIP.

If you’ve already heard the VOIP phone companies clamoring for your attention, like Voip.com, Vonage, SunRocket and others, that’s because the broadband Internet phone industry has exploded with new startups looking for your business. Whichever internet phone service you choose, there’s a set of home business features you need to have:

Unlimited Long Distance Plans

One phone bill that’s the same every month is a budget saver that’s worth signing up for. A VOIP unlimited long distance plan includes calling within North America and often certain International locations. You get a new free number or transfer the existing business number you have over to the service. If you deal with customers all over the country or overseas, you can stay in touch with them and still get the same size phone bill every month. No surprises.

800 Toll free Numbers

Maybe it’s important for you to let your customers or clients call you free of charge, a great practice for taking orders and providing customer support. Unlike toll free numbers with regular phone companies, internet toll free numbers are inexpensive. Around $5.00 a month.

Additional Numbers and International Numbers

VOIP companies often call these virtual numbers. They’re simply extra numbers that you can have in other geographic locations. For example, if an important client or industry is centered in New York and you live in Berkeley, you can get a virtual New York number that your clients can call to get a hold of you. The benefit to you is that it allows you to set up a presence, or an “office”, in other states or cities. In minutes you’ll go from local to national! Even international virtual numbers are available with some providers.

Dedicated Fax Numbeers

Fax numbers can also be added to some VOIP plans, so if this is important to you, make sure you ask about fax service. If you sign up for a Vonage Small Business account, for example, you get a free fax number with 500 minutes per month of outgoing fax service and unlimited incoming faxes.

Free Calling Features like Voicemail and Caller ID

Voicemail, call forwarding, caller ID and many more features come standard with most VOIP plans. You’ll pay more for these with regular phone service. Some features aren’t even available from the phone company, like “simultaneous ring”. With this feature, a client calls one number and your business phone, cell phone, and home phone all ring at the same time. As a home business owner, you have to wear a lot of hats at once and it’s unlikely you’ll be tied to your desk all the time. What this means for you is that you can still get those important calls when you’re not in your home office.

Computer-based Dialing and Contact Management

Computer-based dialing and contact management is another great way that VOIP phone services can help you run your home business. Armed with a headset and softphone (software that lets you make and receive calls through your PC or Mac), you can make calls quickly and efficiently, track your phone usage, and manage all your contacts. Voip.com offers softphone service for free with its unlimited long distance plan. Other popular free softphones include Skype and Gizmo Project. With these programs, all calls are free if you’re calling other Skype or Gizmo users. Calls to regular phones and mobiles are subject to low rates, like 2 cents a minute anywhere in the US.

Click-to-Call Buttons for Web Sites and Newsletters

The more ways you can make it easy for potential customers to call YOU, the better. Click-to-call buttons for web sites and email newsletters are easy with VOIP but impossible with regular phone service. These interactive buttons are a snap to add to a web site, blog or newsletter. When the customer clicks the button, they are either connected with you or prompted to listen to a personalized message. For example, GrandCentral (www.grandcentral.com), lets you add a web button that sends callers to a voicemail with a description of this month’s sale items. Callers can leave a message and then you decide when to call them back.

Free Video Calling and Video Messaging

VOIP also includes a new breed of communication made popular by YouTube and other video sharing services. Sending video messages to your customers is a way you can reinforce a hands-on approach. You can email your personalized video recordings to your mailing list, or post the message on your web site or blog. SightSpeed (www.sightspeed.com) video phone software provides great quality, normal looking video with awesome sound. The best part, it is free to download and use.

As a home business owner, you can’t afford not to look into internet telephone service. VOIP can literally transform the way you interact with your customers over the phone, on the web and through email, making your small business look big and delivering memorable customer service at the same time.

Leanne Tremblay is a freelance writer and publisher of www.quickstartvoip.com, an online resource for people interested in learning about VOIP unlimited long distance plans, free VOIP softphones, video phones, VOIP hardware, and VOIP providers.