It’s no great secret that many small businesses live and die by the telephone. Without an effective and affordable means of communicating with customers, clients and vendors, the average small business would be dead in the water. Seeing how critical a good phone solution is to your bottom line, don’t you think that you should be using the best service available? A virtual small business telephone service is the ideal telecommunication solution for most companies, giving them an affordable, flexible way to communicate with those that make their business.

The Cisco blog has a recent post regarding virtual business phone services and why your small business should consider this telecommunication option. Many small companies are still relying on a copper-wire based phone solution when they really need to consider a virtual phone service which can be a very affordable, yet more feature rich, alternative to their current business phone system.

Virtual small business phone systems brings many advantages to any sized business, including small companies that think they cannot afford to expand past the basic phone service offered by their local telco. Here are some features an Internet-based small business phone system can provide your company:

• Minimal initial cost – Beyond the price of compatible phone handsets, you will not have much initial cost when you go with a web-based business phone system. Because the service is cloud-based, you don’t have any expensive phone switching hardware sitting in a closet, nor do you need an IT staff to operate the service. All system upgrades and issues are handled by your phone service provider. All you need to supply is a high-speed Internet connection which you can plug your VOIP handsets into, connecting your phone service to the provider’s servers.
• Easy setup – If you have ever connected a computer to the Internet, then you will be able to handle connecting your virtual phone service hardware. Basically all you have to do is plug your pre-configured phone equipment into your Internet network and then log into your online account to quickly do the initial setup. You don’t have to run phone wires all over the office, nor do you need to be an electrical engineer to hook up the phone system. Your virtual telephone service is plug-and-play ready.
• Full call routing – With a virtual solution, you have complete control over inbound call routing. Each phone extension will have its own dedicated line, which means it is simple for an outside caller to get ahold of a specific employee. You also have the ability to route incoming calls to an off-site location, allowing you to transfer incoming calls to your home phone number or cell phone. Never be out of reach of your most important clients.
• Fax and voicemail – What would a phone service be without complete voicemail services? How about the ability to send and receive faxes via the Internet? All of this, and much more, is yours when you go with a virtual small office phone service. Try that with your ancient handset plugged into a copper phone line!

A virtual office phone system is the answer to many a small business owner’s prayers for an affordable, flexible, user friendly communication solution. Don’t have your hands tied with the traditional business phone service your copper wire phone company is trying to pass off as the ultimate business communication solution. Take your business communication virtual and get the same features the largest corporations have enjoyed for years, at a price suitable for even the smallest companies. You will wonder why you didn’t make this move long ago!