IVR Or VoIP, Which Phone System, Is Right For You?

If you’re looking for a new system for your telecoms network you’ve probably heard the terms IVR and VoIP a lot. However if you’re not familiar with them, trying to work out which will be the most beneficial for your company can be difficult.

So if you’re struggling to decipher your Voice Response from your Internet Protocol, here’s a quick guide to help you to choose the product that is most appropriate for your needs.

What is IVR?

IVR or Interactive Voice Response is a telephone answering service that can easily be integrated into your current phone system.

When clients or suppliers phone your company their call is answered by the IVR service. It then plays them a recorded welcome message and gives them a list of options for how their call can proceed.

By choosing an option from the list their call is then forwarded quickly and efficiently to the correct recipient.

What are the benefits?

The main benefits of an IVR system are firstly that it negates the need for a company to have a physical office premises.

When the incoming call is forwarded it can be sent to any phone, anywhere. So a customer can call the office and you can answer whether you’re at home, on the train or on site.

Secondly, an IVR system will give callers the impression that your company is much bigger than it is, perfect if you’re trying to give off a professional and competent image.

When is it most suitable?

An IVR system is probably most suitable if you’ve got a network of contractors and employees that need to be reached no matter where they are geographically.

The system also works well if you want to keep costs down as you won’t need to employ a full time secretary to field incoming calls.

What is VoIP?

A VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol system uses the internet to digitally transmit sound from your phone to the recipient’s.

You can also have a visual element by adding video calling to your system.

What are the benefits?

VoIP systems, once set up, are incredibly cheap to run as you’re bypassing the need to hire telephone lines.

There may be some extra costs for calling landlines and extensions, but on the whole a VoIP system can save you a lot of money.

Another benefit is the fact that you can use the same phone number from wherever you are in the world for both incoming and outgoing calls.

Simply plug your VoIP phone into the internet and you can use it in exactly the same way as you would in the office.

When is it most suitable?

A VoIP system is obviously very suitable for anyone looking to save money on their telecoms system. It’s also great for a growing business as new phone lines can be added very easily with little to no extra cost.

But where a VoIP system really comes into its own is in its mobility.

Giving businessmen and company owners the ability to travel and still stay in touch with everything that happening in the office is invaluable.

If you’re still unsure which phone system is right for you, contact a service provider and seek some expert advice. They should be able to help you identify your specific needs and be able to find a way to meet them. Hopefully now you can decide which phone system?

What’s for definite is that, if you’ve been struggling with an old fashioned or out of date system, the ease and flexibility of a VoIP or IVR system will make running your business even easier.

Author Bio: This post is written by Nathan Griffiths who is interested in phone software.