The Small Business Guide to Virtual PBX System Features

The Small Business Guide to Virtual PBX System Features

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If you've found this article, chances are you are searching for a Virtual PBX System for your small, home-based or mobile business.  The good news about today's offerings is that there are cheap hosted alternatives out there that can compete with expensive private systems owned by the fortune 500 companies.  That means more options for you.  It also means that before selecting one, you have to understand the details of what they offer.  That is the focus of this article... to "de-technify" the functionality offered so that you can quickly understand it, implement it and move on with running your business.

So without further ado, here is an alphabetical listing of virtual PBX features along with explanations.  Use this as a reference guide when comparing services.

Answering Rules

Set up how your system handles calls based on a number of factors including time of day, day of the week, date range and caller ID.  For example, if calling after the business hours you set up in your system, the caller will hear the after-hours greeting and will be forwarded to voicemail.  Or if a call comes in from a certain caller ID, a personalized greeting can be set for that person or you can have it go directly to a particular extension. 

Call Forwarding

Callers who dial your local or toll free number are directed to any number of phones you assign in your system.  They can be forwarded to any type of phone anywhere in the world. 

Calling Card

Use your phone system as a calling card to place calls from any phone just like a calling card.

Call Logs

A record of your calls and faxes is stored on your Web-based account with details such as who called, the phone number, and the date, time, length and result of the transaction.

Call Queues

No busy signal, no voice mail.  If you are on a call and another one comes in, they are automatically placed on hold until one of your forwarding numbers become available.

Call Screening

A feature where an auto-attendant calls you first before connecting a call and announces the caller's name. It then gives you options to accept, reject or send it to voicemail. You can also block callers and see blocked caller IDs.

Call Transfers

Forward calls in progress to any extension you have set up in your system.

Click-to-call Me

A feature offered by RingCentral where you can embed code on your webpage or email to have the system immediately call interested customers.

Dedicated Fax

A service where you can select a number different from your main phone number to handle incoming faxes.

Dial-by-name Directory

Get that big business image with an auto-generated company dial-by-name directory offered by several companies.  The caller simply dials by first or last name to be connected to the correct extension.

Digital Line or VOIP

Allows you to use your internet connection to answer and make calls instead of forwarding them to landlines or cell numbers.  The advantage of this feature is that it is generally a fixed low monthly charge instead of having to pay per usage when you use your phone to answer calls.

Fax on Demand

A service that allows the caller to select an option when calling you to have a document faxed to their fax machine. 

Greetings

Includes the main greeting a customer hears when they call you as well as voicemail greetings customers hear prior to leaving messages.  Depending on the provider you select, you'll have the option to record custom greetings yourself and or have them recorded by professional voice talents.

Internet Fax

Receive faxes to your designated number and view them via email or by logging into your web account.  Send faxes from your web account or by using fax software provided by some virtual pbx services.

Local Numbers

Includes your selection of a local phone number.  This is useful when you're looking to establish a local marketing presence in a certain market or when selling to international customers that don't have the ability to call toll free numbers.

Message Alerts

Get text messages on your cell phone or PDA alerting you to new faxes and voicemail.

Mobile Functionality

Different companies call it different things but essentially it allows you to access your phone system through software installed on iPhones and Blackberry's thus allowing you greater mobility.

Music & Messages On Hold

Have music or specialized messages play while your callers are on hold.  Most companies allow you to customize the on hold music.

Outgoing Calls

Some services allow you to place outgoing calls over the phone or VOIP and the person you are calling will see your toll free (or local) number in their caller ID.  A few companies also offer click calling where you highlight a number in your system and it will do the dialing for you.

Outlook Integration

Fax directly from Outlook and synchronize your Outlook contacts with your phone system.

Professional Recordings

You can create customized greetings and have them recorded by professional voice talent to enhance your image. 

Real-Time Call Control

Certain companies offer you the ability to manage your calls online, in real time with options to accept, reject, send the caller to voicemail or send an instant voice message.

Toll Free Numbers

Includes your selection of a main toll free number to use with your service.  These include 800,866, 877 numbers as well as vanity numbers where you spell out a word as part of the phone number.

Virtual PBX or Extensions

The heart of the system, this is where you can create multiple extensions within your phone system.  You can assign multiple extensions for departments (billing, customer service, sales, etc), for individual employees or for different product lines or businesses you may have.  The big advantage here is that you can seamlessly offer your customer access to the multiple extensions for people or groups that are spread out across the country without having to call different phone numbers.

Voicemail

All systems offer unlimited voicemail where your customers can leave messages. 

Voicemail Delivery

The different voicemail delivery options include calling into your system to pick up voicemails, logging into your account over the web to view and listen to them and having your voicemails forwarded to an email address you designate where the message will be recorded in an audio file you can listen to.