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You can find a lot of advice out there about how to grow your business, but what you may find less advice about is how to make sure you keep up with your business growth when it happens. We've all heard about some business that got too big, too fast, and ended up stretched way too thin to support themselves and their customers. "Too much success" may seem like an oxymoron, but it can happen if your infrastructure doesn't grow along with your business.

Hosted VoIP supports your business growth by making it easy to grow your telecom service alongside your business, so that it can expand to fit whatever size you need. Unlike with a traditional phone system, which requires expensive private branch exchanges and other equipment, with Hosted VoIP phone systems you never have to worry about system replacement. Adding new people to the system is as easy as ordering another VoIP Phone. Because a VoIP phone system is completely customizable, you can adjust your settings to fit the needs of your business and each individual employee.

It's just as easy to add locations to the phone service, whether in or out of town. Because your VoIP phone service is hosted in the cloud, the new locations will seem like they are on the same system, no matter where they are located. This provides your business with several advantages:

• Centralization of Functions - Hosted VoIP also allows for a variety of centralizing functions that can help you to manage your growing business. You can add locations but not duplicate functions by centralizing them. For example, you can centralize your customer service function at one location. Calls can be routed to this team via an auto attendant option or a transfer to the group speed dial.
• Decentralization of Functions – An alternative approach would be to create a decentralized team that handles the function for all locations no matter where they are located, providing your business with the flexibility of employing the right resource. The ring group or call queue for the function can route calls to wherever the team members are located.
• Number Assignments – You can assign new local numbers for other parts of the country where you're looking to grow your business, whether you have locations there or not. And those numbers can ring any phone you want, even in your home office. Employee direct dial numbers can be based upon where they are located or where your home office is located depending upon your brand strategy.

Business growth comes down to providing exceptional service. If you satisfy your customers consistently and admirably, then you're likely to attract more customers. To provide exceptional customer service, your business must have an infrastructure that can support expansion and to make sure that you can deliver.

Hosted VoIP phone service supports your expanding business and offers a lot of opportunities for enhancing your customer service. VoIP gives you the ability to easily set and adjust auto attendant features for those times when there's nobody around to answer the phone. It also provides a host of options for advanced call routing and access to mobile employees, making sure that there is always somebody to answer the phone and that the call gets to the right person to address the customer’s need.

Whatever the current size of your business, odds are you'd like to see it grow. Hosted VoIP phone service from sipVine can help you grow and support your business. With the right system, no matter how big your business gets, you can always give the kind of exceptional customer service that you want to be providing.

Is it time to make the switch to a Hosted VoIP provider who can deliver the customer service your business deserves? Make every interaction with customers count with the help of sipVine's complete business communication solution! sipVine provides Hosted VoIP services to businesses across the United States. A better phone system for your small business with advanced features to match your unique business needs! Make your company's business communications better by engaging better customer experiences at every touchpoint. Want to learn more? Our small business phone service representatives are here to answer any questions you have!

You do not need an expensive phone system to enjoy the benefits of call management via a call queue or ring group.  Securing your service with the right Hosted VoIP provider who can effectively consult with you and program your call flow to balance customer needs and employee capacity will deliver the benefits you are looking for with your hosted system.

For high inbound call volume companies, a hot debate is whether to utilize call queues or ring groups.  There are benefits to each, but let’s start with a general description:

Ring Group – Inbound calls are directed to a set of employees and they ring all phones at the same time.  If no one is available to answer, it can be programmed to roll to a back-up group or move into an auto attendant.

Call Queue – Inbound calls are directed into a queue, where the caller is on hold for an available attendant.  Employees need to log in and log out of the queue to accept calls.  Programming and system capability differ widely at this point, but typically there are either opt out processes or time out process that direct callers to an automated attendant.

The beauty of the call queue is the equitable distribution of calls to employees in the queue.  Callers typically will hear hold music and messages while they wait.  Depending upon preferences of the company and their customers, the length of time in queue is a programmable variable.  The challenge with call queues is the management of the employees from a log in/log out perspective.  If someone forgets to log out, calls could be directed to an unattended station.  Again, there are some programming variables to solve for such an issue, but it could lead to some longer hold times for a caller or two until the programming kicks in.

Ring groups are more of a static program with a fixed number of rings between groups and ultimately to an auto attendant as a back-up.  Callers can either hear ringing or hold music while ringing.  The automated attendants serve as back-ups and can provide for routing to people or departments or for message delivery.  The benefit of this approach is that employees in the group are free to move about without worrying about logging in and out of the queue.  Additionally, the fixed amount of time before back up groups or attendants are engaged is seen as a benefit.  The downside is potential inequity of call disbursement between members of the group.

Ultimately, the decision comes down to striking the right balance between customer preference and employee management.  Companies that bring a solid understanding of customer preferences to the table are a step ahead in programming the right solution. 

About the author:  Mark Greim is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at sipVine, a provider of Hosted VoIP Phone Service. Mark has extensive experience working for start-up or entrepreneurial organizations and has a passion for affordable, reliable, and purposeful technology solutions in those environments.