VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)

30 Powerful VoIP Features and Benefits that Can Grow Your Business

Did you know small businesses can save up to 68% of their communication costs over two years by opting for a VoIP usage-based plan? 

Besides, VoIP is much more than just about making and receiving voice calls. The technology brings a plethora of rich features that can empower sales and customer support teams to perform at their peak and enjoy limitless possibilities.

However, to enjoy VoIP benefits optimally, it’s essential to choose a good vendor that provides all the important VoIP phone features.

Different solution providers offer different VoIP features; some could be very limited, while others can have advanced capabilities. Ideally, you want to pick a vendor that provides advanced business VoIP features.

In this post, we discuss various VoIP features that you should look for in your VoIP software.

30 VoIP Features for Sales and Customer Support Teams

VoIP offers tons of rich features for businesses and teams of all types. 

Here are 30 of the most VoIP phone features used by the mid-market company that you should look out for when choosing your VoIP software:

1. Smart Call Routing

The smart call routing feature connects a caller to the best agent or support expert to handle their query. 

It can be based on the type of call (e.g., a sales call might go to an agent in sales, while a support call might go to someone in customer service), or it can be based on the identity of the caller (e.g., a call from a VIP customer might go directly to their account manager).

Smart routing allows businesses to provide personalized experiences for each customer, improving targeting and efficiency, as well as reducing wait times.

2. Voicemail

You don’t want to miss a customer call just because you’re unavailable or busy on another call. VoIP voicemail is the perfect feature for this. 

A business VoIP phone system collects your voicemail messages from callers and sends them to the chosen mailbox so you can respond proactively. You can also receive your messages in the form of text with voicemail-to-email transcriptions.

 3. Voicemail Drop

Voicemail Drop is a VoIP feature that allows you to record or select a voice message from pre-recorded messages and then drop it in your contacts’ voicemail with a single click.

The biggest benefit of using VoIP voicemail drop is that it saves you time.

You can set up voicemail drop to automatically drop a voicemail after a certain number of rings on an unanswered call or after a certain number of seconds on an answered call.

4. Call Recording

VoIP call recorders are vital for teams at call centers and helpdesks.

The recorded calls help train new employees and improve current employees’ performance by allowing them to identify areas where they need to get better.

Call recordings can also be used to review customer interactions after an issue has been resolved by the support team to identify where improvements can be made in customer service.

Further, VoIP call recorders can be used to archive calls in case of data loss or to extract important information shared during the call.

5. SMS Automation

SMS automation is a feature of cloud phone systems that allows business owners to send automated texts to customers based on pre-defined events.

Businesses can use SMS automation to send automated texts at scale. Sales teams often use the feature to notify leads about promotions or send marketing messages en masse.

SMS automation is also helpful for those who are looking for an easy way to send out reminders and confirmations for appointments.

6. Smart IVR

The basic functionality of an interactive voice response (IVR) system is that it lets you pre-record your greetings and options to help callers navigate your business call tree on their own.

Smart IVR software can use your past interactions and calls history data to personalize greetings.

In case of escalated calls or those that need immediate attention from agents, the smart IVR automatically routes them to your agents based on their availability and skill set.

Smart IVRs can even be automated to run in the background or after hours if your business operates 24/7. This makes it easier for customers to reach you at any time, thus increasing your availability and improving the customer experience.

7. Click-to-Call and Text

As a sales leader, you need to ensure your agents don’t spend too much time shuffling between the phone and the CRM.

A good VoIP service provider will help you add these buttons to the CRM easily and thus make your sales team more efficient.

This feature allows agents to call or text customers directly from the CRM. They can even take down call notes and dispositions on the same platform.

Plus, centralization of customer data ensures the agent has full context the next time they interact with that customer.

8. Number Portability

Porting or transferring an existing number to a new phone system is a common VoIP feature to consider when transitioning from an outdated PBX system or switching providers.

While the process can be complicated, with this number portability feature, VoIP providers make the process easier by handling many technical details, like activating new equipment and coordinating with telecom companies.

9. Conference Call

Call conferencing is a feature that allows you to connect multiple parties simultaneously through a conference call.

The participants of a three-way call (or a call with more participants) can freely contribute to the conversation, ask questions or provide answers, depending on their role in the meeting.

The ability to talk to multiple people simultaneously is extremely valuable for businesses and can promote efficiency and prompt decision-making.

10. Call Insights 

This is a very handy feature for sales managers and supervisors. It’s also useful for companies that outsource their sales operations to external vendors.

It helps them identify patterns in the sales process, improve the agent’s performance and increase sales conversion rates.

With the help of this feature, managers can now get a quick overview of all their agents’ performance in one place. With a simple click on the agent name, they can see further details on their activity like calls made, results and call duration, etc.

11. Multi-Device Access

One of the unique features of a business VoIP system is multi-device access. This allows users to receive calls on multiple devices, including their smartphones.

You can even configure your business phone system in such a way that you can make and receive calls on your mobile device using your office number.

The best VoIP app for android and iOS even adds flexibility to the cloud phone infra.

12. Sales Dialer

Bolster your outbound call campaigns with sales dialers. You can sync newly added customers in your CRM with an auto dialer as well as automatically connect with customers in your contacts.

With a predictive dialer, you can distribute the connected calls to the available agents based on different parameters.

sales dialer is thus one of the very powerful workflow automation features that can help your team be more efficient and productive.

13. Call Monitoring

Call Monitoring is one of the most common business VoIP features. It allows supervisors to monitor ongoing calls.

In most cases, call monitoring is used for training purposes, but it can also be used for quality assurance and other uses that require a review of conversations between agents and customers.

14. Call Analytics 

Call analytics are used to measure, optimize and analyze the effectiveness of a company’s inbound and outbound calls.

This feature goes beyond call tracking since it uses data to help you understand what works and what doesn’t work with your customers.

Get real-time views of key performance indicators (KPIs) like average talk time, max time on hold, average handling time, and more. You can quickly assess each agent’s performance to coach them in real time and identify areas for improvement.

15. Business Tool Integrations

With this VoIP integration feature, you can integrate your business phone with a variety of third-party software, including CRM software and helpdesk platforms.

Integrating the business phone with CRM software has two major advantages. First, you can directly dial customers from within the CRM interface. Second, you can track the entire conversation on the CRM platform itself.

Similarly, integrating with helpdesk platforms also provides advantages for support teams. Agents can directly dial customers from inside the helpdesk platform and track the entire conversation there.

Thus, VoIP integration not only streamlines workflows but also provides a detailed record of all conversations that can be used for quality analysis.

16. Whispering and Barging

With the call whispering feature, managers can hear what agents are saying to customers without the customer being aware of it.

The manager can then “whisper” instructions to the agent about how to deal with a potentially difficult customer situation.

Further, the call barging feature allows the manager to ‘barge’ into an ongoing call in order to assist with any complex or escalated issues that may have arisen during the conversation.

This three-way call functionality can be very helpful, especially when handling difficult accounts.

17. Data Auto Logging

Data Auto Logging is a unique feature that automatically logs important call details to your CRM, saving you hours of manual logging.

This VoIP feature is useful for all kinds of businesses, especially for those using a CRM and manually logging customer calls.

18. Call Notes and Disposition Codes

While talking to customers over the phone, support agents need to rightly know the context, reason, or outcome of previous calls or messages. Call disposition codes help support agents with this.

Call notes are another VoIP feature that help support agents stay on top of their game. Whether it’s a tip that a customer shared or a complaint, call notes are an easy way to document important information shared during the call.

19. Conversation Intelligence

Conversation Intelligence is one of the most advanced features of VoIP calls, helping you turn calls into data to improve sales performance.

It uses artificial intelligence to analyze your calls in real time and extract key insights from conversations, including the call content, call quality, and communication skills.

This way, you can get a clear picture of what’s working and what’s not, so you can improve your sales pitches and process.

20. Call Queuing

Call queuing is a vital feature for organizations with high call volumes. It places inbound callers into designated queues and moves them forward in the order of their call. Organizing calls in this manner reduces the wait time for customers.

21. Call Flipping

Suppose you’re talking to your customer on your laptop but need to quickly transfer the in-progress call to your smartphone.

The call-flipping feature makes this possible without having to reschedule the call. It’s a handy VoIP feature that provides the utmost flexibility.

22. Hot Desking

If your employees don’t have a designated personal line but share workstations, a hot desking feature can be extremely useful.

With hot desking, your employees can log in to their accounts from any connected device, enabling them to work at different times from different devices.

23. Digital Faxing

Some VoIP services even let businesses send and receive a fax. This can be an extremely useful feature if you have clients who rely on sending documents through fax. You’ll be done away with the need to install physical fax machines.

24. Anonymous Call Rejection

Not all calls are genuine. If crank calls are bothering your staff, you can ward them off with an anonymous call rejection feature. This prevents calls from blocked or anonymous caller IDs from reaching you.

25. Music on Hold

No one enjoys a long hold. Make the wait tolerable for your customers with good-quality tunes as call holding music. You can use this feature to shorten the callers’ perceived hold time and reduce call drop rates.

26. Custom Ringback

While the music playing on hold may keep your callers engaged, a custom ringback enables you to establish brand differentiation.

With this feature, you can customize what audio callers hear when they call you, probably a jingle or sound associated with your brand.

With memorable jingles having the power to affect customers’ buying decisions, it may be well worth the investment.

27. Live Chat

Many customers prefer messaging their queries to making phone calls. Having a live chat or instant messaging option has become indispensable for customer-centric businesses. Many hosted PBX come with this useful low-cost feature.

28. Mobile App

Most VoIP providers today offer some kind of mobile app. The flexibility of mobile apps lets you have a conversation with your team or customers from anywhere, even on the go.

29. Priority Alert

This feature helps you set priority calls apart with unique phone rings and instant alert push notifications. Many VoIP service providers have this default feature which you’ll need to set up manually.

30. Speed Dial

Have a hard time memorizing important numbers? The speed dial feature can come to your rescue. It lets you reach out to frequent lines with a shorter sequence of numbers, sometimes even a single digit.

JustCall, one of the most preferred VoIP providers, brings a large stack of high-end features. Our all-in-one cloud phone system is the only solution your sales and customer support teams will ever require. Check out our features here.

Make and Receive Phone Calls on Chrome Browser with JustCall

Initially, the JustCall Chrome Extension allowed users to make calls directly from the website of their potential customers. But this extension was not completing the loop as it didn’t allow you to receive phone calls.

To receive phone calls, you either had to keep your JustCall account open in a Chrome browser tab or receive it on your mobile phone.

justcall-chrome-browser

Today, thousands of businesses worldwide are using the JustCall Chrome extension, which allows you to receive incoming calls from any page on Google Chrome.

The Click-To-Call Chrome Extension for making VoIP calls enables you to call up any available number on a website directly via your JustCall account.

Simply right-click on the phone number. Choose the option of calling via JustCall, and our extension will dial it using your JustCall account.

calling-via-JustCall

Steps to Make and Receive Phone calls on Chrome Browser

Once you install JustCall’s Chrome extension, log in to your JustCall account. Now, you may close the JustCall tab.

Whenever an incoming call is received on any of your JustCall numbers, you will get an incoming call notification on your Chrome tab.

With the all-new JustCall Chrome Extension, making outbound calls and receiving phone calls has gotten easier! Let’s walk you through it.

  • Answer Incoming Calls Easily

With the new JustCall Chrome extension, you can answer incoming calls from any web page you’re browsing. Whenever a call comes in, you get a Chrome notification right on your screen. The JustCall icon blinks.

You can answer incoming calls from the notification itself or click on the extension button to answer calls.

Apart from this, the notifications appear on other apps as well. Thus, you can receive calls even when you are amidst some other work.

As already mentioned, the icon in your Chrome Extension bar blinks when you receive incoming calls and alerts you to click and answer the phone calls. You can either mute, hold or transfer the call directly to your team member.

Answer Incoming Calls Easily with Justcall
  • Access your Recent Calls and Analytics

In this new update, you can very easily check for your recent calls. Calls you missed or received are all accessible under the ‘Recent Calls’ section.

Just click on the Chrome extension icon, and you can call or text your recently contacted numbers or contacts from any web page.

access-your-recent-calls-and-analytics

You can also open your JustCall dashboard to take note of the call insights.

  • Access JustCall Click-to-Call to Make Calls From Any Page

No matter which page you’re currently working on, to make phone calls, click on the Chrome Extension icon and then Click “Open Dialer.” You can start making VoIP calls from any web page.

The JustCall Dialer appears on top of your web page, and you can make calls and send text messages straight from your Chrome browser.

Alternatively, you can select a phone number anywhere on any web page, right-click on the number and then call or text that number easily from JustCall.

Sales Dialers: A Must-Have VoIP Feature

sales dialer acts as a co-pilot for sales teams. A built-in feature for outbound sales campaigns, the sales dialer increases sales productivity by as much as 200%. 

What is a Sales Dialer?

A sales dialer is a built-in feature or tool that automatically dials up phone numbers from your database.

Unlike a normal dialer, agents don’t have to punch numbers manually. On getting an answer, the sales dialer will connect the agent to a live contact.

To put it in perspective, it automates the dialing process for the agents, sparing them tedious manual tasks. It only connects to the answered calls. Meanwhile, all unanswered and abandoned calls are filtered out.

It also leaves pre-recorded voice messages (VoIP voicemail drops) on behalf of the sales agents on entering the voice mailbox.

Further, the sales dialer helps increase outbound calls and talk time and minimizes idle time.

In fact, statistics show that the sales dialer can increase agents’ calling capacity by 7.5 times. As a result, agents spend more time making conversations than dialing.

How Does the Sales Dialer Work?

The sales dialer uses simple and affordable technology. To operate the sales dialer, an agent will need the sales dialer feature, a voice modem, a laptop, a computer/mobile, and an active phone line.

The sales dialer can be used with a VoIP phone system or PSTN. In a call center setting, each agent will have a dedicated phone line to access the sales dialer.

Most importantly, it’s the sales dialer feature that directs the computer which numbers to dial. It completely removes the need for manual dialing.

Once the agent starts an outbound dialing campaign, the sales dialer solution dials up one number after the other from a database.

It uses predictive dialing to call multiple numbers simultaneously, predicting the duration within which an agent will get free from an ongoing call.

  • Predictive Dialer

The predictive dialer is a sophisticated solution that uses advanced algorithms to predict the answer time as well as the agent’s availability.

Both the sales dialer and the predictive dialer remove the need for manual dialing, thereby eliminating any form of delay in sales prospecting altogether.

The predictive dialer calls up different prospects simultaneously. Voice detection takes the agent to the answered calls. In the meantime, ringing calls are set aside. As soon as one of the calls is answered, the next available agent is connected.

That being the case, the predictive dialer reduces the agent downtime to 5%. Agents also have the option for a cool-off time between calls and are more productive in the process.

  • Voice Detection

The voice detection solution helps separate a human voice from that of an answering machine.

It discards calls that take longer than 4 rings or more than 25 seconds to be answered—given that it’s less likely that the prospect will answer the call in this case.

In case the call is answered, the voice detection solution identifies the human voice by the length of the words spoken. If it encounters a pause after the first set of words, it categorizes the voice as ‘human.’

On coming across an answering machine, the auto dialer uses the functionality that allows it to drop voicemails. So the agent doesn’t have to record a fresh voicemail each time.

Sales Dialer Advantages

The sales dialer has altered the way call centers and sales teams function. Here’s how it can turn out to be a boon for teams:

1. Reduces Human Error

In manually dialing prospects, agents can end up punching the wrong numbers or calling the same number again.

Making calls is time-consuming as is. Dialing up the wrong numbers further causes disruptions in the flow and wastes time. This is where the sales dialer comes in handy.

With the dialing process automated, there’s no room for error. Punching numbers is replaced by the automatic calling system.

So you don’t have to worry about calling the wrong number or the same number twice. The sales dialer feature connects you to the right contacts and eliminates the scope for mistakes.

2. Minimizes Agent Down Time

Dialing each contact consumes extra seconds the agents could’ve spent speaking with more customers. There’s a good amount of downtime with conventional phone systems, rendering them unproductive.

Selling ends up taking the backseat due to all the manual work that comes with outbound calling. The agents can hand over the dialing part to the sales dialer system and focus on making more calls.

3. Increases Agent Talk Time

If you didn’t already know—sales agents spend only a third of their time selling.

More often than not, it’s the less important tasks that take up most of the agents’ time. Typically, there are 3 types of scenarios when using a manual dialer:

No answer from the prospect -> log this information into the CRM-> dial-up the next contact
Prospect picks up -> agent makes the sales pitch and takes note of important details -> manually logs information into the CRM
The agent enters the voicemail box -> records the voicemail -> logs this detail in the CRM

The sales dialer automates workflows and is a huge time-saver. It increases agent talk time firstly by automating the dialing process.

Second, it gets rid of the waiting time by directly connecting agents to the first call that gets answered. Third, it uses a voice detection system to identify answering machines and voicemail boxes.

4. Boosts Productivity

The predictive dialer uses an algorithm to determine when a customer is likely to answer a call. It puts the call in queue in case the agents are unavailable.

Further, it forecasts the duration of a call and starts dialing the next contact a few seconds before the ongoing call concludes.

In the process, agents can make back-to-back pitches to their customers, albeit with a few cool-off sessions in between. 

In that sense, the predictive dialer sets teams up for more productive workflows. Agents can cover more prospects in a day with a predictive dialer than with a regular, manual dialer.

boosts-productivity-with-sales-dialer

5. Powers Up Lead Generation Capabilities

Agents go on back-to-back cold calling marathons with the goal of generating leads. And when it comes to lead generation, the more calls agents can make, the more their chances of generating leads.

With the sales dialer feature, agents can jump from one call to another, eliminating any buffers related to manual tasks. It disregards unanswered calls and answering machines, dropping pre-corded voice messages where needed.

Agents are able to connect with more live prospects and therefore increase their chances of making successful deals.

6. Improves Performance with Real-time Monitoring and Analytics

The sales dialer feature allows you access to all the real-time call analytics you need to improve your performance. At the same time, it offers certain functionalities that allow you to monitor and guide agents’ performance.

Call recording lets managers keep an eye on agents’ performance and use it for training purposes. 

Real-time call monitoring allows managers and team leaders to jump in on calls to guide agents. Another such feature allows managers to barge into calls between agents and customers.

Sales Dialer and Third-party Integrations

The sales dialer boots up your outbound communication system by clearing out redundant manual activities. As mentioned earlier, it can sync with various CRMs to build sound, integrated communication systems.

Going back and forth between the sales dialer system and the CRM is a cumbersome task. But, with sales dialer and CRM VoIP integrations, agents can leverage automated workflows such as:

  • Directly Run Sales Dialer Campaigns from Your CRM

This functionality allows you to make calls using the sales dialer from the CRM itself. So, the agents don’t have to leave the CRM in order to run campaigns.

  • Specify Automatic Call Disposition Codes in your CRM

You can set disposition codes based on different call outcomes on the sales dialer. With this feature, call disposition codes are automatically tagged against the contacts in the CRM.

  • Log Call Details Automatically into your CRM

This is another VoIP integration feature that removes the need for entering call details into the CRM manually. Agents can automatically save call details by syncing the sales dialer with the CRM.

  • Customize Call Reports in your CRM

You can generate customized reports in your CRM based on call activities from the sales dialer.

How Can Different VoIP Features Help Your Business?

Multiple VoIP features or attributes make this tech more than a one-function investment.

For sales and customer support teams, however, the real thing you should be looking for is how many of these attributes actually conform to your business requirements.

This means that instead of looking at the features, you must first outline your unique requirements and then map them against the right VoIP features.

Here are a few ways how different VoIP features can help your business:

1. Supports the Work-from-Anywhere Model

Professionals employed by startups and businesses require the flexibility to work from anywhere. It can be home, the coffee shop down the street, or even the airport. You and your workforce are not meant to be tied to a phone desk.

Utilizing the custom call forwarding feature, you can send your business phone number or extension to any number or device quite easily.

Let’s say you’re working from home. In this case, you can utilize the user portal to configure your office extension to send calls to your home phone.

If you are traveling, you can utilize this required VoIP feature to put up your extension or office number to forward calls to your mobile phone.

2. Delivers Unmatched Reliability

Almost every business wants assurance about the hassle-free running of their phone service.

This concern is more prominent for small business owners who are striving for streamlined customer service.

Therefore, it’s considered very relevant and important for your VoIP provider to provide toll-free number redundancy and dependency.

By utilizing more than one redundant route and direct interconnects between a single downfall on any part of the route from call generation and its termination, VoIP service providers offer exceptional reliability.

3. Enables the Convenience You and Your Team Needs

For a growing business, the ability to provide smooth customer service with fewer resources than big corporations or enterprise businesses is most important of all.

Operating on a small budget, business owners require routing the customer calls to the correct employee, avoiding the expenditure on a live receptionist.

VoIP features such as virtual auto-attendant enable the reps to craft a customized greeting and menu. This directs the callers to the specific employee each time.

Business owners can select the alternatives for a caller to hear. For instance, press 1 for sales, press 2 for customer service, press 3 for HR, and so on.

The VoIP auto attendant feature also ensures to set up the menu structure directly from the VoIP phone system user portal.

There are many different ways how VoIP features can benefit your sales and customer support teams—we’ve published a comprehensive blog post on the same. Check it out here: 12 Benefits of VoIP for Small (And Large) Businesses

How to Find the Right VoIP Provider with the Right VoIP Features?

VoIP providers offer numerous tools and features, each serving a unique purpose. As such, it’s essential that you carefully choose a provider with features that work best for your business.

Here are a few questions you should ask before deciding on the VoIP phone system features:

  • How many staff will access the tool?
  • Will it improve collaboration and communication in your organization?
  • Will it enhance productivity and efficiency?
  • Does it offer good value for money?

Once you find the answers to these questions, you can ultimately decide on the best VoIP features and provider for your organization.

At JustCall, we take pride in being one of the most preferred and trusted VoIP providers. 6,000+ small and large businesses around the world use JustCall. 

Our cloud phone system comes power-packed with rich features that check all the right boxes for you. 

We’re committed to helping sales and customer support teams achieve higher efficiency and productivity and thereby unlock newer growth opportunities for the company.

Conversation intelligenceSMS bots, and sales dialers are among some of our flagship VoIP phone system features.

Coupled with technical support, competitive pricing, and powerful VoIP integration capabilities, JustCall VoIP software is an ultimate powerhouse that’s capable of supporting your unified communication strategy.

So, if you haven’t already found a VoIP provider, try JustCall today. We offer a free demo

(And in case you have found a VoIP solution, how about switching to a better cloud phone system? We have the smoothest porting and onboarding process. :))

And oh, did we mention we offer local and toll-free phone numbers in 70+ countries? Sign up today and get a 70% discount in your first month!

Recommended Read: Small business phone system buying guide

Final Words

Smaller budgets, remote work trends, changing consumer behavior, and the need for enhanced capabilities have pushed businesses to adopt VoIP at scale.

Plus, a business can save up to 50% on telecom costs by switching to VoIP. The most interesting part? This tech is expected to become even cheaper in the coming years; the savings will be even more significant.

So, if you’re planning to migrate from PBX to VoIP or from one VoIP provider to someone better, it’s possibly the best business decision in 2023/2024.

Consider all the above-mentioned features and do your research. Spend time comparing VoIP phone features and see which ones your business requires the most.

Choose wisely, plan the migration properly to ensure minimum disruption, and build an excellent unified communication strategy on top of VoIP that takes your business to newer heights.

With a foundational role at Saas Labs, Anand has been a key player in establishing the Product Management function and spearheading the launch of our Conversation Intelligence solution. His expertise in AI innovation guides both the strategic direction of the products and a team committed to excellence.

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