If you’ve recently deployed VoIP phones in your business (or are thinking of deploying one), you’re probably here for some answers. After all, managing and maintaining VoIP phones can feel intimidating if you’ve never worked with them before.
But it doesn’t have to be! If you follow the best practices we’ve listed below, you’ll be able to get the most out of your VoIP phones with little-to-no stress. Ready? Let’s get started!
1. Assign roles and permissions to each user and team
Giving every user the same permission on the platform will lead to confusion, complications, and general frustration. So be sure you develop an “administrator” role for trusted individuals in charge of the system and “user” roles for the rest.
2. Set up your automated attendant and call queuing options.
This is a big one that many businesses forget. Most VoIP phone systems come equipped with these two features, and they can make your life so much easier.
Establishing an automated attendant (more advanced versions are called Interactive Voice Response programs) makes sure incoming calls are sent to the right people or departments. And setting it up is simple!
a. Write a brief greeting for the attendant.
It should be no more than 20 seconds and contain only the most important information. This could be business hours, comment if your menu options have changed, etc.).
b. Set up your menu.
Once the greeting’s written, now’s the time to build your menu! One of the best pieces of advice we can give is to put callers’ preferences first. If most of your callers are trying to connect with IT, be sure the IT department is assigned to one of the first numbers on the dial pad. If it’s Sales, prioritize Sales, etc. This will prevent long customer wait times and make dealing with the auto attendant quite pleasant for everyone.
c. Now it’s time to launch!
If your system is anything like ours, launching it is as easy as clicking the right button. Once you’ve launched the attendant, make sure to monitor your customers’ responses to see how they like it and if there’s anything you should consider changing.
Call queuing is a feature specially designed for customer support centers – or any department that fields a large number of calls. Most VoIP phone systems provide different call queue types for you to choose from. It’s crucial that you test each one and pick the one that best fits your needs after setting up your VoIP phones. We’ve listed the three most common types below:
- First-In, First-Out (FIFO). Or, as we often call it, “first come, first served.” Calls are placed in a “line” based on when they called. Callers who are first in line will be connected to a representative first.
- Round Robin. In this type, calls aren’t handled in the order they arrive – they’re answered on a rotating basis, giving all customers the same chance of speaking to a representative.
- Skills-based. This type is a bit more advanced. Advanced VoIP phone systems allow you to automatically sort calls into specific queues based on what kind of help they need.
3. Maintain strong security.
You can do this by encouraging your employees to use strong passwords and take advantage of their VoIP phones’ two-factor authentication measures. We’d also recommend enforcing a “password expiration date” – meaning users are prompted to update their passwords at least once a year to prevent unauthorized system access.
You can also contact your VoIP phone provider to check on the status of your data encryption and see if there are any new security updates you should be aware of.
4. Perform weekly (or even daily) data backups.
Most providers of VoIP phones allow you to schedule automatic data backups on your system. Be sure that you take advantage of the offer! That way, if the worst should happen, you can easily restore all important data – from call recordings to extension assignments.
5. Establish regular system maintenance checks with your provider.
These are crucial for the well-being of your VoIP phones. Giving your system a once-over every month, or every quarter, will help you detect any technical issues before they negatively impact your customers, issues like audio or video glitches, disconnected integrations, etc.
Regular system maintenance also helps you discover and stop potential security threats like phishing, unauthorized user activity, etc. Oh, and did we mention that it also enables you to correct any hardware or software issues that might be causing those issues too? Because it can.
So be sure you set up that recurring maintenance check ASAP.
Get the Most Out of Your VoIP Phones with Magic Apple
Here at Magic Apple, we know what it takes to see the most success out of your VoIP phone system. This is why our VoIP phone system comes with all the features you need and a customized management and maintenance strategy! If you want to experience stress-free VoIP calling, give us a call today!
