When choosing a business phone system, remember the old adage “you get what you pay for.” If you’re struggling to start and grow your business, downsizing and using a free phone service will only get you into trouble.
So you have a growing business and currently pay very little for your phone calls because you are using a free service. It may seem like a good idea now, but what happens as your business grows? Do you want people to continue to see your business as a one-man shop? If not, you need to upgrade to a professional phone system. And with all the cheap VoIP Hosted PBX options out there (cloud telecommunications), you’re not only set up as a professional business, but ready to grow.
Hosted VoIP PBX systems typically offer many features that toll-free phone systems do not, such as: call queuing, call reporting, call recording, and transcribed voicemails (voicemail to text).
Now don’t get me wrong, those toll free phone systems have a lot of fans who rave about the features it gives them. But, it’s just not a professional phone system that businesses of any size should use for their day-to-day operations.
Here are the reasons why you should NOT use a toll-free phone system as a business phone system:
1. It is not a phone system
No admin login, no separate user logins, no call reporting, no call queues, no unlimited phone numbers, no toll free numbers, no registrations for different users, no registrations for different numbers, no e911, no dialing by name directory, no web faxing, no music on hold, etc. etc. It is simply NOT a phone system.
But… if you need more reasons:
2. Most toll free phone systems are not based on SIP (Session Internet Protocol) and therefore lack features
Systems using SIP have many advantages over a POTS (Plain Telephone System) in that they can use many of the programmable features that only calls sent via SIP can provide. As an example, Asterisk is a programming language based on SIP and is constantly introducing new features for VoIP providers. Asterisk is open source software and is therefore freely available. Some of the features missing from the free services that a business will need include: call queues, conference bridges with a pin number and email reminders, call reporting, administration, and user-level logins to manage lines/ extensions, web fax, a dial-by-name directory, music on hold, e911 and much, much more.
3. You can’t use free services on a virtual phone
Since most toll-free phone systems are not SIP-based, system users cannot use a SIP-based client as a virtual phone. Softphones are software programs that run on a computer and allow users to make/receive calls over the Internet. An example of a virtual phone is Skype. Many companies use Soft Phones for call centers and instead of a business phone. Softphones are free at first and can then cost a small one-time fee for many additional features. One company that sells softphones is Counterpath.
4. Most toll free phone systems only offer a local number
With most of these free phone services, you are only provided with a local number. With the advent of VoIP, businesses can finally get local business numbers for any location in the US without having to have a physical location there. Therefore, many businesses are seeing the benefit of maintaining multiple local phone numbers. For example, if your business is located in Austin, Texas, but you have suppliers in New Orleans, Louisiana, you can give them a local number they can call instead of having to make long distance calls or use your free minutes. on your toll free number. If you have a VoIP Hosted PBX system, you can purchase as many local numbers from as many local US destinations as you like. And you can forward these numbers to any location you like, including your cell phone, an extension at your company, or your VoIP phone (wherever that’s located).
5. Free phone services usually don’t work with powerful VoIP phones
Many of the features that make businesses more successful when using VoIP are only accessible using a VoIP phone. Polycom, for example, has a full line of VoIP phones that are used just for conference rooms. There are also phones used by secretaries that show who is on the phone, as well as basic VoIP phones with buttons like ‘hold’, ‘mute’, ‘headset’, ‘conference’, ‘forward’, ‘Contacts Directory’, ‘Call lists’, ‘Messages’ and much more. And with a VoIP phone, you can use your phone anywhere in the world where you have a dedicated Internet connection.
6. HD Voice (wideband audio) is not available with free phone services
Wideband audio is an audio technology used in telephony. Extends the frequency range of audio signals transmitted over telephone lines, resulting in higher quality voice. With HD, voice calls sound crisp and clear, almost as if the person is right next to you. HD Voice is available with most VoIP Hosted PBX providers and most VoIP phone providers, but not with toll-free phone services.
7. Free phone services: Voicemail-to-text service is lousy at best
Perhaps one of the coolest features of free phone services is also currently among the weakest. The transcription service can give you some less than literal translations. Voice messages may or may not arrive perfectly when transcribed to text. “Hope to see you soon” can pass as “I love your friend June.” Oh.
8. Privacy can be an issue for users of the toll-free phone system
Computer World’s Preston Gralla says, “Lost in all the hype about the launch of — lies this unsettling fact: The service will provide (Internet Browser Company) — huge amounts of information about the intimate details of your everyday life, including recordings of your voice mail and possibly your phone calls. Combined with what (Internet Browser Company)—already knows about you, it could mean your privacy has come to an end.” Gralla goes on to say, “—it will be offered for free. (Internet Browsing Company) —, however, will certainly look for ways to make money from it. One of the most obvious ways is through targeted advertising, particularly because the company recently announced that it will discover new ways to target ads based on your interests. It already does this with — So don’t be surprised to see ads targeted based on who’s calling you.”
9. Free phone services do not offer phone support
Granted, this has to be the biggest problem with relying on a toll-free phone service for your business phone system needs. Have you, or someone you know, been able to talk to their support about something? I doubt it. Go with a provider you can talk to at any time, as having a working phone system is probably a crucial factor in the success of your business.
10 free phone services that don’t look professional
The bottom line is that when you’re trying to get a new customer to trust you, the fact that you’re using free phone services instead of paying for a better phone system shows that you just don’t care. You don’t care that your phone calls are possibly being monitored, you don’t care that your phone calls are dropped and sound terrible, and you don’t care about reliable business telecommunications.
conclusion
Toll-free telephone systems are not intended to be used to operate a company’s telecommunications system. The little “fun” features they all have are just that, fun. They won’t help you run your business more efficiently and, in fact, will most likely slow you down. I mean, who has time to set up different voicemail greetings for different callers when trying to run a business? And do you really need that? So stick with what works and grow your business without worrying about your phone system dragging you down. Choose a VoIP hosted PBX system and you can’t go wrong.