In 2022, telephony continues to be a central feature of the work experience. Research by Avaya found that email was the top choice among employees when it came to social communication, followed by phone calls (15%). The phone was always a quick, convenient, and accessible way to reach colleagues (and customers) who are in a different location. Now, as employees face growing fatigue from video meetings, our reliance on business phones could grow even further.
Business phone systems can drive two use cases in the hybrid work era:
- Employees will rely on telephony to get in touch with remote colleagues. Phone systems are vital for impromptu discussions, quick query resolution, and peer support
- Business phones are essential for remote/hybrid contact centers. Cloud-based telephony and purpose-built contact center solutions allow remotely seated agents to manage call queues, adhere to SLAs, and deliver prompt support
If you’re looking to strengthen your business phone capabilities for 2022, there are six solutions to consider. These include:
Aircall
Aircall is a French company that offers cloud-based business phone systems for contact centers. It promises a fast and easy set-up experience that can be configured in less than a day. It has both inbound and outbound tools, including unlimited inbound calls, a power dialer, real-time sales coaching, and more. Aircall also integrates with your favorite business applications through its marketplace of 100+ apps. This covers all the major CRMs as well as productivity tools.
Choose Aircall for its simplicity and ease of use. Pricing starts at $30 per user per month.
Dialpad Business Communications
Dialpad is a US-based cloud communication company that has two business phone solutions – internal communications (talk, message, and meet in video) and external or customer-facing.
Dialpad Business Communications is an all-in-one phone system that combines audio calls, text, voice mail, and video in a single platform. It is designed for hybrid work, with excellent feature parity between its desktop, mobile, and web interfaces. It also has built-in AI for call transcription and sentiment analysis.
In addition to Business Communications, Dialpad Customer Engagement provides you with a phone system for hybrid support teams. It allows you to manage live calls, voicemail, and contact center KPIs with ease. The AI also drives sales.
Choose Dialpad for its versatility and powerful AI. Pricing starts at $15 per user per month.
GoToConnect
GoToConnect is a cloud-based business phone system that supports flexibility. It addresses both internal and external use cases in a single solution. Its cloud PBX architecture is compatible with existing phone hardware – or, you can partner with GoTo to buy new phones or use the web-based interface.
GoToConnect is designed to be a comprehensive business phone system for small to medium-sized businesses that have switched to hybrid work. It brings all the capabilities of an enterprise-grade solution such as call routing, international calling, wait time announcement, etc., at a competitive cost of $30 per user per month onwards.
Choose GoToConnect for its holistic feature set.
